Kitchen Tips All About Ingredients Packaged Goods What Is Molasses? There's more to this Southern staple than meets the eye. By Nadia Hassani Nadia Hassani Before Nadia immigrated to the United States from her native Germany, she lived and worked in several other countries. This experience and her fluency in different languages has provided her in-depth knowledge of other cuisines and cultures. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines Updated on February 8, 2021 Molasses is a thick, dark syrup and a by-product from processing sugar beets or sugar cane. When sugar is produced, the sugar cane or sugar beets are first crushed and their juice is extracted. Then that juice is boiled down until it forms sugar crystals, which are extracted as sugar. The remaining liquid is molasses. What are the Different Types of Molasses? In sugar production, the boiling down of sugar juice is repeated several times, and each round yields a different type of molasses. Light, Dark, and Blackstrap Molasses Light and dark molasses are obtained from the first and second boiling. Blackstrap molasses comes from the third boiling. This is the thickest, darkest, and least sweet but rather bitter-tasting of all molasses. Unsulphured vs. Sulphured Molasses No sulphur dioxide, a preservative that prevents molasses from spoiling, is used during the processing of unsulphured molasses. Unsulphured molasses is made from naturally ripened sugar canes so they are sweeter and have a cleaner sugar cane flavor than sulphured molasses. Other types of molasses are pomegranate molasses, sorghum molasses, carob molasses, and date molasses. What's the Difference Between Sulphured and Unsulphured Molasses? Photo by Getty Images. What Is Molasses Used For? Light molasses is used as a syrup for pancakes and waffles. Dark molasses is used mainly in baking, especially during Christmastime for gingerbread, as well as for Pennsylvania Dutch Shoofly Pie, and for Boston Baked Beans. You will most likely find molasses in the baking aisle or by the pancake syrups. Molasses Nutrition While molasses, unlike refined sugar, contains some vitamins and minerals — and blackstrap molasses, the most concentrated of all molasses, has the highest nutrient content — you need to keep in mind that molasses are mainly carbohydrates and very high in sugar with about 116 calories per 2 tablespoons. So like all sugars, molasses should be consumed only in small amounts. Molasses Substitutes The best replacement for molasses is dark brown sugar, especially in recipes where molasses flavor is important. Substitute 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar for 1 cup molasses. The next best substitute is to replace molasses with corn syrup, honey or maple syrup in a 1:1 ratio. Related: Almond Pasta, Marzipan, Frangipane: What's the Difference? Salted vs. Unsalted Butter: What's the Difference? Browse our entire collection of Molasses Cookie Recipes. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit