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Would you like to learn how to make a perfectly easy homemade molasses? If yes, then you’re on the right page! This thick syrup is used in a variety of recipes and it’s a great way to add a unique flavor to your desserts, salads, and savory dishes!
All you need are simple and affordable ingredients you most likely have in your kitchen! Sugar beets, or brown sugar, or even sugar cane, in addition to water and lemon juice will make the best homemade molasses full of great flavors and amazing texture.
A Thick Syrup for Almost Every Recipe
What Exactly Is Molasses?
Molasses is a thick and dark brown syrup somewhere between the texture of maple syrup and honey. So if simply put, molasses is a byproduct of sugar processing, commonly made from sugar beets, sugar cane, or brown sugar.
Sugar is boiled till a point when it becomes syrup, from which sugar crystals are extracted, and the remaining brownish-black thick liquid is known as molasses syrup.
Additionally, molasses can be made from sorghum, pomegranate, carob, and dates. But molasses from brown sugar or sugar beets is the easiest and most common way to make homemade molasses.
Different Kinds of Molasses
There are different kinds of molasses: light, dark, and blackstrap (dark brown molasses). So what differentiates them is how many times you boil the sugar syrup.
Light or regular molasses has a mild color and sweet flavor, and it is extracted from the first batch of boiled syrup.
Dark molasses has a brown color, deeper sweet flavor, and thicker consistency. It is made from the second boiling of the syrup.
Blackstrap molasses is the result of the third boiling, it has a dark black color and goes beyond sweetness, it is also a bit bitter.
Crystallized Molasses for You
When To Use Homemade Molasses?
Light molasses is best paired with desserts and salads, and is often used as a pancake and waffle syrup or a beverage sweetener. Make Almond Milk Strawberry Pancakes (Dairy Free) and Chocolate Quinoa Cookies, then dip the crispy pancakes and cookies in a light molasses syrup for the most flavorful combination.
Dark molasses is perfect in baking and puddings! Hence, some of my favorite desserts like Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, Effortless Banana Bread Pudding, and Oatmeal Pudding with a Twist will taste just perfect with homemade molasses.
Blackstrap molasses is better to be used with beans, meat dishes, barbeque sauce, or spicy dishes. For example, Crispy Air-Fried BBQ Chicken Wings, Plant-based Chicken Salad with Barbecue Vinaigrette, and Seasoned Air Fried Rotisserie Chicken will taste great with blackstrap molasses.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Homemade Molasses Recipe
Homemade molasses is surely a great way to sweeten and add unique flavor to many desserts and savory dishes!
It has no artificial additives, colorants, or preservatives!!
Ingredients are so simple and affordable!
It is easy to make even for beginners!
Even though it is homemade and all natural, yet this molasses lasts for up to 18 months!
The Best Way to Enhance The Flavor
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Store it in an airtight jar at room temperature, for up to 18 months.
Over time, sugar crystals can form in your homemade molasses. In this case, simply heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds until the sugar granules dissolve. Once it cools down, use as directed in your recipe.
There is no need to refrigerate molasses. Moreover, molasses will get crystallized once put in the fridge. So it is better to keep a closed jar of molasses in your pantry.
Light molasses has a mild sweet taste like sugary syrup, blackstrap molasses is overtly bitter, and dark molasses stands in-between.
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Tips for the Best Homemade Molasses
Put the jar of homemade molasses into a bowl of warm water if you find it too thick to pour.
If a gas is released when you open the jar, it means the molasses is fermented. Do not eat it and simply throw away.
It’s important to add lemon juice or vinegar so that it doesn’t crystalize after cooling down.
Don’t refrigerate it as it will lead to crystallization.
Ingredients for Easy Homemade Molasses
Homemade molasses are usually made using brown sugar, sugar beets, or sugarcane juice. All ways are simple and result in delicious molasses.
Brown Sugar Molasses:
- Dark brown sugar
- Water
- Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Sugar Beets Molasses:
- Sugar beets, finely chopped
- Water
Sugarcane Juice Molasses:
- Sugarcane juice (or sorghum juice)
Make Your Own Molasses Syrup
Steps To Prep For Easy Homemade Molasses
Here are the three most common and easy ways of making molasses at home: using brown sugar, sugar beets, or sugarcane juice. The first 2 ways are quick and easy, the third way is a bit longer but equally delicious and full of flavors.
How To Make Molasses From Brown Sugar:
Mix sugar and water into a saucepan over medium heat and bring it to boil.
