Healthy Chewy Snowman Molasses Cookies

Welcome to DAY FOUR of the first annual #KPCCookieWeek!! It has been so fun sharing brand new cookie recipes with you all week long and seeing them come to life in your home!

So far we've made Healthier Snickerdoodles, Salted Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chunk Cookies, and an Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Pizookie.

Today's cookie recipe is my new all time favorite recipe and I've been patiently waiting to share it with you. It's my Chewy Snowman Molasses Cookies!!!

They're a fun twist on chewy molasses cookies and ginger cookies but rolled in cinnamon sugar and shaped like snowmen! Seriously they are THE BEST.

When I searched "snowman cookies" on Pinterest, almost every single recipe was a sugar cookie with royal icing that required a cookie cut-out. I wanted to do something totally different that didn't need any special tools.

After lots of tests, I finally landed on these snowman molasses cookies and they are PERFECT!

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Ingredients for healthy chewy molasses cookies

Believe it or not, these delicious snowman cookies are secretly healthy too! With just a few simple ingredient swaps, your holiday baking will be even tastier! For these chewy molasses cookies, you'll need:

• Olive oil butter: totally optional but highly recommended. I'm not dairy-free but I always use this butter because it is made with heart-healthy fats instead of regular saturated fat. You can use any butter you have on hand.‍
• Almond butter: a healthier swap for regular butter. Most recipes for molasses cookies called for 3/4 cup butter, but I hate having half a stick of butter in the fridge, so almond butter it was! Not only is it a healthier fat but it also enhances the molasses flavor a ton! Make sure to use 100% natural creamy almond butter like this one that is really drippy. ‍
• Stevia: since there's already brown sugar and molasses in the recipe, I wanted to cut back on some of the sugar and calories by using a zero calorie replacement for white sugar. You'd never even tell the difference! You'll need stevia for the cookie dough as well as the cinnamon sugar topping.‍
• Unsulfured molasses: the key to achieving chewy molasses cookies. Don't use blackstrap!‍
• Warm spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves all come together for the perfect holiday spice cookie. Don't skip any of these ingredients!
• ‍Traditional ingredients: eggs, vanilla, all purpose flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.

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How to make snowman molasses cookies

Not only are these snowman molasses cookies easy to make, they're fun to make too! Start out by preparing your cookie dough like any other recipe:

1. Cream the butters and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
2. Beat in the egg until well combined, about another minute.
3. Whisk together all the dry ingredients -- the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and salt -- until well combined. Add into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. The dough should be soft but pliable like play dough.

Now here comes the fun part! If you don't have a small cookie scoop (a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop like this one), I recommend getting one. You're going to use it for every cookie recipe here at Ka Pai Cooking and it will be especially helpful for this recipe! Here's how to make your snowman cookies:

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4. Scoop out 3 balls of cookie dough (1 tablespoon each) and place them in a group on your baking sheet to stay organized. (You will have 4 snowmen per baking sheet, 10 total.
5. Split one of the balls in half and add it to another ball of cookie dough (see picture 2 above). You should now have the equivalent of 1/2 tbsp, 1 tbsp, and 1 1/2 tbsp balls of cookie dough per group.
6. Roll each ball of cookie dough into a smooth ball (see picture 3 above). You should begin to see the snowman shape coming to life!
7. Roll each ball of cookie dough in your cinnamon sugar. As you create your snowman, gently press the 3 balls of cookie dough together. This will help them bake into one big snowman cookie in the oven!
8. Bake for 10 minutes, then let cool on the pan for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to finish cooling. If you have more than one baking sheet, I recommend letting them cool completely on the pan, but if you don't, make sure you wait at least 10 minutes. These chewy molasses cookies are very soft and need time to cool as one snowman cookie.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Molasses cookies vs Ginger Cookies vs Gingerbread Cookies

Believe me, I asked the same question! Molasses cookies are typically chewier with less ground ginger, where ginger cookies (also known as gingersnaps) are typically crispier with more ground ginger. But, if you see "chewy ginger cookies," that's just another name for chewy molasses cookies.

Gingerbread cookies are more similar to gingersnaps, but they don't crinkle during baking because they've been chilled and cut into gingerbread men. They're also decorated with icing and small candies.

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What kind of molasses do I need for molasses cookies?

The best molasses for baking is unsulfured molasses. The specific one I use doesn't specify if it's light or dark (dark is less sweet), but it is unsulfured.

How long do molasses cookies stay fresh?

Because these holiday cookies are so soft and chewy, they will last up to 5 days at room temperature! Just make sure to keep them in an airtight container. Keep in mind that because they're so soft, they might lose their snowman shape the more they're moved around, so be careful when you're backing them up! I like to lay them flat on top of each other in a glass container like this one. If you use a ziploc bag, stack and store them carefully.

Can I make these snowman cookies into regular molasses cookies?

Of course! Just portion out 12 balls of cookie dough (1 tablespoon in size) per baking sheet, roll in cinnamon sugar, and bake for 10 minutes. Make sure they cool for at least 10 minutes on the pan before transferring to a cooling rack.

What ingredient substitutions will work for this recipe?

This recipe is naturally dairy-free if you use a plant based butter like I suggested. If you want to make them gluten-free, use a good quality 1:1 all purpose flour substitute like this flour. This recipe has not been tested without an egg, so if you want a vegan molasses cookie, I recommend this recipe from Love and Lemons. You can also use more softened butter in place of the almond butter and regular white sugar in place of the Stevia, but know that the flavor and nutrition profile will change.

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Oh my goodness please please please make these snowman molasses cookies for your Christmas celebrations (and cookie week)! If I had to choose one cookie recipe to make this year, it would definitely be these!

Be sure to leave a star rating and review below if you make these snowman cookies so other readers know how you liked them! Also, don't forget to tag me on social media so I can see this recipe come to life in your kitchen!