Editor’s Note: This is a very heavy, gummy gingerbread recipe, but is historically interesting. If you’ve heard rave reviews about an “1800’s Housewife gingerbread recipe”, I promise it’s not this one. You want the 1856 Gingerbread Recipe from Practical American Cookery. Do try that one, it’s a real winner!
Yesterday, one of my little ones asked me to make gingerbread. What a lovely idea for a cold and blustery February day!
The only problem was, I had let us run clean out of sugar. Not one granule of white or brown sugar was there, in this whole house. And my usual recipe uses both molasses and sugar.
Thankfully, I am very blessed to have a number of excellent cookery books on my shelves. For the next 20 minutes, my little ones and I took them all down and combed through each one, looking for gingerbread recipes that called for only molasses, and no sugar.
I should have known that dear Miss Parloa would be our salvation. In her wonderful Appledore Cook Book, she shares not one but two soft gingerbread recipes that require only molasses for sweetening.
I have come to notice in Miss Parloa’s cook books that when she lists multiple recipes for a certain dish, they seem to be listed in order of her own preference for the finished product. So we opted to make her Soft Molasses Gingerbread, No. 2., rather than No. 3, which also relies only on molasses for its sweetness.
The instructions are very easy to follow, and we were delighted with the results. This is an excellent frugal recipe for soft molasses gingerbread, which requires only six ingredients. It puts a delicious gingerbread well within reach of anyone, even if sugar, eggs, and butter are not available, or are too expensive for common baking.
If I ever had occasion to serve gingerbread to the President, I would still likely opt for a “Rich Molasses Gingerbread” recipe, with eggs and additional spices. This is not perhaps what you might call a “company gingerbread” recipe.
But for family cookery, it is affordable, easy, and very nice. My little ones were delighted with it, and could have gobbled down the whole pan at once, if I let them!
The recipe below has been adapted only to allow for modern leavening, and ovens. For the exact original recipe using saleratus, please reference “Soft Molasses Gingerbread, No. 2.” in the photo above.
📖 Recipe
Miss Parloa's Soft Molasses Gingerbread (1800's Recipe)
This 1800's recipe for soft molasses gingerbread is very easy and requires only 6 ingredients. Sweetened only with molasses, and spiced with ginger, it's delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 tablespoon butter or lard
- ½ cup boiling water
- 2 cups flour
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375
- To a mixing bowl, add molasses, baking powder, ginger, and butter or lard.
- Stir this together, and then pour on one half a cup of boiling water, and the flour. Beat well.
- Spread in a well-greased 8x8 pan.
- Bake until set in the center, about 18 minutes.
Notes
This is very nice if pains are taken to have the water boiling, and to beat it well when the flour is added. ~ M. Parloa
For those with modern refrigeration methods, this recipe works best when butter or lard is at room temperature, rather than very cold. It is worth taking time to let butter soften before making the recipe. ~ F. Nelson
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 176Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 59mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 1gSugar: 21gProtein: 2g
Jenn says
Could you suggest the best way to make them GF?
Anna says
HI Jenn! I’d use either a 1-1 Gluten Free flour blend, in place of the flour, OR half cassava flour, and half almond flour. In addition, a reader has offered great tips in the recipe 1856 recipe for Soft Gingerbread (my favorite 1800’s gingerbread recipe that I’ve tried so far), for how to make that one grain-free. Hope this helps!
kristi says
What kind of ginger? Dried, fresh, powder? Does it make a difference?
Anna says
Hi Kristi! This would have been dried, powdered ginger. Great question!
Em says
You left out baking powder which what the s word in the book is no wonder it didn’t set up right when I made it it needs baking powder
Anna says
Hi there! If you look at the recipe, I think you’ll find that baking powder actually is listed. I’m so sorry you missed it. This is already a fairly dense recipe so I can imagine that without it, the result must have been heavy indeed!
Please let me recommend the gingerbread recipe I love most, it’s much lighter. It’s this one, an 1856 recipe for “soft gingerbread”, and I’ll bet it would be exactly what you’re looking for!
MN says
Looks delicious
Anna says
It’s heavy, but tasty!
Candy says
It is the MOST delicious 😋 I’ve ever had.
Candy says
This ginger 🍞 recipe is the the very best I have ever made or had from any where.
So easy.Made 2 batches and added cinnamon and a little allspice. Just had some warm. I can’t say enough about this recipe!
Jyoti says
I question your picture on this recipe, the light Golden Brown color of your cake? that’s not the color of molasses. I made this cake and one cup of molasses with 2 cups of flour produces a very dark molasses cake. didn’t particularly enjoy the cake. a bit too heavy, stays a bit gummy. I prefer a recipe with sugar eggs and milk. won’t be making this again.
Anna says
Hi Sherri! This is my own photo of the cake I made from this recipe. I will say, it’s a photo that was taken with a camera not nearly as professional as what I now use, and does look light and washed out. Thank goodness, my photography has come a long way since then! 🙈 That said…YES, this is a a heavy, gummy cake, isn’t it? It’s not my favorite either! My goal with this project is to share the recipes I re-create, exactly as they’re written in the old 1800’s cookbooks…and some are much more enjoyable than others!
If you’re looking for an absolute winner of a gingerbread recipe, THIS is the one personally enjoy the most, and make whenever I’m craving gingerbread. I get this comment often enough about the gummy and heavy nature of this recipe from Miss Parloa’s cookbook, that I probably should put a disclaimer at the top pointing people to the recipe everyone actually LOVES, the 1856 recipe from Practical American Cookery. I’d definitely encourage you to try that one next time–it’s as wonderful as this one is underwhelming.