Soft Molasses Sandwich Cookies (Buttercream Filling)

These molasses sandwich cookies are what I make when I want something that’s truly special. That deep, rich molasses flavor with warm spices, sandwiched together with vanilla buttercream. They stay soft for days and the filling makes them feel like a real treat.

Every December there are three cookies always on the rotation: sugar cookies for decorating, chocolate dipped shortbread, and these. They’re pretty enough for cookie plates but still simple. The warm spices make them feel festive without screaming “Christmas cookie”…which means you can make them all fall and winter long.

What You’ll Need

If you’d like to double or triple this recipe, you can make adjustments in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Both components double well, but you’ll need to bake in batches.

Cookie Dough

• 8 tablespoons (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup vegetable shortening (keeps cookies soft and tender, don’t substitute all butter or they’ll spread too much)
• ½ cup granulated sugar, plus ½ cup for rolling
• ½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (360 grams)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup unsulfured molasses (don’t use blackstrap – too bitter)

Buttercream Frosting

• 8 tablespoons (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream

How to Make

Getting Started

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. I always use parchment for these – they’ll stick otherwise and you’ll lose the bottom of your cookies trying to get them off.

Mix Your Dry Ingredients

In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, baking soda, and salt. Make sure you really whisk it well. You want the spices distributed evenly or you’ll get random pockets of clove (not fun).

Set this aside.

Cream the Butter and Sugars

Put your softened butter, shortening, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in your mixer bowl. Beat on medium-high for about 3 minutes until it’s light and fluffy. You’ll know it’s ready when the color gets lighter and it looks almost whipped.

Scrape down the bowl once during this to make sure everything is incorporated.

Add the Egg and Vanilla

Turn your mixer to low and add the egg and vanilla. Mix for about 10-15 seconds on low, then bump it up to medium for another 15 seconds.

You’re not trying to beat air into it, just get it mixed in well.

Add the Molasses

Pour in your molasses with the mixer on low. Low for 10-15 seconds, then medium for another 10-15 seconds.

The dough will look a little weird and separated at first, but it comes together.

Mix in the Dry Ingredients

Add all your flour mixture at once. Mix on low until you can’t see streaks of flour anymore. The dough will be soft – that’s exactly what you want. Don’t overmix here or your cookies will be tough.

Stop as soon as the flour disappears.

Shape and Roll in Sugar

Form your dough into 1½ inch balls, about the size of a walnut. Roll each one in granulated sugar and place them on your baking sheet about 2 inches apart. They spread a little but not too much.

I get 12 per sheet. Just make sure you have an even number!

Bake

Bake for exactly 10 minutes. They’ll look slightly underdone when you pull them out. That’s what you want!. Don’t overbake these or they’ll be crunchy instead of chewy. Leave them on the baking sheet for another 4-5 minutes to finish setting up, then use a thin spatula to transfer them to a cooling rack.

They’re fragile when warm.

Make the Buttercream

Once your cookies are completely cool, make the frosting. Beat the butter by itself for 2-3 minutes until it’s light colored and fluffy. Add your powdered sugar and mix on low at first (unless you want a sugar cloud in your kitchen), then medium-high until combined. It’ll look super thick and clumpy. Add the vanilla and 3 tablespoons of cream, mix on low then medium-high.

If it’s still too thick to spread easily, add that last tablespoon of cream.

Assemble the Sandwiches

Flip half your cookies upside down. Put about 2 tablespoons of frosting on each one – I just eyeball it to divide the frosting evenly between 12 cookies. Top with the remaining cookies, pressing gently so the frosting spreads to the edges.

The frosting will make the cookies even softer after a day, so these are actually better tomorrow than today.

Storage Instructions

Store these in an airtight container. They’ll stay soft for about 4 days. If you need to stack them, put parchment paper between layers so the frosting doesn’t stick.

You can freeze the unfrosted cookies for up to a month – just layer them between parchment in a freezer container. Don’t freeze them after they’re filled though.

How to Mix These on a Tray or Treat Box

If you’re making cookie boxes or plates this year, these pair really well with lighter, brighter flavors and different textures. Here are some of our favorites.

• Classic roll-out sugar cookies with royal icing
• Chocolate crinkle cookies
• Lemon sour cream cookies with holiday sprinkles
• Peppermint bark
• White chocolate cranberry cookies
• Vanilla fudge
• Spritz cookies
• Chocolate truffles

Troubleshooting

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