Love and Olive Oil

Chewy Muscovado Sugar Cookies

Soft & Chewy Muscovado Sugar Cookies

I will always, ALWAYS, choose a chewy cookie over a crispy one.

And these are the absolute chewiest.

Chewy Muscovado Sugar Cookies made with molasses-flavored muscovado sugar.

Muscovado sugar is my new love, my new obsession, and I’m all for using it anywhere and everywhere I can (because it’s delicious, for one, but also because I bought a case of 10 and Taylor’s been dropping not-so-subtle hints that I need to use it up. You know, seeing our serious lack of storage space and all, he says I should have consulted him before making such a purchase… I say, ‘here, husband, have a cookie because your cranky pants are showing.’)

Soft & Chewy Muscovado Sugar Cookies

The recipe originally called for dark brown sugar, which has a delightfully molasses-y flavor as is, but muscovado sugar takes it up even another notch, so much so that you’d swear these were some glorious new kind of gingerbread, but with the texture of a perfectly chewy chocolate chip cookie (minus the chips).

Both brown sugar and muscovado sugar (along with other liquid sweeteners like honey and molasses) are much more hydroscopic than white sugar, meaning they hold on to moisture like a sponge. And that sweet sponge means your cookies are going to stay soft and chewy for days.

Chewy Muscovado Sugar Cookies

They are a bit deceiving, I’ll admit, with dark brown spots that could very well be be chocolate chip or *gasp* little raisins. But no, it’s just the chunky nature of the un-refined sugar that leaves pockets of molasses-y goodness throughout the cookies. I tried to pick out the biggest chunks as I beat the butter and sugar, but it’s pretty much impossible to get them all. But that’s ok, embrace the chunks.

Chewy Muscovado Sugar Cookies

Also, can molasses-y please be a word? Because I really don’t have a better one to describe the rich depth of flavor in these cookies.

These Chewy Muscovado Sugar Cookies stay soft for DAYS!

The recipe was based on a cookie I received a few years ago from Billy at Wit & Vinegar during the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. He got the recipe from Joy the Baker who in turn got it from Epicurious. And that recipe? Came from none other than the official Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Best Bake Sale Cookbook (CFKC, of course, being the charity which the cookie swap supports).

Talk about full circle.

Chewy Muscovado Sugar Cookies

Or semi-circle, once I’ve taken a bite out of it.

Chewy Muscovado Sugar Cookies

Soft and chewy cookies with a rich molasses flavor made with unrefined muscovado sugar.

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Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups packed muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg, room temperature

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  • In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon and set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat until everything is well incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again. Cover dough and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes until slightly firmer.
  • Drop large teaspoonfuls of dough prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space between them. Bake until center is flat and edges are just beginning to darken, 8 to 10 minutes, or slightly longer if you prefer crispier cookies. Let cool then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
  • Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Adapted from Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Best Bake Sale Cookbook via Epicurious via Joy the Baker via Wit and Vinegar.

All images and text © / Love & Olive Oil

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21 Comments

  1. I have made this recipe several times. Love these cookies! Get many compliments.

    One observation: the recipe says to add the butter/sugar to the butter mixture. Shouldn’t it say “add to the flour mixture”?

  2. Tried these cookies and they are insanely good. Added some raisins and they were a huge hit with my young daughter. They truly make your mouth water & are the best cookies I’ve tried. Didn’t have an issue with metallic/salty taste, however I did leave them in the fridge for around 6 hrs to cook in the afternoon for added freshness. I believe leaving cookies to firm in the fridge only adds to their taste. Great recipe

  3. Much like other reviews seen in the comments here, my result was a metallic, salty cookie.

  4. Hi there, I also seemed to have made extremely salty and metallic tasting cookies? Really don’t know why when others have clearly found the recipe to be amazing! I used regular salt (as opposed to kosher salt) if that makes any difference, but there was also a very overpowering taste of the bicarb soda…they were inedible unfortunately! :(

    • Table salt is much more concentrated (smaller grains) than kosher salt, so you’d want to use less of it. I’m guessing the variety of sugar may also affect the flavor, depending on how it is processed and the % of molasses present? A lighter sugar wouldn’t have as much molasses and therefore a lower acidity that wouldn’t neutralize the baking soda. At least that’s my theory since I didn’t have this issue with mine.

  5. Delicious and so chewy… the muscavado sugar is awesome. Makes about 10-12 cookies. I found the thicker ones much nicer and more chewey.

    I added some vanilla essence to them, will definitely add more next time.

    Didn’t let them refrigerate… with about 110g butter (difficult to measure in cups/unknown size sticks) … but the mixture was super firm so used it pretty much immediately.

    Will definitely make again!

  6. Yeah, i made this cookie using the exact measurements and its a hit! The family loves it! I will bake this cookies again whenever they’ll request for it. Thanks for this healthy yet delicious cookie recipe! ❤️

  7. Pour me a cup of fresh, hot coffee and I’ll be right over to help you gobble these all up! They look lucious!

  8. How many cups of chocolate chips? This recipe doesn’t have chocolate chips in it?

    • There are no chocolate chips in these (though you could certainly add them if you wanted!) The dark spots you see in the pictures are from the clumps of muscovado sugar. :)

  9. I found this recipe while looking for ways to use some muscovado sugar I have stocked up. Don’t get me wrong, the texture of these is amazing. Soft, but delightfully bendy and chewy.

    I think there is an issue with the flavor, though. While reading the recipe, I thought that 2 tsp of baking soda to 2 cups of flour seemed like a lot. Sure enough, my cookies had that distinct metallic taste that comes from too much soda. I tried to mask it by adding an extra tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of ginger. Then I rolled the cookies in cinnamon sugar. Still nothing could compensate for the tinny flavor.
    I don’t mean this in a critical way, but I believe that the soda should be cut down. I’d love to play around with the recipe again, because the texture was wonderful!

    (If anyone else is browsing the internet looking for more muscovado cookie recipes, I highly recommend the muscovado sugar cookies on Food52.)

    • Strange, that’s not something I noticed at all when I made them. They are the same proportions as the original recipe published on Epicurious, so it’s not a misprint on my part. I can’t speak as to how they’d bake with less, but it’s worth trying!

  10. Just made a batch of these and they are so delicious! I was looking for easy recipes to use up the first bag of  muscovado sugar I’ve ever bought and these were perfect. I’m definitely going to bake these over and over again. 

  11. Wow, made these today and they are so delicious! You’re right, they taste almost like a soft and chewy gingerbread with all that molasses flavor.  So happy with the way it turned out, thanks for the recipe!

  12. Yeah! I would definitely choose a chewy cookie over a hard cookie too. These look soooo good!

  13. These cookies look amazing! I need to try them soon!

    Paige

  14. Oooo! Yummy!

  15. These cookies are my heaven! Soft, bendy, almost molasses-like, with the chunky specks of sugar woven throughout, I would take this cookie over a chocolate chip cookie, a PB cookie, or really any other cookie, any day.  Love the looks of these!

  16. Agreed, chewy are always better! I’ve never baked with muscovado sugar before but I do tend to prefer dark brown sugar in my chocolate chip cookies anyway. I will hunt some down…

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