What's molasses? | Imamother

kitov

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 2:04 pm

I feel so stupid. I saw this ingredient in Miriam Pascal's recipe for ginger sandwich cookies and I have no idea what it is. Neither does my mom and pop grocery owner.

Where can I find it, or better yet, what can serve as a substitute?

Iymnok

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 2:10 pm

It's a byproduct of sugar. It's sweet with a deep color and flavor. It's what wasn't removed from the brown sugar.
Go to a regular grocery store for some. It's a good pantry staple.
Honey, silan, or dark corn syrup could be substituted.

kitov

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 2:14 pm

Iymnok wrote:

How about sugar syrup or maple syrup? Between your suggestions and mine, what would be the closest to molasses?

FranticFrummie

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 2:17 pm

Molasses is amazing! It's thick, sticky, and slightly bitter at first. It's full of iron, vitamins, and trace minerals, and extremely good for you. Poor people used to bake with molasses because they couldn't afford fancy white sugar - and were much healthier than the average rich person. It's like whole wheat bread vs. white bread.

My family grew up rural and dirt poor, and I have lots of molasses recipies from my grandmother. It was always a staple in our home, and I have a jar in my kitchen right now. My cupboards would feel strangely empty without it, even though I don't use it so often these days.

Hmmmm, maybe I should go bake some molasses cookies!

Iymnok

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 2:19 pm

This is hard for me, I love molasses, and wouldn't replace it if I could help it. Honey has a similar consistency but a different flavor. A brown sugar syrup would more closely resemble the flavor.
I am not familiar with the flavor of dark corn syrup, but it sounds good.

kitov

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 3:36 pm

Does anyone know if kosher brands sell molasses or is it sold under a national brand and is kosher certified? (That would help me to figure out who sells it here)

kitov

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 3:39 pm

Oh for the love of google...

I googled kosher molasses and found this:
http://www.imamother.com/forum.....34163

zaq

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 3:39 pm

Dark brown sugar would be the closest as far as flavor. White sugar is brown sugar from which the molasses has been removed. In fact, if you have a recipe calling for brown sugar but have only white sugar and molasses, just mix some molasses into the sugar et voila, brown sugar. Light brown sugar is sugar that has been partly refined, iow some but not all of the molasses has been removed.

oliveoil

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 8:52 pm

also called treacle

Last edited by oliveoil on Wed, Oct 14 2015, 11:27 pm; edited 1 time in total

spring13

Wed, Oct 14 2015, 10:48 pm

Do you live outside the US? It's very easy to get in America, it's sort of an American thing - it's the byproduct of sugar refining, so it was the cheapest sweetener available back in the day (think pioneers in log cabins). According to the Star-K, unflavored molasses does not need a hechsher.

If you're in the UK or Australia, look for black treacle (which is the same thing). If you're in Israel and can't find it at all, try subbing in silan(date syrup) or the really dark brown sugar, or a dark honey.

Rutabaga

Thu, Oct 15 2015, 12:43 am

I have a bottle of Grandma's molasses in my cupboard with an OU.

FranticFrummie, I would love some recipes if you have the time to type them up. Do you have any cake or bar recipes that call for molasses or only cookies? Is it only used for baking or can you cook with it too?

kitov

Thu, Oct 15 2015, 10:54 am

I'm going to have to be resourceful now because I can't seem to find one that would satisfy our hechsher standards. Should I rather stick to1 cup of maple syrup/honey/dark corn syrup, or would it be a better idea to do 1/2 cup maple syrup mixed with 1/2 cup dark corn syrup, or 1//3 of each, honey, dk corn syrup and maple syrup?

You can tell I take my desserts very seriously....

kitov

Thu, Oct 15 2015, 11:07 am

Iymnok wrote:

Dark brown sugar but the texture may be different since it's dry.

The recipe already calls for dark brown sugar besides the molasses.