Low-Sugar Healthy Molasses Cookies

Low-Sugar Healthy Molasses Cookies are delicious for a holiday cookie made with some lower-carb ingredient switches. This is not a completely sugar-free cookie because molasses definitely adds some carbs, but if you like molasses cookies, I’m betting you’ll like them.

PIN these Low-Sugar Whole Wheat Molasses Almond Cookies.

For the last few holiday seasons I’ve been experimenting with making more carb-conscious cookies, and although I’m not really a baker, I’m getting better at looking at a recipe and figuring out how to adapt it. This recipe for Low-Sugar Healthy Molasses Cookies was adapted from a cookie in the Bob’s Red Mill Baking Book that used whole wheat flour.

I subbed an approved sweetener for sugar to make these cookies more carb-conscious. I used butter, but Coconut oil would also be a good choice. I also switched out some of the flour for almond flour for a slightly different texture and a more nutritious cookie.

This is not an ultra-sweet tasting cookie, and molasses definitely adds some carbs, but if you like molasses cookies, I’m betting you’ll like them.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe:

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• butter (or coconut oil)
• Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link), or other sweetener of your choice
• White Whole Wheat Flour (affiliate link)
• Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (affiliate link)
• Almond Flour (affiliate link) (see notes)
• baking soda
• salt
• ground cinnamon (affiliate link)
• ground ginger (affiliate link)
• ground Allspice (affiliate link)
• molasses

How did we adapt this recipe to be a Healthy Molasses Cookie?

Everyone has their own opinion about what makes a healthy recipe of course! But for these molasses cookies I made them healthier by replacing some of the flour with almond flour, switching out the sugar for Monkfruit Sweetener, and adding an option to use coconut oil instead of the traditional butter.

How to Make Low-Sugar Healthy Molasses Cookies:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Cream together the butter, margarine, or coconut oil with the sweetener of your choice. I would use butter and Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link).
2. Combine white whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, almond flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground allspice. (If you don’t have both kinds of flour I am guessing you could use all white whole wheat or all whole wheat pastry flour, but I haven’t tried that.)
3. Add half the flour mixture to the sweetener/fat mixture with half the molasses and beat to combine, then add the other half of flour and molasses and beat again to combine.
4. Chill one hour.
5. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough, smash it down until it’s flat, and arrange cookies on baking sheet. (I used parchment paper.)
6. Bake cookies at 350F/180C about 14-16 minutes.
7. Let cool 20-30 minutes and enjoy.

More Low-Sugar or Sugar-free Cookies:

Check out Sugar-Free (or Low-Sugar Cookies and Brownies for more ideas for healthier cookies.

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Yield: 20 medium sized cookies

Low-Sugar Healthy Molasses Cookies

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 16 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 46 minutes

Low-Sugar Healthy Molasses Cookies are delicious for a less indulgent holiday cookie!

Ingredients

• 6 T butter (see notes)
• 4 T Monkfruit Sweetener, or sweetener of your choice
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup almond flour (see notes)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/3 cup molasses (see notes)

Instructions

1. Put the margarine, butter, or coconut oil and sweetener of your choice into a medium-sized plastic bowl and use hand beater to beat until the mixture is creamed together.  (You can use a stand mixer, but I thought it was easier with a hand beater for this small amount.)
2. In a smaller bowl, combine white whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, and almond flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground allspice.
3. Add half the flour mixture to the bowl with the sweetener mixture, along with half the molasses, and beat at low speed until fully combined.
4. Then add the other half of the flour mixture and other half of the molasses and beat again.
5. When dough is all combined, mold it into a ball, cover the bowl with cling wrap, and refrigerate for 40-60 minutes, or longer if you get distracted.
6. When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
7. Cover the baking sheet with parchment paper (or oil it if you prefer.)The original recipe called for cookies to be rolled out with a rolling pin and cut with cookie cutters, so if you want shapes other than circles you can definitely do that.
8. I used a cookie scoop to scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough, then used a flat metal turner to smash the cookies (using another turner to scrape them off.)
9. Make cookies about 3/8 inch thick.
10. Bake cookies for 14-16 minutes, or until they’re just starting to look golden on the edges.  (Shorter baking time will make chewier cookies and longer baking time will make crispier cookies.)
11. Let cookies cool 20-30 minutes.

Notes

I prefer Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) for baking. You can buy Almond Flour (affiliate link) at Amazon.com if you have a hard time finding it. I used butter but you can use coconut oil or margarine if you prefer. Don't use blackstrap molasses, unless you want a stronger molasses flavor and don't mind a few more carbs.

I haven't tried freezing these but I can't imagine why they wouldn't freeze well.

Recipe adapted from Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies in the Bob’s Red Mill Baking Book.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

20

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 128Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 165mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 2gSugar: 5gProtein: 3g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Low-Sugar Healthy Molasses Cookies made with whole grain flour, almond flour, and an approved sweetener would be suitable for phase 2 or 3 of the original South Beach Diet. (South Beach would recommend margarine or coconut oil.) The molasses has sugar, so these are not a sugar-free cookie, and they’re calorie dense, so make them a “once-in-a-while-treat” and use portion control if you’re actively trying to lose weight. Even with the changes I made, the Healthy Molasses Cookies are probably too high in carbs for a traditional low-carb eating plan.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Dessert Recipes to find more ideas like this one. Use the Recipes by Diet Type index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You can also Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for Healthy Molasses Cookies that includes almond flour, whole wheat flour and pastry flour, and Monkfruit Sweetener were first posted in 2010. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.

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