You’re a few steps into these community-favorite bran muffins when you realize: Uh-oh, no molasses in sight. The recipe only calls for three tablespoons—so can you swap it out? Good news: Yes, you definitely can. Whether you’re baking cookies, mixing BBQ sauce, or whipping up gingerbread, there’s a molasses substitute for you. Below, we’re diving into what molasses actually is, how it behaves in recipes, and the best molasses alternatives to use in a pinch (including two more options for subbing barley malt and date syrup, per your comments!).

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What is molasses, anyway?

Simply put, molasses is a byproduct of sugar processing, whether that’s sugar cane or sugar beets. When sugar is refined, “the juice squeezed from these plants is boiled to a syrupy mixture from which sugar crystals are extracted,” according to The New Food Lover’s Companion. “The remaining brownish-black liquid is molasses.” Got it!

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