When the holiday season arrives, every family heads to the grocery store in search of molasses, since you just cannot celebrate Christmas without those gingerbread cookies.

Yet, when everyone is attempting to get their hands on a product that isn’t very popular on a daily basis, many locations sell out rapidly. And if you are not one of those persons who plans ahead of time, you may be forced to find an alternative.

So, if you can’t get your hands on molasses, are you truly doomed? Luckily, this is not the case. It may be substituted with black treacle, syrups, and brown sugar.

My name is Angie, and I’ve been baking for almost ten years. I am exclusively responsible for preparing gingerbread cookies for my friends and family every Christmas. But I didn’t have molasses on hand every year. In this essay, I’ll share with you a couple molasses substitutes for cookies.

Let’s get these cookies going!

Why Use Molasses in Cookies

Before we go into molasses replacements, let’s look at what molasses does in cookies.

Molasses is a black syrup produced during the sugar-making process, which involves extracting sugar cane juice and boiling it until the sugar crystallizes. The remaining liquid is a black syrup known as molasses.

Molasses is an excellent ingredient to baked goods such as cookies due to its concentrated and more nuanced sweetness. It has a sticky liquid consistency that adds moisture and chewiness to baked goods.

Moreover, the rich hue of molasses lends a lovely touch of caramel color to your baked goods, giving gingerbread cookies the iconic brown color.

Molasses Substitutes

Here are six other molasses substitutions you may use in cookie recipes.

1. Black Treacle

Molasses may be difficult to locate in the United Kingdom. Instead, you’ll discover treacle, a British substance that’s considered the British counterpart of molasses.

Treacle and molasses are very similar. The distinction is that treacle is a combination of molasses and sugar syrup. When contrasted to molasses, black treacle has a more bitter and burned taste.

But, if you don’t mind a little bitter flavor, black treacle is perhaps the best molasses alternative. It will have the same moisturizing and tenderizing effect as molasses, as well as the same taste and color.

Just replace the molasses in your recipe with the equal quantity of black treacle.

2. Dark Corn Syrup

Dark corn syrup is made from a combination of maize syrup and refiners sugar. This is an excellent substitute for light or moderate molasses since the colors are fairly similar, and black corn syrup adds a degree of sweetness to the baked delicacy.

In your recipe, you may substitute molasses with the same quantity of dark corn syrup. It is a suitable substitute in terms of texture and color, but the product will be sweeter and less complex if dark corn syrup is used instead of molasses.

3. Brown Sugar

It may be difficult to visualize given that brown sugar is solid granules rather than liquid molasses. Brown sugar, on the other hand, is more akin to molasses than any of the syrups on this list.

Brown sugar is a combination of sugar and molasses. As a result, brown sugar is the finest flavor-wise alternative for molasses. To substitute brown sugar for molasses, use a cup of brown sugar for every cup of molasses.

Fun fact: If you run out of brown sugar but have molasses on hand, you can manufacture your own by combining molasses and granulated sugar.

4. Golden Syrup

In cookies, golden syrup, sometimes known as light treacle, may be used in place of molasses. It is a rich golden amber syrup created from sugar cane juice. It has a caramel-like flavor and a sticky feel comparable to molasses but is considerably lighter in flavor.

To substitute golden syrup for molasses, use one cup of golden syrup for every cup of molasses called for in the recipe.

5. Maple Syrup

Another cooking necessity is maple syrup. The darker the maple syrup, similar to molasses, the stronger and more noticeable its flavor.

Maple syrup is an excellent natural molasses alternative. Both have diverse taste characteristics and are comparable in color and consistency. Caramel is often described as nutty, caramel-like, with a dash of spice and coffee. Maple syrup will provide moisture to your baked products but will not make them chewy like molasses.

To substitute maple syrup for molasses, use one cup maple syrup for every one cup molasses.

6. Honey

Another natural molasses replacement, but much less strong and with less of a burned caramel taste. In consistency, honey is quite similar to molasses, even more so than maple syrup. Yet, honey has a unique taste that is less spicy. It may also taste fruity at times.

Replace one cup of molasses with one cup of honey. Your cookies will come out nice and pleasant, but the taste will be less robust. But, if you don’t mind the spicy flavor, honey is an excellent substitute.

FAQs

Here are some frequently asked molasses questions that you may still have. I’ve responded to them below.

Can you make your own molasses?

Molasses may be produced at home. But be warned: it will consume the whole of your day. You’ll need to boil and stir your sugar cane juice or sugar beets for 6 hours to produce molasses. You can make molasses using this thorough recipe.

What’s the difference between Sulphured and Unsulphured molasses?

Normal molasses, commonly known as unsulphured molasses, is derived from ripe sugarcane. Sulphured molasses is manufactured from younger sugarcane and contains sulphur to protect the young unripe sugarcane.

Is there a difference between molasses and blackstrap molasses?

Molasses is classified into three types: moderate, dark, and blackstrap. When the molasses darkens in color, the sweetness level falls. Ordinary molasses is reddish in color and has an acidic sweetness, but blackstrap molasses is darker, saltier, and bitterer.

Which is better for you, honey or molasses?

It all depends on your definition of better. In terms of cost, molasses is often less expensive than honey. Honey has a more flowery and light flavor than a smokier, more bitter flavor.

In terms of nutrition, honey is a naturally occurring sweetener, while molasses is a man-made sweetener. Molasses, according to foodstruct.com, is higher in vitamins and minerals than honey. Therefore it is up to you to determine which is best based on which of these you value.

Final Thoughts

Cookies are a must-have for the holidays. Molasses is delicious in cookies, but it is not your only choice. I hope that now that you have six additional alternatives, you won’t be as concerned when molasses disappears from the store shelves.

Is there anything else you can substitute for molasses? Which one is your personal favorite? Please let us know in the comments!

Angie’s Bio