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Desserts

Murder Cookies spice cookies.

Molasses, cinnamon and mace cookies from the old recipe Reddit nicknamed “Murder Cookies.”

Makes
About 48 small cookies
Hands-on
25 minutes
Total time
1 hour, in batches
Effort
Easy
Make it yourself ↓Buy premade ↓

GET WHAT YOU NEED

Your shopping list

For About 48 small cookies.

Vegetable shortening

1 cup, plus a little for pans

Crisco all-vegetable shortening sticks, 20 oz

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Unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap

1/2 cup

Grandma’s Original unsulphured molasses, 24 oz

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All-purpose flour

3 1/2 cups, plus a little for pressing

Amazon Grocery all-purpose flour, 2 lb

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Starting a sourdough culture requires extra flour for repeated feeds; buy enough beyond the bread dough quantity.

Amounts are what the recipe uses, not package sizes. Compare quantities and product details before buying.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Tools & supplies

Mixer and bowl

Creams the shortening mixture.

Hamilton Beach stand and hand mixer with 4 qt bowl

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Baking sheets, cooling rack and flat-bottomed glass

Shapes evenly flattened cookies.

Nordic Ware Aluminum Half-sheet Pan

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Ultra Cuisine Stainless Steel Cooling Racks, 2 count

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Libbey Heavy Base Drinking Glasses, 8 count

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Use gentle pressure with an undamaged glass to flatten the dough. Buy two sheets if baking both trays at once.

STEP BY STEP

Make it

  1. Prepare

    Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease baking sheets.

  2. Mix wet ingredients

    Beat sugar, shortening, molasses and egg together until evenly combined.

  3. Finish dough

    Combine flour, salt, baking soda and spices. Beat into the wet mixture with the milk.

  4. Shape

    Drop tablespoon portions onto sheets, leaving spreading room. Lightly flatten with a floured glass.

  5. Bake

    Bake 12–14 minutes per batch, until edges set. Let cookies firm briefly on the sheet before moving to a rack.

Good to know

  • The original poster supplied the 350°F, 12–14 minute bake in a comment.
  • Use culinary ground mace; blackstrap molasses gives a substantially more bitter result.

SAVE THE MAKING

Prefer it ready-made?

Compare these finished options with making your own.

Molasses spice cookies

A comparable ready-made spice cookie, not the original recipe.

Archway soft molasses cookies, 9.5 oz

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Sources & further reading

Independent instructions informed by the sources below. No affiliation or endorsement is implied. These instructions have not been kitchen- or workshop-tested by DIBuyIt.

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