Snappy Ginger Muffins

Muffins, when made with quality ingredients, are a great option for breakfast on the go.

If you use a muffin tin with smaller cups, like 24 per pan, you can make bite-size mini muffins that can accompany a meal like chili or soup, or as a perfect sized snack.

These muffins taste like old-fashioned gingerbread – simply delicious.

What is molasses?

Molasses is a thick, dark extraction that is produced from refining sugarcane or sugarbeets into sugar.

There is variability in the amount of sugar and nutrients in molasses depending on the method of extraction, the age of the plant, the mineral content of the soil the plants grew in and growing season conditions.

Molasses is largely used as a sweetener and flavouring agent in food preparation. Molasses can also be used as an ingredient in home cooking, especially baking.

Residual amounts of molasses are what differentiate brown sugars from white sugar. White sugars have had all of the molasses removed.

Blackstrap molasses vs cooking molasses

Cooking Molasses – is a blend of Fancy and Blackstrap Molasses.  The use of Cooking Molasses results in a darker, less sweet baked product (great for ginger snaps).

Fancy Molasses – also known as Gold Star, when used in baking, the results are a light-coloured, sweet product, also good as a topping on bread, biscuits, and crackers.

Blackstrap Molasses – is the final by-product of the sugar making process, it is dark and has a slightly bitter, robust flavor.  The thick dark brown liquid obtained from the refining of sugar cane is commonly referred to as “Blackstrap Molasses.”

Molasses nutrition

Molasses are very nutrient-dense. However, they are a form of sugar and therefore have a lot of calories and carbohydrates. Back in the day, people used to spread molasses on toast or bread.

One Tablespoon of molasses have:

• 58 calories
• 15 g carbohydrate
• 41 mg of calcium
• 0.9 mg iron
• 48 mg of magnesium
• 293 mg of potassium

This recipe does use 2 cups of all-purpose flour (whole wheat could be used but it would change the consistency, and even whole wheat flour impacts blood sugar in the same way).

It also calls for 1/4 cup of both white sugar and brown sugar. All in all, if making 18 muffins, they will have about 30 g of total carbohydrates (from the added sugars, molasses, and flour).

I’ve found this recipe to make more batter than could fit into a standard muffin tin. I divide it up into 18 muffins but if you have 2 muffin tins, you could spread it out and make 24 smaller muffins.

Print

These muffins taste like old-fashioned gingerbread - simply delicious. Molasses are an excellent source of calcium, potassium & magnesium.

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword calcium, molasses, muffin, sugar

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 18

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup light olive oil or high oleic acid safflower oil
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup molasses
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup hot water

Instructions

1. In a large beater bowl, cream oil & sugars.
2. Add egg and molasses. Beat well.
3. Sift dry ingredients together.
4. Add to creamed mixture alternately with hot water.
5. Fill muffin cups and bake

6. Preheat oven to 350F (180C)

Doug Cook RDN is a Toronto based integrative and functional nutritionist and dietitian with a focus on digestive, gut, mental health.  Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Source: Muffins. A cookbook. Joan Bidinosti & Marily Wearring.