Once sugar melts, add lemon juice and boil it until thick.
Take a few drops of the syrup on a plate and let it cool down. It should be of consistency of thick honey.
Once you reach the consistency of thick honey, remove the syrup from flame, and immediately transfer to a storage jar.
How To Make Molasses From Sugar Beets:
Put finely chopped sugar beets and water in a saucepan.
Bring it to a boil. Then keep stirring the mixture every 5 minutes to prevent the sugar beets from sticking to the saucepan.
Once the beets turn tender, turn off the heat and collect the beet water in a container while straining the content through a strainer.
Pour the collected beet water into another saucepan and bring it to a boil until it turns into a thick syrup.
Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool for half an hour. After that, place it in an airtight glass jar.
You can keep the sugar beets for recipes that include fish, salads, chicken, or store them for later use.
How To Make Molasses From Sugarcane Juice:
Pour the sugarcane juice into a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
Lower the flame and let it boil for 6 hours. Keep stirring it in intervals.
Once a green substance layer forms on the surface, skim it using a large spoon.
You will see that the color of the molasses turns from green to yellow. At this point, turn off the heat.
You may boil it for the second and third time, depending on the consistency and the type of molasses you desire, since there are three kinds of molasses which are light, dark, and blackstrap molasses.
Once you reach the desired color and consistency, turn off the heat and remove the pot. After 5 minutes, pour the molasses into an airtight container.
Gloppy Thick Syrup
Other Sweet Recipes For You To Try:
- Blender Mango Soft Serve |Ice Cream in 5 Minutes
- Cream Filled Brioche Buns
- Cinnamon and S’mores Cheesecake Trifle
- Chocolate Parfait Fluff
- Special Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts
- No Bake Nescafe Cake
- Aish El Saraya- Rose Water Bread Pudding
- Ashtello (Panna Cotta)
- Surprise Heart Cupcakes
- Middle-Eastern Pancakes (Atayif)
Easy Homemade Molasses
Ingredients
Ingredients For Brown Sugar Molasses:
- 2 cups dark brown sugar
- ¾ cups water
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Ingredients For Sugar Beets Molasses:
- 4 kg sugar beets, finely chopped
- 2 cups water
Ingredients For Sugarcane Juice Molasses:
- 4 liters sugarcane juice , or sorghum juice
Instructions
How To Make Molasses From Brown Sugar:
- Mix sugar and water into a saucepan over medium heat and bring it to boil.
- Once sugar melts, add lemon juice and boil it until thick.
- Take a few drops of the syrup on a plate and let it cool down. It should be of consistency of thick honey.
- Once you reach the consistency of thick honey, remove the syrup from flame, and immediately transfer to a storage jar.
How To Make Molasses From Sugar Beets:
- Put finely chopped sugar beets and water in a saucepan.
- Bring it to a boil. Then keep stirring the mixture every 5 minutes to prevent the sugar beets from sticking to the saucepan.
- Once the beets turn tender, turn off the heat and collect the beet water in a container while straining the content through a strainer.
- Pour the collected beet water into another saucepan and bring it to a boil until it turns into a thick syrup.
- Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool for half an hour. After that, place it in an airtight glass jar.
- You can keep the sugar beets for recipes that include fish, salads, chicken, or store them for later use.
How To Make Molasses From Sugarcane Juice:
- Pour the sugarcane juice into a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
- Lower the flame and let it boil for 6 hours. Keep stirring it in intervals.
- Once a green substance layer forms on the surface, skim it using a large spoon.
- You will see that the color of the molasses turns from green to yellow. At this point, turn off the heat.
- You may boil it for the second and third time, depending on the consistency and the type of molasses you desire, since there are three kinds of molasses which are light, dark, and blackstrap molasses.
- Once you reach the desired color and consistency, turn off the heat and remove the pot. After 5 minutes, pour the molasses into an airtight container.
Notes
- Light molasses is obtained in the first boil and it is mildly sweet with a light yellow color. Dark molasses is obtained from the second boil. It is darker, thicker, and less sweet. Blackstrap molasses is the thickest, darkest, and the least sweet out of the three, which is obtained on the third and final boil.
- Put the jar of homemade molasses into a bowl of warm water if you find it too thick to pour.
- If a gas is released when you open the jar, it means the molasses is fermented. Do not eat it and simply throw away.
- It’s important to add lemon juice or vinegar so that it doesn’t crystalize after cooling down.
- Don’t refrigerate it as it will lead to crystallization.
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