Baking with Honey and Maple Syrup: How to Substitute Liquid and Granulated Sweeteners
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Changing sweeteners for a recipe can be challenging! If you are wondering about baking with honey or baking with maple syrup instead of sugar in a recipe, you have come to the right place.
Here are some handy dandy tips to make your baked goods and more turn out right!
There are several reasons that you might want to change up the sweeteners that you are using for a recipe.
One is that you ran out of the sweetener that you needed.
The second is that you are using sugar substitutes for health reasons.
Using Healthier Sweeteners
One of the ways that our family started moving towards more whole foods was to move away from white sugar and start baking with honey, sucanat, and other sweeteners.
Now, instead of making my Homemade Jello, Homemade Chocolate Chips, and Gluten-Free Cupcakes with granulated sugar, I moved to other, more wholesome sweeteners.
If you've been wondering about baking with honey or baking with maple syrup, or what to do about substituting sugar in your baked goods or other sweet (or not-so-sweet) dishes, then this post should help.
Never Run Out Again of Sweeteners Again
One of my pet peeves (and probably yours too) is running out of something when you are in the middle of the recipe.
And one of my best time and money-saving cooking and baking tips is learning how to substitute one thing for another.
That way you're not running out to the store at the last minute because you ran out of something. You spend extra time (a lot), extra money on gas, more money than usual because you are making a last minute purchase, plus you might end up buying other things that you don't need, which really add up.
When you need to substitute a liquid for a granulated sweetener, how do you do that quickly and easily?
Mainly, you just need to make up for, or take away from, the liquid part of the liquid sweetener, when adding it to a recipe, and adjust a little for the different sweetness of the sweeteners you are substituting.
If the recipe we are talking about is a dish with very little sweetener (like my Focaccia Flax Bread), then it really doesn't matter. Just substitute one sweetener for another and don't worry about it.
Additionally, with some non-baking recipes like
you can use whatever sugar substitute you wish (liquid or granulated). The result won't differ that much regardless of which sugar substitutes you use.
However, when you are dealing with a sweet baked good, things get more complicated.
Here's how to make a sugar substitute in baking and have the result turn out well.
Baking with Honey / Baking with Maple Syrup
Here are some helpful tips for baking with honey and maple syrup and for substituting sweetener for sure.
Substituting Liquid Sweetener for Granulated
When substituting a liquid for a granulated sweetener (e.g. using honey when the recipe calls for sucanat or brown sugar, or subbing in a liquid low carb sweetener like this sugar-free simple syrup for xylitol, etc.), for every 1 cup of liquid sweetener, subtract 1/4 cup of liquid from the recipe (likewise, for every 1/4 cup of honey, subtract 1 tablespoon of liquid).
Substituting Granulated Sweetener for Liquid Sweetener
The reverse is then, when substituting a granulated for a liquid sweetener (e.g. using sucanat, coconut sugar, or xylitol when the recipe calls for maple syrup or honey), for every 1 cup of granulated sweetener, add 1/4 cup of liquid to the recipe (likewise, for every 1/4 cup of granulated sweetener, add 1 tablespoon of liquid).
Adjusting for Sweetness
Honey and maple syrup are about 25 percent (or more) sweeter than sugar.
So you'll want to use less honey or maple syrup (about 1/2 – 3/4 cup) for each cup of sugar. And if you are substituting another “sugar-equivalent” sweetener for honey or maple syrup, you'll want to use at least 1.25 times as much.
Oven Temperature Adjustments
If baking with honey or maple syrup, reduce the oven temperature by 25 °Fahrenheit, since maple syrup and honey will tend to caramelize and burn faster than granulated sweeteners. If you are substituting another sweetener for honey or maple syrup, you might wish to raise the oven temperature a bit.
The Acidic Component
Since maple syrup and honey are somewhat acidic, when baking you will need to add 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon baking soda per cup of honey or maple syrup to the batter so it will rise.
You might want to remove that same amount of baking soda from a recipe when substituting another sweetener for maple syrup or honey.
Baking with Stevia
If you'd like to use stevia in your baking and cooking, check out Stevia-What It Is and How to Use It for helpful tips.
Stevia is super sweet. In general, 1/32 of a teaspoon is the equivalent of 2 tablespooons of sugar. However, it is a little tricky to bake with it. The bulk that you lose by moving to a sweetener that is this concentrated makes it difficult.
Typically I will replace half of the sweetener in a recipe with Stevia Extract and the other half with another low-carb sweetener.
Pretty simple, isn't it?
These tips are super helpful if you run out of the sweetener, but also if you're trying out a new recipe and want to use the least expensive sweetener that I have. Then if the recipe isn't a winner, I've spent less money on it than I would have otherwise.
Other Substitution Tips
Here are some other great posts to help you make easy substitutions in the kitchen.
