Do you want to bake something using honey instead of sugar but don’t know exactly how to do it? I’m sure you’re wondering how much honey you should substitute for sugar and how else you should alter your recipes.
I’ve been very successful with baking with honey vs sugar, and you will be, too. With just a few changes, you’ll find that your recipes are just as good, or better than using sugar. Your product will not only be more beautiful but more healthy as well.
How should I alter my recipe?
1. Use Less Honey: I’m sure you realize that honey is much sweeter than sugar, therefore, you need to use 1/3 less to achieve the same results when cooking.
2. Reduce Liquids: Unlike sugar, honey contains water, so reduce the liquids to about 1/5. In addition, you might add a small amount of extra flour and baking soda if you are baking a cake, for instance. This will help it to rise up nicely.
Another good quality of honey is that not only does it contain water, but it actually attracts moisture. This is a great thing for baking because your cakes will stay fresh and moist.
3. Adjust Your Oven Temperature: Also, cakes and bread made with honey are much better looking than cakes made with sugar. You will find that the cakes and bread are a nice rich, golden brown color. Adjust your oven temperature down a little (350 down to 325) to make sure your cakes aren’t too brown. As each oven is different, start out with a small adjustment and change it if you need to next time.
What Kind Of Honey Should I use For Baking?:
For baking, it is best to choose a mild honey like clover or orange blossom. The clearer the honey, the easier it is to use for baking because the flavor is generally milder than darker honey, so it won’t interfere with the flavors you’re trying to obtain.
Helpful Hint:
Grease your measuring cups and spoons with a little butter or oil before you put in the honey. This will prevent your honey from sticking to the utensils. Or, you can heat the utensils in hot water to achieve the same results. You want to make sure you don’t waste any of this delicious ingredient that the bees worked so hard to produce.:-)
So, there you have it. Take your recipes and start adjusting them so that you are baking with honey instead of sugar. Write a comment below to let us know how your recipes turned out!
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I’m entering a Honey Banana Bread contest, and can have up to 50 percent “other sweetener.” In other words, honey has to be half or more of the sweetener. My loaves are delicious–but always too dense and wet. How do I adjust for this? Thank you!
Hi Marcia: Sorry for the late response. How exciting about the Banana Bread contest!! Sounds yummy. According to the Honey Board: “When substituting honey for granulated sugar in recipes, begin by substituting honey for up to half of the sugar called for in the recipe. For baked goods, make sure to reduce the oven temperature by 25°F to prevent overbrowning; reduce any liquid called for by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey used and add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used. Because of its high fructose content, honey has higher sweetening power than sugar. This means you can use less honey than sugar to achieve the desired sweetness.”
My recommendation is to experiment until you have it just right. Let me know if you win 🙂
Bev
Read that honey and cinnamon are healthy for us so I am looking for recipes I can adapt to have both cinnamon and honey in them.
Hi Alleta: Thanks for your suggestion of recipes that have cinnamon and honey in them. I’ll make sure to publish some of these.
Thanks!
sugar cookie recipe calls for 1 cup sugar what is the amount of HONEY to sub. the sugar as Sugar Cookies do not contain any liquid ingredients? Thank You, Ms.Helen
Hi Helen: If you are cooking with honey remember that it is much sweeter than table sugar. So when substituting, use only half as much honey as you would sugar. So if a recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar, use 1 cup of honey. If you like a sweeter cookie, use 2/3 cup of honey for every one cup of sugar called for in the recipe. Also, be sure to add ½ tsp baking soda to the recipe for every cup of honey used if baking soda is not included in your recipe. Also lower your temperature by 20 degrees to prevent your cookies from browning too much as honey tends to cause baked goods to brown quicker.
Hope you enjoy!
I am going to try honey instead of sugar… trying to eat healthy
One question
If recipe calls for 2 cups sugar do you use 1/2 cup of honey and say it calls for 1/2 cup milk use only 1/4 cup of milk
Dear Shelley: Congrats on your desire to try to eat healthy!! If you are cooking with honey remember that it is much sweeter than table sugar. So when substituting, use only half as much honey as you would sugar. So if a recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar, use 1 cup of honey. Some folks like things sweeter, so you can add 2/3 cup of honey as substitution for each cup of sugar.
Also, since honey is about 20 percent water, decrease your milk so your mixture doesn’t have too much moisture. For every 1 cup of honey, subtract 1/4 cup of liquid from the recipe. In other words, subtract 1/4 cup of milk just as you said. If you are baking, be sure to add one half teaspoon of baking soda per cup of honey and reduce the temperature of your oven by 25 degrees. Also, honey will brown things faster, so watch your food if it is cooked in an oven. Honey helps things to brown to a nice golden color – so delicious!!
Thanks for your question!!
Wow! Thank you sooooo much for this! much as I love to bake, i hate adding all that sugar the recipes call for!
Thank you for your information. I am however a little confused with the reduction of the liquids? Is it reduce by 1/5 or reduce to 1/5 of what is required. (And as I’m no good at maths it will make it quite interesting). I look forward to using your information. Thank you 🙂
Hi Rebekah: Sorry for the confusion. A cup of honey contains about 1/4 to 1/5 cup of water, so you should reduce whatever liquid you are using by that same amount to balance your recipe. Hope this helps!
Bev
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