Soft & buttery snickerdoodles meet gingerbread cookies to create these marbled ginger molasses snickerdoodles! They're made from one easy snickerdoodle cookie dough base, but half of the dough is flavored with rich molasses and warm spices. When the two doughs are rolled together, they create a fun marbled effect and an incredibly delicious holiday cookie!
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Why you'll love these marbled ginger molasses snickerdoodles
- Pillowy Soft Texture: A classic snickerdoodle is soft enough to melt in your mouth, and these snickerdoodles are somehow even softer!
- Ginger Molasses Flavor: Warm, cozy spices & rich molasses make these cookies perfect for Christmas.
- Classic Sugar Coating: As all snickerdoodles should be, these cookies are rolled in a healthy coating of spiced sugar.
For more snickerdoodle recipes, try my Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars, Brown Butter Snickerdoodles, and Pumpkin Snickerdoodles.
Ingredient Notes
- Flour: Use a high quality unbleached all-purpose flour.
- Cream of Tartar: This leavener is key to making snickerdoodles. It makes them perfectly soft and fluffy, and adds a slight tangy taste!
- Unsalted Butter: Use a European-style butter, like Kerrygold, for best flavor.
- Eggs: Bring your eggs to room temperature by placing them in a bowl of warm water.
- Vanilla Extract: In any cookie recipe, vanilla is essential!
- Spices: I used a combination of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice.
- Molasses: Be sure to use unsulphured molasses.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this marbled ginger molasses snickerdoodle recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.
STEP 1: Combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine together the flour, cream of tartar, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
STEP 2: Finish the base cookie dough. In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar and use an electric hand mixer to cream for 2-3 minutes until light & fluffy. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until fully combined. Lastly, add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.
STEP 3: Make the ginger molasses cookie dough. Remove half of the cookie dough and place in a separate medium bowl. I recommend weighing it with a scale to ensure you get exactly half of the cookie dough. To one of the bowls of cookie dough, add the molasses, flour, and spices. Mix on low speed until just combined.
STEP 4: Marble the cookie doughs. Use two 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoops to portion each cookie dough onto one baking sheet. Take one plain cookie dough ball and one molasses cookie dough ball, and divide each in two, then stack them in four alternating layers. Roll the cookie dough into a smooth ball and place back on the baking sheet. Once all of the cookie dough has been rolled, place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
STEP 5: Roll in sugar & bake. Roll each frozen cookie dough ball in the spiced sugar and place a large baking sheet spaced about two inches apart. Bake the cookies for about 14-16 minutes or until the edges are just turning golden.
STEP 6: Scoot & enjoy! Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately use a round cookie cutter or glass to scoot the edges of each cookie, making them perfectly round. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet.
Expert Baking Tips
- Weigh the cookie dough. To get an even amount of the two cookie doughs, weigh the cookie dough base and divide it in half for the ginger molasses cookie dough.
- Chill the cookie dough. To prevent the cinnamon sugar topping from melting into the dough as it bakes, chill the dough for about 20-30 minutes first.
- Underbake the cookies! To achieve a gooey, melt-in-your-mouth texture bake the cookies for about 15 minutes or until they're slightly underdone.
Recipe FAQs
Use two 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoops to portion each cookie dough onto one baking sheet. Take one plain cookie dough ball and one molasses cookie dough ball, and divide each in two, then stack them in four alternating layers. Roll the cookie dough into a smooth ball and place back on the baking sheet.
Store these snickerdoodles in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Other Christmas cookie recipes to try
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📖 Recipe
Marbled Ginger Molasses Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
For the snickerdoodle dough base:
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 227 g (16 tablespoon) unsalted butter room temp
- 150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 106 g (½ cup) brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the ginger molasses snickerdoodle dough:
- 42 g (2 tablespoon) molasses
- 22 g (3 tablespoon) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
For the spiced sugar:
- 50 g (¼ cup) raw sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
Instructions
For the snickerdoodle dough base:
- In a medium bowl, combine together the flour, cream of tartar, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar and use an electric hand mixer to cream for 2-3 minutes until light & fluffy. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until fully combined.
- Lastly, add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Remove half of the cookie dough and place in a separate medium bowl. I recommend weighing it with a scale to ensure you get exactly half of the cookie dough.
For the ginger molasses snickerdoodle cookie dough:
- To one of the bowls of cookie dough, add the molasses, flour, and spices. Mix on low speed until just combined.
To bake the cookies:
- Use two 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoops to portion each cookie dough onto one baking sheet.
- Take one plain cookie dough ball and one molasses cookie dough ball, and divide each in two, then stack them in four alternating layers. Roll the cookie dough into a smooth ball and place back on the baking sheet.
- Once all of the cookie dough has been rolled, place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Make the spiced sugar by combining the sugar, cinnamon, and ginger in a small bowl.
- Roll each frozen cookie dough ball in the spiced sugar and place a large baking sheet spaced about two inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for about 14-16 minutes or until the edges are just turning golden.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately use a round cookie cutter or glass to scoot the edges of each cookie, making them perfectly round.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet.
Notes
- Weigh the cookie dough. To get an even amount of the two cookie doughs, weigh the cookie dough base and divide it in half for the ginger molasses cookie dough.
- Chill the cookie dough. To prevent the cinnamon sugar topping from melting into the dough as it bakes, chill the dough for about 20-30 minutes first.
- Underbake the cookies! To achieve a gooey, melt-in-your-mouth texture bake the cookies for about 15 minutes or until they're slightly underdone.
Erica Hsu says
Hii! How many minutes should I bake if I cut the cookie size in half?
Sloane says
I'm not sure, but probably about half the bake time!