The recipes you’ll find on the Little Farm website all include either honey or maple syrup.  However, you can substitute those healthier and delicious sweeteners for processed sugar in any recipe. 

 

However, when you are cooking or baking with maple syrup or honey, there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure that your finished product is all you hope it will be. Here are some simple tips and tricks when substituting maple syrup or honey for processed sugar:

 

MAPLE SYRUP

• Substitute 2/3 cup of maple syrup for 1 cup of processed sugar.

• Reduce liquid ingredients in a recipe by ¼ cup.

• Remember that the darker the maple syrup, the bolder the maple flavor.

• Lower the oven temperature 25 degrees when baking with maple syrup.

• Remember that maple syrup can be a one-to-one substitution for liquid sweeteners such as molasses or corn syrup – or honey.

• Make sure you use room temperature maple syrup, especially if baking with butter. Cold syrup can cause the other ingredients to clump.

 

HONEY

• Substitute ½ - 2/3 cup honey for every cup of processed sugar.

• For every cup of honey, subtract ¼ cup of the other liquids in the recipe.  That’s because honey is hydroscopic (Wow!  Big college word!), i.e. it has a tendency to absorb moisture.

• For every cup of honey, add 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda in a baking recipe.  This will balance the natural acids in the honey.

• Foods will caramelize and can burn faster when using honey because of the higher sugar content in honey, so lower the heat and avoid overbaking – and be careful using honey in recipes that call for an oven hotter than 350 degrees.

• When measuring honey, wipe the spoon or cup with butter, and the honey will slide right off!

• If you are measuring y weight, 1 cup of honey will weigh 12 ounces.