Ginger Molasses Cookies for the Pack
Baked at home, carried in a hard container. Molasses keeps them chewy for a week.
- calories
- 380
- weight
- 2.6 oz
- cal / oz
- 146
- protein
- 4 g
- serves
- 12, scales
- prep
- 55 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 55 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- Dessert
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Day hike
- Winter / snow
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| All-purpose flour | 2 1/4 cups | |
|---|---|---|
| Baking soda | 2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Ground ginger | 1 tbsp | |
| Ground cinnamon | 1 tsp | |
| Ground cloves | 1/2 tsp | |
| Butter | 3/4 cup | softened, not melted |
| Granulated sugar | 1 cup | plus 1/4 cup for rolling |
| Egg | 1 large | |
| Molasses | 1/4 cup | dark, not blackstrap |
Method
- At home: whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves in a bowl.
- Beat the butter and 1 cup sugar together, then work in the egg and molasses until it looks uniform.
- Fold the dry into the wet. Chill the dough 30 minutes so it stops sticking to everything.
- Roll walnut-sized balls, roll each through the reserved sugar, and bake at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes. Pull them when the edges are set and the centers still look underdone.
- Cool completely on the sheet. Warm cookies packed early go soggy.
- On trail: open the container and eat. Two cookies is a serving.
Molasses is hygroscopic, which is the whole reason this cookie travels. It holds onto moisture instead of drying into a cracker, so a batch stays chewy through about a week in a pack. The high spice load also masks the stale note that creeps into most baked goods around day four.
The source version tops these with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. That is out here: no fridge, no point. Underbaking slightly is the substitute. Pull them when the middles still look wet and they finish setting on the sheet, which leaves the interior soft enough that you do not miss the frosting. Everything else stays the same, and the sugar coating adds a crust that keeps them from sticking to each other in the container.
Packing
Cool fully, then stack in a rigid container or a wide screw-top jar. A freezer bag turns them into crumbs by day two, though crumbs stirred into oatmeal are not a waste.
Variations
- Swap 2 tbsp of the flour for powdered milk if you want a softer cookie that keeps longer.
- Add 1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger for more heat and chew.
- Cut the sugar roll and press each ball flat if you want them thinner and packable in a lid pocket.
https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/soft-and-chewy-ginger-molasses-cookies