Truth be told, I’ve fallen a few recipes behind in my recipe challenge. We took a little vacation to Sonoma Valley, which set me back a week on my goal, but it was worth it! I’m revived and testing tons of recipes again, including this new favorite: dairy-free molasses milk.
For those following a dairy-free diet, calcium and strong bones are often a big concern. But many people don’t realize there are some amazing, plant-based mineral “superfoods”, like blackstrap molasses. It has anywhere from 100 to 200 mg of calcium (10 to 20% of the RDA) in just 1 tablespoon! But bones don’t thrive on calcium alone; blackstrap molasses also provides other frame-supporting minerals like magnesium and potassium.
For an even bigger bone boost (calcium with vitamin D!), I’ve started combining this rustic sweetener with Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk Beverage (or Coconut for nut-free!) to make what has become one of my favorite sips, molasses milk. I add just a couple other ingredients to enhance the flavors and brighten the sweetness while still keeping the sugars relatively low. Yes, this makes it kid-friendly, too!
Though this molasses milk is a quite simple recipe, I’ve included three variations to enjoy as a part of your dairy-free or plant-based diet, regardless of the temperature outside. Pictured above is the Hot Molasses Milk (lovely with the cinnamon added), which is a fantastic sip when it is cool outside – I actually prefer it to hot chocolate!
When the temperature creeps up (like this past weekend), or when I want something scrumptious and mineral-filled to top that boring healthy cereal we have too much of, the Cold Molasses Milk is perfect. And when I’m in need of a protein boost, say post workout, I’ve been using the cold version to make the nutrient-packed, super-simple Molasses Milk Shake, pictured below. It seriously energizes me and fulfills cravings – perfect for fitness recovery in my book.
365 Dairy-Free Recipe Challenge Update
With the 365 New Dairy-Free Recipe Challenge, my goal is to trial at least 365 new-to-me recipes this year, and that doesn’t even count all of the retesting I am doing to perfect many of those dishes. So far, I’m up to 44 new recipes trialed, a few behind. Even so, here were my new ventures this week:
- Date-Spiced Milk (abandoned for this molasses milk)
- Italian Risotto (wild success!)
- One-Pot Italian Pasta (sounds easy and it was okay, but not up to standard)
- Dairy-Free Parma (trialing a few new blends)
- Molasses Milk (hot, cold and in a protein smoothie – all options in the recipe below!)
This week’s update is a sponsored conversation by Silk (the opinions and text are all mine). They have been a keen supporter of my dairy-free book adventures and I love using their milks in my recipe trials. Have you tried them yet? They offer Unsweetened versions of Almond, Cashew, Coconut and Soy Milk Beverages – all are dairy-free, plant-based and carrageenan-free, yet offer their own unique taste and consistency profiles. You can find them in your area via the Silk Store Locator.
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Reader Raves
Thanks so much to Mary Eliza for sharing her feedback and tasty twist on my molasses milk recipe via Facebook:
AMAZING idea! I just had some. I used almond milk light, so I skipped the stevia. I used tiny bits of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, so it would taste like the molasses crinkle cookies I grew up eating. Perfection.
Special Diet Notes: Might Molasses Milk
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, optionally nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan / plant-based, vegetarian, and optionally paleo.
- 1 cup Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk Beverage (or coconut milk beverage for nut-free)
- 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract or flavoring
- 3 to 5 drops pure stevia extract
- Pinch salt
- Heat the milk beverage in the microwave (about 60 to 90 seconds on HIGH) or in a small pot on the stove top, until hot but not boiling.
- Stir in the molasses, vanilla to taste, stevia to taste, and salt (I used the max for both the vanilla and stevia).
- Place the milk beverage, molasses, vanilla, and salt in your blender and briefly blend to combine. Add the stevia, to taste, and give it another quick blend.
64 Comments
Hello, I’ve been taking molasses as a supplement for a few years now (helping many issues I have) for the high levels of potassium & magnesium. But every time I take it in it’s plain form it gives me the heebie-jeebies! But when I tried your recipe, adding just a little bit of cardamom and a cinnamon stick, it turned out tasting just like my favorite molasses cookies! Frigin’ magic that’s what I call it! Thank you for making a daily dreaded task much MUCH more enjoyable.
Happy to help and love the idea of cardamom! Thank you for sharing Kylie.
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This sounds great, as you list it as dairy free, however, almond milk has a higher concentration of calcium than regular milk. At least that’s what it says on the carton of Silk almond milk in our refrigerator right now. It’s the calcium that inhibits absorption of iron.
Hi Casilu, true, calcium does inhibit iron absorption. However, I don’t make any claims about high iron for this recipe, and fortunately, studies have shown that despite this short term absorption issue, calcium seems to have no effect on iron levels in the long term -> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21462112
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This is such a great idea to use molasses in milk! I don’t have a lot of recipes that use it so this is a great idea, thanks!
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What a great idea to use molasses, Alisa! Looks absolutely yummy. 🙂
This is so awesome Alisa! I add molasses to so many desserts and even ice cream and smoothies, but never just plain milk, what a fabulous idea! I want to try this right now!
Mmm, now I’m craving gingerbread ice cream.
I love molasses! I use it a lot in my recipes and I think it brings out other flavors and deepens them so well. What a great idea for milk!
I love this idea! I have yet to find my perfect warm beverage, this could be it though. Vanilla and molasses are two of my favorites, and a great way to get in some iron too! I pinned this the minute I saw it <3
This looks so good. I never would have thought that molasses would taste good in almond milk, but you’ve convinced me to try it.
Glad I could help bring someone else over to the molasses side 🙂
What a fun way to include molasses in my regular, day to day life. I’ve had the same bottle of molasses forever, because I only use it for chocolate chip cookies. I know it has a lot of healthy properties, but before now, I’ve been at a loss for other uses. Thanks for the enticing recipe!
Chocolate chip cookies?! That’s brilliant! I’ll have to try that one now 🙂
I love molasses so much! This sounds heavenly! Can’t wait to try!
Oh this sounds delicious! I’m loving molasses right now.
Yum! I would love this served cold as a sweet treat 🙂
Oh wow! I recently made the switch to (almost) vegan (I slip up with eggs every now and then) and I’ve been wondering and worrying about calcium. I had no idea that blackstrap molasses was so high in calcium content!
I know, kind of crazy to think that either a sweetener could be so rich in minerals or that we’re stripping so much goodness away from natural sweeteners when sugar is made! Either way, molasses is definitely a find.
What a clever idea! This is definitely a new concept for me. Can’t wait to try it.