Pomegranate, orange, and clove flavors are the perfect thing to spice up your holiday baking in these chewy and delicious pomegranate orange molasses cookies.
Why You Should Make this Recipe
I love pomegranate molasses in savory cooking. Since I always have it on hand, I was inspired to make this cookie recipe. After many tests, I found the perfect balance of flavors and textures in this special twist on molasses cookies.
Soft and chewy cookies are the absolute best, and these pomegranate orange molasses cookies are the perfect combination of sweet and citrus flavors.
Molasses is a thick sweet syrup that's great for dessert recipes, and made even better when infused with tangy pomegranate. The orange adds a blast of citrus to cut through the sweet, giving the molasses cookies a delicious balanced flavor.
This cookie dough is easy to make and can be made way ahead of time if you need it, as it freezes well and bakes as if it was freshly made. If you’re looking for a fun and unique version of a molasses cookie, you’ve found it! Trust me, they’re seriously addictive.
Ingredients
pomegranate molasses - Since pomegranate molasses is on the sour side, it is not typically used in baking recipes. Molasses is the primary sweetener in this recipe, and the balance of orange and cloves in this recipe makes the sourness of the pomegranate the perfect pairing.
orange flavor - you can substitute with extract. The orange is a necessary element in this recipe. If you leave it out, the flavor of the cookies will be soapy.
baking soda - this recipe uses baking soda to help spread the cookies. Do not substitute with baking powder.
Step-by-Step Recipe with Photos
With an electric mixer (link opens in new tab) or stand mixer (link opens in new tab), beat ¼ cup of unsalted butter with ¼ cup of dark brown sugar until light in color and texture.
Beat in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil until well-mixed.
Scrape the batter down the sides of the bowl. Then add 3 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses and the 1 egg. Beat until well-mixed.
Sift in 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon cloves, and ¼ teaspoon salt, mixing in with a spatula halfway through then continuing. Use your hands if necessary.
Cover the dough chill until firm, about 2 hours.
Heat the oven to 375°F. If the dough was chilling longer than 2 hours, let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.
Measure the dough into tablespoon-size pieces and roll each piece to form 1-inch balls.
Roll the balls in a dish with granulated sugar to coat. Put the balls 2 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheets or a silicone baking mat (link opens in new tab).
Bake until the center surface of the cookies is barely dry, 9 to 10 minutes (don’t overbake). Let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack (link opens in new tab) to cool completely.
Pairs beautifully around the holidays with a Whipped Eggnog or London Fog Latte. But my favorite pairing is with a simple, unsweetened, 2-ingredient matcha.
Molasses Cookies FAQs, Tips & Tricks
Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for 1 week.
You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days.
Once baked, the cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
If freezing unbaked cookie dough, do so after rolling them into balls but before rolling in sugar. They will freeze well for up to 3 months. Let the dough balls sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, then roll them in granulated sugar and bake as directed.
More Recipes that Use Pomegranate Molasses
I love cooking with pomegranate molasses. It adds a beautiful sweet and sour flavor profile to any dish:
... or check out all the sweets on the blog here like this personal fall favorite, persimmon muffins.
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Pomegranate Molasses Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour 4.5 oz.
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. ground cloves
- 2 tsp. orange extract or flavor
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened, 2 oz.
- ¼ cup brown sugar packed tight
- 1 Tbs. vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoon pomegranate molasses see notes for store-bought
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup Granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
(Minimum) 2 Hours Before Baking
- With an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until light in color and texture.
- Beat in the oil until well-mixed.
- Scrape the batter down the sides of the bowl. Then add the pomegranate molasses, orange extract, and the egg. Beat until well-mixed.
- Sift in the flour, baking soda, cloves, and salt, mixing in with a spatula halfway through then continuing. Use your hands if necessary.
- Cover the dough chill until firm, about 2 hours.
To Bake
- Heat the oven to 375°F. If the dough was chilling longer than 2 hours, let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.
- Measure the dough into tablespoon-size pieces and roll each piece to form 1-inch balls.
- Roll the balls in a dish with granulated sugar to coat. Put the balls 2 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheets or a silicone baking mat.
- Bake until the center surface of the cookies is barely dry, 9 to 10 minutes (don’t overbake).
- Let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Estera Nolan
There's something majorly off with this recipe. I did it as described and it's not a dough, it's a soup. I tried adding more flour (1.5 cups total), and even with that nothing would stick together, it was impossible to roll this into balls even after refrigerating. Too bad, I was really excited about it. Are we sure there is enough flour? All the other recipes I looked at have 2.5+ cups flour, I tried 1.5 and it wasn't enough. I did try to roll this uber sticky mess into balls and in sugar (the sugar was the only thing that helped them stay together), but then they bubbled up and ran completely in the oven (as expected). Could you maybe check your quantities, to confirm they are correct?
Amy M
Made my own pomegranate molasses and wanted to make cookies with it. This recipe is delicious! Cookies are very light and flavorful. Yum!
Candice
I'm so glad to hear it, Amy... thank you for sharing!