I haven't gotten a new jar, recently, but silly question: They make a few different kinds, but I usually only see one in the stores. Is it possible you got a different one than you're used to?

We bake with Grandma's Molasses two or three times a month. Haven't noticed anything different, nor have our friends who benefit from those cookies.

These cookies use 3 sticks of butter and are perfect for "edibles".

• 3 sticks of unsalted butter - softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup Grandma's Molasses (okay, you can use another brand, but in all my years of cooking, I've never tried any other.)
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons powdered ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves

Cream the butter and sugar in your mixer and then add the eggs and molasses. Mix well. Sift the dry ingredients together and slowly add to the mixer. When everything has been mixed, put the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

When you're ready to bake them, roll the dough into balls around 1" in diameter to get 40-48 cookies.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. They're done when they start to crack.

I used some earlier this month to make molasses cookies. Didn’t notice anything different.

This was interesting.

Grandma's currently has two:

Grandma’s Molasses is Kosher and gluten free. Grandma’s comes in two grades: Original Molasses and Robust Molasses. These different types of molasses result from the length of the boiling process. Our Robust variety [green label] results from a longer boiling, which removes more sugar crystals and leaves a concentrated, less sweet syrup. Original variety results from a shorter boiling, leaving more sugar in the syrup and a lighter, sweeter flavor. Both are unsulfured molasses.

Neither is blackstrap molasses.

From Google: Blackstrap molasses is the strongest, darkest, most bitter, and least sweet, coming from a third boil, while Grandma's molasses (often just "original" or "dark") is milder, sweeter, and lighter, from a first or second boil, making Grandma's ideal for baking sweets and Blackstrap better for savory dishes or when you want a nutritional boost and less sugar. Grandma's is your standard baking molasses; Blackstrap is a potent byproduct packed with minerals but with a distinct, less sugary flavor.

King Arthur article about the three kinds, light (first boil), dark (next boil, thicker and less sweet), and blackstrap (third boil, heavy and bitter, high in nutrients): https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2024/12/16/light-dark-blackstrap-molasses

I remember getting the wrong molasses. I use dark for cookies, I think, and I have made savory with blackstrap,

Yesterday, I thought I saw four varieties for Grandma's but they only list the two currently on their website, so, indeed, they may have eliminated the light.

Perhaps look for Brer Rabbit, which is, I think, what my mother used when I was learning to bake, as a kid: For more than 100 years, Brer Rabbit® has been a trusted household brand used in cherished family recipes. Made of the finest quality unsulfured juice of sun-ripened sugarcane, Brer Rabbit sugarcane molasses contains no preservatives, artificial flavor or artificial color. It’s a key ingredient for baking and cooking.

Brer Rabbit Molasses comes in three grades: mild flavor, full flavor and blackstrap. All three grades are unsulfured molasses, making them the finest quality of sugarcane molasses available. Brer Rabbit is also available in two syrup varieties: full and light flavors.

With a big ”FWIW” caveat, ChatGPT is telling me that there used to be three Grandma’s, which included light, original, and blackstrap. Blackstrap was dropped somewhere along the line, and in the mid 2000’s light became original, and original became robust. “This is why older cooks sometimes insist ‘Original used to be stronger’ — because it was, under the old naming scheme.”

But that was decades ago, and I’m not seeing that anything has changed more recently.

I used the Grandma's "robust" this year and my cookies seemed the same as usual. What I really like is the stuff I get at the local Amish grocery in quart jars, far cheaper and the flavor is a little different. I just used the last of it in some bran muffins, I need to pick up some more.

Ann

I wonder if it's sorghum molasses, annie? I love it, but haven't been able to find any that isn't super expensive. It used to be available in Winn-Dixie supermarkets here - many, many years ago now.

Nope, Carol, it's not sorghum molasses, which I also get at the Amish market but that's clearly labelled sorghum. My husband is from Tennessee and he likes sorghum and butter mixed half and half to put on biscuits. The "baking molasses" I get is much different than sorghum, but also different than the "robust" Grandma's I find at Meijer.

I don't know why I'm surprised that sorghum is difficult to find and expensive in Florida, but I am. Here in Michigan it is not found at the "big box" stores but readily available in the numerous Amish and Mennonite markets and independent small grocery stores. It has gone up in price in the last couple of years but it still relatively affordable. I checked the label on mine, it was made in Ohio!

Annie

I just don't think as many people are growing sorghum for molasses any more.

You are probably right and I don't know of anyone who grows it here, or ever did grow it and press it.

Annie