Recipe: Kid-Friendly "Coffee" Delight

Hi! I'm Molasses!

"I'm a thick, sweet dark syrup that can be added to gingerbread and other cakes, wheat or rye breads, barbecue sauce, and milk! You may have heard the saying, "slow as molasses." That's because I'm quite thick, compared to other syrups, especially when I'm cold!"

History & Etymology

• Molasses is a by-product of sugar production. It may have first been made in India from sugarcane as early as 500 BCE. It eventually came to Colonial America from the Caribbean to make rum. 
• Molasses was popular as a sweetener until after World War I, when refined white or brown sugar became more economical. 
• The Great Molasses Flood, also called the Boston Molasses Disaster, happened on January 15, 1919, in a Boston neighborhood in Massachusetts. A large storage tank, holding 13,000 tons of molasses, burst and sent a wave of molasses, 25 feet at its peak, through the streets at an estimated 35 mph. The flood killed 21 people and injured 150. Many horses and other animals also died. The city used salt water from fire boats and sand to clean up the sticky mess, which took weeks. 
• The word "molasses" comes from the mid-16th century Portuguese "melaço," from the Latin "mel" (honey). 

How It is Made

• Sugar cane is harvested, and machines are used to press the juice out of the cane. The sugar cane roots go very deeply into the soil, commonly 15 feet down and ranging from 6.5 to 19 feet—deep enough to bypass nutrient-depleted topsoils that have become the norm and take in more nutrients. That juice is boiled and then put through centrifugal machinery to extract the sugar crystals from the liquid. There are two types of molasses: sulfured and unsulfured. The three grades of molasses are light, dark, and blackstrap.
• Sulfur dioxide is used to process unripe green sugar cane. Sun-ripened sugar cane is processed without sulfur dioxide, making unsulfured molasses a better choice. Most stores sell only unsulfured molasses. Regular molasses is the first or second boiling of cane sugar syrup, while blackstrap is the third boiling of the syrup. The third boiling produces a thick dark substance known as blackstrap molasses, which is the most nutrient-dense but also the most bitter.
• Molasses is a sweetener that is actually good for you. Unlike refined white sugar and corn syrup, which are stripped of virtually all nutrients except simple carbohydrates, molasses is a healthful sweetener that contains significant amounts of a variety of minerals that promote your health.

Nutrition

• In addition to being a simple carbohydrate, which can be quickly converted to energy, molasses also contains high levels of iron, manganese, and magnesium, translating into an energy boost for those with low iron levels. 
• Molasses also has a good amount of calcium and potassium, and it is a rich source of vitamin B6, which is essential for the nervous system and immune system health. Blackstrap molasses is even more nutrient dense due to the third boiling it goes through, concentrating it.
• Molasses is also lower on the glycemic index than other sweeteners, so it takes longer to increase blood sugar levels.