Jan. 20, 2002 – A spoonful of blackstrap molasses was a morning "tonic" good parents fed to their often-unwilling children in days gone by. But the benefits of this sweet yet somewhat bitter brown liquid can be used to make delicious, kid-friendly cookies.
Molasses comes from the process of refining sugar cane and sugar beets. When the juice is extracted from these plants and boiled into a syrupy mixture, the remaining brownish-black liquid is molasses. Light molasses tastes mild, dark molasses is less sweet, and blackstrap molasses is thick and pungent. The darker the molasses, the more rich it is in the blood-building mineral iron.
Children love cookies, if my two and their friends are any indication. So, I started experimenting by using molasses in a variety of cookie recipes. Here's the one that worked best — it also has nutritious oatmeal, fresh mashed carrots and raisins. Combined with a glass of milk, these soft, chewy gems make a sweet treat that parents can feel good about feeding their kids — and that the kids will not complain about eating.
Molasses, Oatmeal and Carrot Cookies
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
1 egg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup cooked, mashed carrots
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup seedless raisins
Combine brown sugar, butter, sugar, molasses, egg and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Beat by hand or with an electric mixer until well blended. Stir in carrots. In a second mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to molasses mixture. Beat until well blended. Stir in raisins. Drop by teaspoonful onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 F for 12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool on aluminum foil. Store in an airtight container.
Makes 6 dozen (72) cookies. Per cookie: 73 calories, 2 gms fat (28 percent fat calories), 8 mg cholesterol and 35 mg sodium.
Nutrition note: Each cookie provides 0.7 mg of iron. Young children and pre-adolescents require 10 mgs of iron daily; three cookies would provide about one-fifth of their iron needs. Iron also is found in red meats, green leafy vegetables and dried cooked beans. In the United States, iron-deficiency anemia is the No. 1 nutritional problem in children age 5 and under.