23 Vanilla Extract Substitutes
Homemade Powdered Egg-replacer
Hope these tips are helpful for you as well!
What sweetener do you most use in your home?
I am stopping over from the Homestead Revival. I am pinning this post. Very useful info! Thanks!
I LOVE baked goods but i am trying to reduce my sugar. So based on you post I can just sub honey for white or brown sugar. In a basic cookie or brownie recipe what liquid would i subtract? Have you tryied it before? If so could you give me the link to a recipe and the sub portions. My extended family is really giving me a hard time about reducing my sugar so i would really like to wow them. Thanks and i love your site is is so helpful.
I have tried tons of recipes and have substituted tons of ingredients. Is there a recipe that you are thinking of? Sometimes there isn’t one you can reduce so you just do your best. But if there’s a milk or water, then that is what you reduce. Let me know how it goes! Thanks for the compliment.
Gees…I could not appreciate this any more than I do! Thank you so much!
Thanks for your kind words. They are appreciated a ton!
Great information. I’m looking at sweeteners for drinks as I can’t shake the need for them, but hate the health implications.
So glad to have helped! Have you tried stevia? I am really pleased with the brands that I use. Happy to share more…..did you see my lemonade post?
Adrienne,
I have not read all your blogs but know how important it is to stop all forms of sugar for autism and it’s sequella, diabetes of course, and just to give your immune system a break. I see you use Xylitol- as I have for 10 yrs and Global Sweet guarantees only organic xylitol from the bark of the birch tree. It used to be hard to find- I once ordered from Finland where they perfected it during WW2 when sugar was unavailable. Now it is everywhere- NOW does make it but probably from GMO corn as most companies do because it’s cheaper than from birch. I would not ingest anything from China- they scoff at health laws , especially for export. The price keeps going up but I recently bought 55# from Global Sweet for $200. ($3.64 per #- organic)I split it with my two of my daughters. It is really not a ‘sugar’ but categorized as an alcohol- not distilled like liquor, actually good for you and can be used in baking.There is also a xylitol nose spray that keeps bacteria from adhering to sinus’-and the gum is good for teeth- retards plaque. I admire your passion to recover health in a climate now so difficult to know what is in our food. Stick to anything that does not have a label : ) Good luck, Angela RN, CHC
Thanks for commenting, Angela. I do think that NOW Foods’ xylitol is birch, but I’m not sure. I order from Global Sweet as well. My practitioner said something that surprised me, however. She said that organic xylitol is important due to the chemical process that other companies use. She said that regular xylitol can cause digestive upset but the organically produced one will not. I could not really pin down the details on that. I know that if I eat too much of the GS xylitol that I get an upset stomach. Do you have any knowledge about this? I thought she purchased xylitol from Netrition, but all I find there is GS and NOW. Thanks! And we are completely of sugar. I really am concerned about it.
Thanks for commenting, Angela. I do think that NOW Foods’ xylitol is birch, but I’m not sure. I order from Global Sweet as well. My practitioner said something that surprised me, however. She said that organic xylitol is important due to the chemical process that other companies use. She said that regular xylitol can cause digestive upset but the organically produced one will not. I could not really pin down the details on that. I know that if I eat too much of the GS xylitol that I get an upset stomach. Do you have any knowledge about this? I thought she purchased xylitol from Netrition, but all I find there is GS and NOW. Thanks! And we are completely of sugar. I really am concerned about it.
thanks for sharing your tips. I have been substituting agave nectar for honey in recipes without any difficulty. (the book I used had the recipes already made for honey so that helped)
You’re welcome – glad to have helped!
Adrienne! I loved this post so much I shared it on my fb page:) This post is so informative and I think my subscribers would really enjoy reading this. I would love for you to come share it at Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways on Frugally Sustainable this Wednesday. And, I really hope that you will put Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways on your list of carnivals to visit and link to each Wednesday!
Warmly,
Andrea @ Frugally Sustainable
Hello Andrea,
I will try to hop over tomorrow. Thanks for the compliment! I am backing off some carnivals but we will hopefully try yours! By the way, I saw your blog address is still at blogspot — did I get the right one?
Such a perfect guide for sugar substitutions. I’m sharing a link on my FB page today!
With all the blog parties out there, and at one of the busiest times of the year, it means an awful lot that you take the time to share your talent on “A Little Birdie Told Me…” Tuesdays at Rook No. 17!
Jenn
Thanks, Jenn, for the share!
Hi! I just found you at the Hearth and Soul Blog Hop on Penniless Parenting’s site! I very much appreciate the substitutions list…I also appreciate your concern for other’s welfare and responding so readily to commenters! Thanks so much for this informative post! Cheeryshirley
Hi Shirley! You’re welcome. Thanks for the kind words. I’m doing what I can when I can. Gotta make sure I keep family and my health first, …..
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Great tips!
Check back tonight when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts! 🙂
Thanks, Lea!