Ginger molasses cookies are always at the top of my holiday must-bake list. My favorite recipe is generously spiced, chewy, and instantly makes the house smell like Christmas. On a whim I stuffed a batch with some salted butter caramels I had leftover from some recipe testing. Best/worst idea ever: best because the caramel levels up a cookie I thought couldn’t be improved — the caramel adds another level of chew in addition to a surprise hit of sweetness. Worst because these have sort of ruined me for the “regular” version.
A couple of notes:
- You can use any kind of chewy caramel candy for stuffing, though I like to an extra dark one that has just a hint of bitterness.
- You can refrigerate the dough (stuffed or unstuffed) for up to 5 days. I like to bring the dough to room temperature while the oven is preheating and toss in sugar right before baking. I haven’t yet tried freezing this dough with the caramel stuffing but will update this post when I do.
Caramel-stuffed Ginger Molasses Cookies
Makes about 13 large cookies | Adapted from Bon Appetit
Ingredients:
- 125g all purpose flour
- 75g bread flour
- 50g rye flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp freshly ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 65g granulated sugar
- 50g dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 113g unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 113g fancy molasses (not blackstrap)
To finish:
- 40g turbinado sugar
- 40g granulated sugar
- 13 chewy caramel candies, storebought or homemade (mine were roughly 3/4″ squares)
Method:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, spices (except for the fresh ginger), and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar and dark brown sugar. Add the grated ginger and rub it into the sugar with your fingers to distribute.
- Whisk in the melted butter, molasses, and egg to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix just to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm the dough up slightly to make it easier roll. (If refrigerated longer than an hour, let stand at room temperature for 15-20 minutes to soften slightly.)
- While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 375F with a rack in the center, and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the turbinado and granulated sugar in a small bowl.
- Divide the chilled dough into 26 equal portions (25g each).
- To stuff the cookies, take two portions of dough and flatten each into a thick disc. Take a caramel and press it gently into the middle of one piece of dough (trim or squish the caramel to fit, if needed), then place the other piece of dough on top. Pinch the edges of the two pieces of dough together to seal in the caramel, then roll gently between your hands to form a ball. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
- Roll each ball in sugar and place on the prepared baking sheets about 2.5 inches apart. (Cookies will spread a bit so leave plenty of room!)
- Bake sheets one at a time for about 9-11 minutes, rotating halfway through, until cookies are puffed and starting to crack and the edges are set. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
These look so delicious! Any tips on how to store them/how long they’d keep for? Thanks so much!
You can keep them in an airtight container for several days; they stay pretty soft! I like them best within the first 3 days of baking or so, though.
Thank you!
Hi Ruth, I don’t have rye flour can I substitute it with wholegrain spelt flour or ap/bread flour ? Thanks !
I think either spelt or all purpose would work nicely!
Thank you !
Tried the recipe ! Used spelt flour sub in the end n Tried using frozen homemade cinnamon caramel sauce but I didn’t do a good job of sealing them nicely so they melted all over 🙁 but my friends and family still loved them ! Tks for the recipe Ruth !
Aww, yeah, I think caramel sauce is a little too thin for these cookies — chewy caramel candies will contain themselves better. 🙂 Glad they were still tasty though!!
Where do you buy rye flour?
Many regular grocery stores carry it nowadays. Maybe look in the health foods aisle if it’s not in the regular baking one! You can substitute the rye for more all purpose flour if you can’t find it.
Can you link to the caramels you used? Thank you! Looks delicious.
I used homemade caramels (using a recipe similar to the caramel layer in this caramel slice) but store-bought soft caramels, like those square ones wrapped in cellophane, should work fine too!
I’m wondering if I can incorporate crystallized ginger pieces into this or if it will end up just being too much. Any thoughts ?
I’ve used crystallized ginger pieces on the plain, non-stuffed version of the cookie. It might be intense in this version but in the end I think it’s a matter of personal taste!
I dip the tops of my ginger cookie dough balls in chopped crystallized ginger before baking. It makes them look pretty. Though people often think they are nuts.
Sound delicious- gotta make them! Thanks!
what brands of molasses are considered fancy? is grandma’s?
Grandma’s is perfect; basically not blackstrap!
Love this recipe! I’m not a regular baker and had a hard time working with dough because it was so sticky. Any tips for a noob?
Hi! Did you refrigerate the dough after mixing? It’s pretty sticky at first but is much easier to handle after a chill!
I did chill it overnight, must have had some hot hands. Thank you 🙂
Great recipe – I used parchment paper to gently make the dough into a log shape. The diameter was slightly larger than the Werther’s Original Caramels I used. I popped that in the freezer overnight. Then I was able to make slices and sandwich the caramels – worked great! My yield was a dozen cookies with one little unstuffed bonus cookie. This method also allows for even dough division.
My new favorite cookie ! I also formed into a log thanks for the tip Bethany .