And featuring...Molasses?

September 12, 2008 12:53 PM

We accidentally ended up with two opened, all-but-full bottles of molasses in the pantry. Anyone have good/interesting recipes featuring (or even just using) molasses to share?
posted by leahwrenn to Food & Drink (30 answers total)

There are lots of different ways to use up molasses without even leaving the cookie genre, but it keeps really well, so don't panic.
posted by Acari at 1:05 PM on September 12, 2008

You can make a nice molasses/orange glaze for chicken. I don't have the recipe with me.

Then again, if you just have a sack of chicken feathers, I can think of at least one other application.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 1:08 PM on September 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

Giiiiinger snaps. But in my experience it has stayed good for way over a year (or longer...we then used it).
posted by phunniemee at 1:09 PM on September 12, 2008

Indian pudding!
posted by nicwolff at 1:13 PM on September 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

Track down recipes for French "pan d'epice" ("honey bread"). It's a very gingerbread-y, cake-y kind of thing; the recipe I have uses honey and molasses and four different spices; it's lovely and keeps a while. (The recipe I use is in the Chocolate and Zucchini cookbook, but other recipes are out there, and probably similar.)

There's also hermits, an old-fashioned New England cookie (and proof that New Englanders came up with the idea of bar cookies first).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:15 PM on September 12, 2008

Does molasses ever go bad? It might crystallize I suppose but I've never had a jar or carton of the stuff turn on me in any way.
posted by GuyZero at 1:25 PM on September 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

mix a few tablespoons of stone-ground mustard with a few drizzles of molasses (stirring molasses into the mustard dollops until you reach the desired consistency) and use it as an all-purpose glaze/bbq sauce. It takes about 30 seconds to make and goes really well on both pork loin and chicken.
posted by Chrischris at 1:28 PM on September 12, 2008

I made this Molasses Glazed Turkey Breast a while back, and it is delicious! It's very messy and sort of stinks up your kitchen while it cooks, but it's worth it. I used a bone-in breast from Trader Joe's and used a meat thermometer instead of going by time.
posted by peep at 1:29 PM on September 12, 2008

Best answer: Silver Palate's Molasses Cookies

They are so freaking good. Like a very soft ginger snap. My college dining hall made cookies from a similar recipe and whenever they served them I would walk out with a dozen in my pockets and another eight stuffed in my bra.
posted by Metroid Baby at 1:32 PM on September 12, 2008 [3 favorites]

It only uses a cup of molasses, but I am a big fan of this gingerbread cake, which also includes guinness among its ingredients.
posted by Schismatic at 1:38 PM on September 12, 2008

It'll just about keep forever if you never stick a dirty utensil in there, but okay, you want to use it up. I'm thinking it's golden molasses or something, not blackstrap, because the latter might never come out of a bottle and I always see it in a square carton.

One way to use it is when you are out of brown sugar, and you can mix part molasses and part white sugar to get the brown sugar flavour in your baking or in oatmeal. Molasses also makes a good brown sugar substitute for cinnamon toast. Better, actually, because it's already melted. It's good on bread or rice cakes (does anyone still eat those?) on top of some nut butter with sesame seeds on top of the molasses.
posted by Listener at 1:39 PM on September 12, 2008

You could make lots of toffee and give it away to friends. As fall is nearly upon us, you could make toffee apples, too.
posted by jedicus at 1:51 PM on September 12, 2008

BBQ sauce. Mix with ketchup and wooster sauce (yes, spelling on purpose), etc. You can find a ton of recipes on the intertubes.
posted by noahv at 1:56 PM on September 12, 2008

I bought molasses solely for making Finnish cabbage rolls, and have never regretted it. The rolls are filling and delicious, and also lots of fun to make. You could easily get away with putting in a lot more molasses than the recipe says, also -- I like my cabbage rolls rather darker than the recipe describes.
posted by vorfeed at 2:02 PM on September 12, 2008

These gingersnaps are great (do the sifting, it makes a difference). I go through molasses very quickly with this recipe. But molasses does keep well in the pantry.
posted by k8to at 2:06 PM on September 12, 2008

You can use it in place of honey in any wheat bread recipe; pumpernickel requires it. You can also add it to baked beans, to the barbecue sauce you use to make pulled pork.
posted by headspace at 2:13 PM on September 12, 2008

The Best Gingerbread in the World (my grandmother's recipe):

1 stick butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. dark molasses
1/2 c. boiling water
1 1/2 c. flour
1 egg
1 tsp of ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and baking soda. Mix it all up and put
in floured pan bake at 375 for 25 to 30 minutes.
posted by cachondeo45 at 2:15 PM on September 12, 2008 [8 favorites]

I like warm milk with molasses in it. Mmm.
posted by miss tea at 2:23 PM on September 12, 2008

Molasses taffy is very simple and tasty. It's good for gifts.
posted by Alison at 2:47 PM on September 12, 2008

Boston Brown Bread. Incredibly tasty :) And not difficult to prepare. The recipe says that you should steam the bread in a coffee can covered with foil and string. But in practice, you can use a steamer if you have one, or just put the batter in a pan, cover the pan with tin foil (no need for the string) and put the pan in a much larger pan full of hot water in the oven.
posted by Cygnet at 2:55 PM on September 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

If it's blackstrap (ours came in a bottle), it will also keep forever. You can use it in cookie recipes and things, but it does have a stronger flavor than regular molasses, so you might have to adjust quantities. We make triple ginger cookies with it (powdered, crystalized, and fresh ginger). I've also been known to eat spoonfuls of it. It may be an acquired taste, but I'm darn happy I acquired it.
posted by rtha at 2:58 PM on September 12, 2008

Pumpkin pie!
posted by arcticwoman at 3:19 PM on September 12, 2008

Mahogany Chicken Wings. Simple, easy, and addicting, though cleaning can be messy, so it's suggested you use non-stick spray and aluminum foil.
posted by uxo at 3:26 PM on September 12, 2008

Joe Froggers = dang yummy
posted by jammy at 3:57 PM on September 12, 2008

Molasses cookies are one of my favorites, but if you're looking for something more savory, Bobby Flay's Molasses-Mustard Glazed Pork is one of the recipes I make over and over again. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup molasses. (I make mine with pork loin chops instead of as pork skewers.) Super easy and super delicious.
posted by geeky at 4:13 PM on September 12, 2008

I can't believe no one has mentioned shoo-fly pie
posted by acrasis at 4:52 PM on September 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

Or shoe-fly cake! Making it is kind of like doing the elementary school volcano science project.

I also enjoy using molasses in granola.
posted by yarrow at 5:27 PM on September 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

I use molasses in my baked beans. Use it to replace some of the brown sugar.
posted by onhazier at 7:02 PM on September 12, 2008

I like using molasses instead of other sweeteners in shakes and smoothies since it's a decent source of iron.
posted by Deathalicious at 9:46 PM on September 12, 2008

Flapjacks!
posted by stackhaus23 at 10:17 AM on September 13, 2008