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Don’t have molasses, or realized you’re all out while you’re cooking? Here’s the best substitute for molasses to use in baking and recipes.
Making a recipe that calls for molasses and don’t have it? Molasses is a syrup that is a byproduct of the process of making sugar. It has a nuanced flavor that’s subtly sweet, bitter and almost smoky. Don’t have time to shop for it or can’t find it? Or cooking and just realized you don’t have it? Here are some substitute ideas.
Keep in mind: molasses is hard to replace
If you’re cooking something that features molasses like ginger molasses cookies or gingerbread, here’s our advice. Try to find the real thing if at all possible! The signature flavor of molasses cannot be replaced by these substitutes. It’s worth waiting for when you’re able to find it. But if you must: keep reading for the best substitutes.
Best molasses substitute
1. Maple syrup and brown sugar
The best substitute for molasses? Brown sugar and maple syrup. Brown sugar actually is granulated sugar with molasses added, so it has a bit of the flavor already. Maple syrup helps to bring in the liquid sweetener of molasses. Here’s the substitution ratio:
- Ratio: for ½ cup molasses, substitute ¼ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup maple syrup
- Tip: consider slightly increasing the spices in the recipe to account for the missing nuance of molasses
2. Honey
The next best substitute for molasses? Honey. It lacks the dark molasses flavor, so you’ll lose a lot of the complexity in your recipe. But if you need a quick fix, this works. Again, consider amping the spices a bit to account for the missing molasses flavor.
Related recipes
Here are some recipes that use molasses:
