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Dessert

Molasses Wafers

A sweet wafer made from butter, sugar, molasses, and flour, baked until edges harden and then rolled around a stick while hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Ronald · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Molasses Wafers

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Mix well together one cupful of butter, one cupful of sugar, two cupfuls of molasses, and two cupfuls of flour.

  2. Drop a few spoonfuls into a pan, in different places.

Bake and shape

  1. Put it in the oven; it will melt and run together.

  2. Let it bake until it begins to harden on the edges.

  3. Remove, cut it into squares.

  4. While it is still hot and soft, roll each piece around a stick.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

664Calories
13 gProtein
13 gFat
123 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Mary Ronald. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  4. Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Adds fat that makes the wafers crisp and rich in flavor.
Sugar
Sweetens the wafers and helps them brown as they bake.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark color, and a deep flavor, and helps the wafers stay tender.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the spread batter together as it sets.

The step that matters

Removing the wafers while still hot and soft. Once cooled, the wafers harden and become brittle, so they crack if bent. Shaping them while still warm lets them curl around a stick before they set.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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