Q: I have a lot of molasses left over from making a batch of gingerbread cookies over the holidays.
What else can I make with molasses that is NOT reminiscent of Christmas? Thanks!
Sent by Amanda
Editor: Amanda, this is super old-fashioned, but I love molasses on cornbread! It's such a treat, especially for breakfast in the wintertime.
Also, it's a little hard for me to think of gingerbread as just for the holidays; a damp, dark gingerbread cake is welcome any time at my table. Why not make something like this pear cake?
You can also just make brown sugar with a little molasses and white sugar:
• Baking Tip: Make Your Own Brown Sugar
Readers, any more suggestions for Amanda and all her molasses?
Related: What's the Deal with Blackstrap Molasses?
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Bacsac Bacsquare 04...

you can make BBQ sauce with molasses and cookies and you can use it to glaze pork....check out the website for my favorite brand of molasses
http://www.grandmasmolasses.com/grandmas/grandmas_recipes.asp
Baked beans, although you don't need very much.
Hermit cookies might be too holiday reminiscent for you, but I love them anytime.
Also, I used molasses instead of honey in that peanut butter granola recipe that ran on this site some months ago ('cause I didn't have any honey that day). It was great.
Pecan pie!
Shoe-fly Pie
Homemade Rum (jk, that's a bit illegal)
There's a recent Good Eats about mollasses:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/good-eats/pantry-raid-x-dark-side-of-the-cane/index.html
Add a couple tablespoons to a pot of chili.
Looks like Food Network has lots of good ideas:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/search/delegate.do?Nr=Record%20Type:Result&N=0&fnSearchString=molasses&No=0
If you have a slow cooker, you could try this recipe: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2010/01/sweet-mustard-roast-beef-or-pork-slow.html. It's really easy and is a good way to use about 1/2 a jar of molasses.
Hands down, these oatmeal cream pies - http://cravingchronicles.com/2009/04/01/homemade-oatmeal-cream-pies/
YUM!!!
I just saw a recipe today with molasses....
http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2011/01/whole-wheat-molasses-bread/
I substitute some of the honey in my bread recipe with molasses for added vitamins.
Home made baked beans. I just finished looking up instructions for doing them in a pressure cooker:
http://pressurecookingwithlornasass.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/pressure-cooked-boston-baked-beans/
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1850,152166-240200,00.html
Bobby Flay's Grilled Steak Sandwich! Super easy and the steak sauce uses molasses. It's really good.
http://blogs.discovery.com/tlc-steamy-kitchen/2010/06/bobby-flays-grilled-steak-sandwich-with-steak-sauce.html
I've been making Mark Bittman's Whole Wheat Molasses Quick Bread and it is amazing! And healthy. And tastes nothing like Christmas! :) http://rosemarried.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/whole-wheat-molasses-quick-bread/
Anadama bread. One of my husband's favorites. Wonderful warmed and spread thick with butter, for breakfast or with soup. :)
If you happen to have a lot of snow too, you can make Little House Molasses Snow Candy that I saw over on the Fix Me A Snack blog. http://www.fixmeasnack.com/2011/01/little-house-molasses-snow-candy-recipe/ Or these are my favorite cookies and are not too similar to gingerbread to be classified as Christmas-y. http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/752874-Molasses-Softies
I like to mix a little in when I make chili. The subtle sweetness is a nice counterpoint to all the savory flavors, and it "darkens" the flavor just right.
Peanut butter, banana and molasses sandwiches
I'd say some good 'ole bbq sauce could be made with that molasses! Google some recipes!
Related question for anyone who knows: what's the shelf life for molasses? Does it keep forever like honey?
Noble Pig has an INCREDIBLE molasses chicken recipe that freezes really well. As she says in her comments, it's best doubled (or quadrupled!) I make mine extra spicy and throw in a few chopped chipotles in adobo.
http://noblepig.com/2009/11/01/black-pepper-and-molasses-pulled-chicken-sandwiches.aspx
I'm no expert, but the molasses I bought in fall of 2009 (for gingerbread cookies) I used in fall 2010 (for ginerbread cookies) with no ill effects. It was still the same consistency 1 year later and tasted the same.
That said, be sure to carefully clean the lid/jar rim if you're not going to open up the jar for a year so that it doesn't crystallize shut.
King Arthur Flour has a fall-like recipe (as lots of molasses things are) for pumpkin whoopie pies but it's more reminiscent of Thanksgiving than anything else, and it's a great way to get rid of any extra pumpkin puree you've got, too. They're delicious, I've made them twice - don't use organic pumpkin, though! It spreads more and makes the pies too flat.
The cream cheese frosting is very breakfast-cake-icing-like, so these'd make a great breakfast bread (if you eat sweet things for breakfast) which might make them less reminiscent of Thanksgiving dessert
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/pumpkin-whoopie-pies-recipe
Make gingerbread cookies with it in 2011. And 2012. And 2013. And probably 2014. It's not like it will go bad.
I made some molasses muffins last year with shredded apples and carrots. So great if you love the taste of molasses and pretty healthy too.
homemade pizza dough:
http://www.home-ec101.com/simple-pizza-crust-redux/
and/or
http://ragamuffindesign.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/home-made-pizza/
My dad always ate molasses on homemade biscuits, and I have to admit, it's really good.
Use it as the sweetener in glazed carrots! It's a deeper flavor than brown sugar and you don't need very much of it.
I've had the same problem, so I've tried using a teaspoon here and there in both savory and sweet recipes. I think I may keep a jar handy in my pantry permanently. It's so versitile and it really adds depth to a lot of dishes.
Today I even put a very small amount in my oatmeal. Normally I just like savory oatmeal with salt or soy sauce, but a teaspoon of molasses with oatmeal and a little milk is really delicious.
Sweet potato pudding. Whip up baked sweets, eggs, molasses, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg. Bake.
Joy the Baker just posted a Whole Wheat Molasses bread today that looks pretty tasty! http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2011/01/whole-wheat-molasses-bread/
According to www.stilltasty.com, it has a shelf life of two years for best quality.
I made bran muffins earlier tonight with molasses and applesauce as sweeteners.
brown sugar!
http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2010/08/how-to-make-brown-sugar/
great question. and I would REALLY love to have ideas on how to use up my sorghum.
These molasses bars are good, and easy.
http://kitchenmagpie.com/molasses-bars
I stir a little into oatmeal. Yum.
Coffe
You can bake some regular gingerbread with lemon icing -- the lemon makes it seem not so Christmas-y. There's a good recipe in Nigella Lawson's "How to be a Domestic Goddess," posted here by epicurious:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fresh-Gingerbread-with-Lemon-Icing-105095
It's a bit thick, but it's always a favorite on pancakes.
Molassess makes a wonderful glaze for salmon (usually involves cider vinegar, mustard, etc). A similar glaze is what actually got me into eating salmon.
A while back, I was making chocolate chip cookies and found I was out of vanilla. So I added a small amount of molasses to give the flavor a little depth.
The result was quite good, so I started experimenting with substituting molasses for vanilla in other things. The results didn't taste like I'd used vanilla, obviously, but they did taste good and slightly unusual.
Something from my/my mother's/my grandmother's childhood that I still like: stir a tablespoon of molasses into a big cup of hot milk. It's a great alternative to hot chocolate.
Molasses is a good base ingredient for bbq sauce; you may want to use it to create an original!