17 Molasses Recipes That Will Make You a Believer in This Truly Underrated Sweetener

We live in a chocolate chip cookie nation — and we're not going to knock that; we love 'em too — but sometimes it feels like it has come at the expense of other flavors. Take molasses. It was once the least expensive sweetener in the States, and its robust deep sweetness with a little bitterness around the edges was prized in all sorts of baked goods. But as white sugar elbowed it out of the way, it seems we lost our taste for it.

But that shouldn't be; it's so versatile. It's obvious in baked goods, but it can also do wondrous things for savory dishes, giving a subtly sweet counterpoint to salt and adding long-cooked depth even to things that haven't cooked very long. We wish we could say it was still the cheapest sweetener, but that's not the case anymore. Still, we find that keeping a jar on hand gives us enough possibilities to make it worth it.

Take these cookies, which taste like childhood. Better than that — they taste like storybook childhood, like these might be the cookies that Ma served Laura Ingalls, or that Miss Watson served Huck Finn. Which is not to say, they're old-fashioned to the point of irrelevance; more like, how did we lose sight of how good these are?! Do yourself a favor and make a batch of these as soon as possible. The molasses shoots through like an arrow, and the tingly heat of the ginger is an ideal partner.

On the other side, here's a great example of molasses in a savory dish. Here, it unites with soy sauce seamlessly, letting the soy transform into a glaze that's gorgeous painted on seared salmon. Rice and bok choy work well as a base.

You would not have baked beans without molasses, full stop. Nothing else gives that deep, deep, dark color and rich flavor. Baking it only enhances that effect. No notes.

I mean, just look at these wings; do I really have to sell you here? Chef Jackson's not content to give you just one smashing sauce, a glaze enhanced with molasses and gochujang, but a white Alabama barbecue sauce, too, to drizzle over and give you another flavor to mull over. The wings are crispy as can be, the better to keep their crunch even with the sauces.

If you want a jaw-dropping contribution to bring to Thanksgiving this year, look no further. Hasselbacking — slicing the potatoes almost all the way through — brings them an incredible textural experience, as well as nice tenderness with singey edges. And it allows the added flavors to really penetrate, as in the case of the molasses butter, flecked with nutmeg.

This should win a prize for best snacking cake. It stays moist for days, and the flavor only deepens over time. It's not too sweet, but just perfect, like something you either had baked for you as a child or wish you did.

Sloppy joes don't always contain molasses, but they should. Without it, it's almost heading into the meat-in-tomato-sauce realm. With it, it's thick and rich, even if you start with a lean meat.

Trisha brings a side a little more special than your average glazed carrots, but still so appealingly simple. The carrots are roasted to perfection first, then drizzled with a stovetop molasses glaze and sprinkled with fresh mint and chopped pecans. We love this alongside any roasted meat, whether it's a holiday or not.

This is a serious undertaking, since you start with a fresh pumpkin. But even if you want to adapt this to a less involved pie, the takeaway you'll want to stick with is a couple of tablespoons of molasses in the filling. It really makes the best pumpkin pie.

If you want your ribs to be dark and unctuous, consider molasses your secret weapon. These are simple, no smoker or grill needed. Just bake low and slow until the meat is tender, then brush with the sauce and blast with the broiler.

You've got a twofer here: Katie Lee's best biscuits, and what she pairs with them. The biscuits are extraordinary, light but rich. And the molasses butter is a simple accompaniment that will have you browsing train tickets to the South on your lunch hour tomorrow.

You guessed it! Another New England classic. These supposedly earned their name because they keep nearly forever, so you can go hole up with them if you want to, and leave no forwarding address. A temptation with lots of the recipes on this list, actually, but we just had to share.

Making your own barbecue sauce seems extra until you do it; then it becomes essential. It has such fresh flavor, brighter and bolder than anything you can buy. Make a double batch and keep it on hand to enhance several meats this week.

If you keep molasses around (as all good home cooks should) then it becomes one of those amazing pantry ingredients that can turn something simple, like chicken, into an exciting weeknight dinner, stat. All you have to do in advance is soak those skewers (unless you have metal, in which case, Bob's your uncle). This cooks up super quick and is super delicious.

We tend to think of New England's cuisine as having a lot of molasses contributions (see earlier: baked beans) and one of those is anadama bread, a cornmeal-rich, molasses-laced sweet yeast bread. Here, that idea is crossed with another New England classic, Indian pudding, said to be taught to early colonists by native Americans. This takes that flavor and converts it into something that can be eaten out of hand instead of with a spoon.

Ina brings a new dimension to the ginger-molasses friendship with the addition of lemon. Zest and also candied ginger are right in the cake layer, and sprinkled on top for a very zesty (har) topping with some nice texture as well. The frosting is simple, just a whipped cream enhanced with some creme fraiche... because Ina.