A new cookie recipe showed up in my inbox today. It's called Disney Parks Molasses Crackle Cookies, and the cookies are supposed to be similar to the ones served at The Wilderness Lodge. I've never stayed at The Wilderness Lodge and don't know what their cookies are like, but I knew I had to try these.
On paper this recipe looks a whole lot like the old Crackly Ginger Cookies with Canola Oil recipe from McCall's, but with slightly different ratios. In my opinion, those "slightly different ratios" make it a new cookie. Sometimes the smallest changes make a huge difference. Anyhow, one thing that was obviously different was the Disney recipe does not call for salt. I'll bet the cookies are fine without it, but I've always added salt to molasses cookies so I went ahead and threw in ½ teaspoon of Morton kosher.
Baking Notes
Since the weight wasn't included, I used 130 grams of flour per cup and I used King Arthur brand which has more protein in it than other brands. This made the dough very stiff. As I watched the cookies bake, I worried they wouldn't spread enough, but about 7 minutes in they did start to spread nicely. They also developed some of the biggest, pretty, crevices (crackles). Also, not sure if it is worth noting but I baked these in my Breville toaster oven because my Blue Star's ignitor went out again. I was actually baking these in the toaster while the technician was installing a new ignitor. The little Breville does a great shop with crackley cookies.
Molasses Crackle Cookies Flavor & Texture
With a whole tablespoon of ginger and 1 ½ teaspoons of cinnamon these have plenty of spice. For the molasses, I used mostly mild, but incorporated a small bit of blackstrap (about 2 teaspoons as part of the ⅓ cup) for extra punch. And the salt I put in, which was not part of the original recipe, added a little more flavor. I could have gone with ¼ teaspoon, but the cookies were also good with ½. The texture was very chewy which we loved. Overall, these were an A+!
More Disney Parks Recipes
If you want to take a look at some of the other new Disney Parks recipes, they're here.
Recipe
Molasses Crackle Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, measure carefully or weigh (390 grams)
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon salt (scant) -- you can omit it if you'd like
- 1 cup canola oil (I used grapeseed oil)
- 1 ¾ cup sugar (350 grams)
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup mild molasses
Sugar For Rolling
- ½ cup extra sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Thoroughly whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt (if using).
- Cream together oil and sugar, then add egg and molasses. You can use a stand mixer or do it by hand.
- Add the flour mixture and stir until well blended. You should have a fairly soft dough.
- Shape into 28 to 30 balls. Roll the balls in reserved sugar or put them in a bag with extra sugar and shake to coat.
- Arrange on baking sheets spacing about 2 ½ inches apart.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 12 minutes or until cookies appear cracked and set. Let cool on the tray for 3 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Anna says
Hello Kiyo!
I've had that happen with other recipes. Doughs with lots of oil do tend to be this way, but I don't remember these being super oily. You've got two options. You can use 3/4 cup oil and then drizzle in the last 1/4 cup until you feel like the dough is right OR you can do it exactly the way you did this time and use 30 more grams flour. Lately my flour has been on the dry side so it easily soaked up all that oil, but I've made other things at other times (like the vegan molasses cookies) where I've had to adjust the oil and flour.
I'm not sure it made a difference, but I made the batch in the photos with grapeseed oil.
Kiyo says
Aloha Anna!
I made these cookies yesterday and they turned out delicious! I weighed the flour (thank you for the weight measurement) but my dough turned out quite oily and didn't hold together when I tried to roll it into balls so I sort of patted them together. When they baked, there was quite a bit of oil on the parchment paper so I was worried about the outcome. Once cooled, they were delightfully chewy with crispy edges! Would you recommend I decrease the amount of oil the next time? I also refrigerated the dough for an hour. Thank you for your advice! The cookies have a wonderful flavor.
Kiyo
Sue K says
These are really beautiful cookies! I’m really glad I tried them.
While I really like these I think your Crunchy Gingersnaps with the cayenne will forever be my favorite.
Sue K says
I love a molasses cookie. I look forward to trying these!
Anna says
Thanks Barbara!
Barbara says
The Molasses Crackle Cookie is a delight to your taste buds. They are crisp on the top but wonderfully chewy on the inside. The balance of spice’s & sweetness was perfect. They reminded me of cookies from my childhood, we would buy from Sander’s in Detroit MI.
This will be one of my go to recipes for my family & my memories.
Well done Anna