Honey Maple Syrup Or Agave Nectar
With a few simple recipe modifications, honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar are all suitable replacements for brown sugar.
Because these substitutions are liquid, youll want to take into account how the extra moisture may affect the outcome of your recipe especially when it comes to baking.
Exact substitution measurements vary depending on the particular recipe in question, but you can use these basic tips to get started:
- Replace each cup of brown sugar with 2/3 cup of liquid sweetener of your choice.
- For every 2/3 cup of liquid sweetener used, reduce other liquid sources by approximately 1/4 cup .
You may also want to consider reducing cooking time by a few minutes, as these types of sugar replacements may caramelize more quickly than brown sugar.
Summary You can use liquid sweeteners like maple syrup, honey, and agave nectar to replace brown sugar but youll likely need to adjust your recipe.
How Can You Substitute Icing Sugar With Cornstarch
You can substitute icing sugar with cornstarch by mixing cornstarch with granulated sugar.
For 1 cup of this substitute, you will require a cup of cornstarch and one cup of grained or granulated sugar. You are required to toss both these ingredients into a blender and allow them to process into a powdery form.
You may have noticed that there is no difference between this substitute and the one that uses simple sugar only.
But the reason the cornstarch has been suggested and used as an icing sugar substitute is simply that the cornstarch will help avoid clumping when you store the sugar.
White Sugar Plus Molasses
A combination of white sugar and molasses is your best bet for a brown sugar substitute, as thats exactly what brown sugar is made of .
To make your own light brown sugar, mix 1 cup of granulated white sugar with 1 tablespoon of molasses. If you need dark brown sugar, increase the molasses to 2 tablespoons .
And just like that you have brown sugar.
Summary To make your own brown sugar, mix 1 tablespoon of molasses with 1 cup of granulated white sugar.
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Foods That Can Fight Sugar Cravings
Sugar cravings are extremely common, especially among women.
In fact, up to 97% of women and 68% of men report experiencing some sort of food craving, including cravings for sugar .
Those experiencing a sugar craving feel a strong urge to eat something sweet and can find it difficult to control themselves around food.
This can lead to binge eating or over-consuming calories, sometimes on a regular basis (
Luckily, there are things you can do to take the edge off.
Here are 19 foods that can help you fight your sugar cravings.
1 ).
However, swapping out the junk food for some fruit when you feel like something sugary could give you the sweet hit you need and stop your craving in its tracks.
Fruit is naturally sweet but also contains lots of beneficial plant compounds and fiber, allowing you to have your fix and keep it healthy .
To make sure it hits the spot, eat fruits that are slightly higher in sugar like mangoes or grapes.
If youre also hungry, try adding some yogurt to your fruit to make it a more satisfying snack.
Summary Fruit contains sugar, along with lots of healthy nutrients and plant compounds.
Top 12+ Best Substitute For Coconut Sugar In Baking
Coconut sugar is a product that is always available in our kitchen. This sugar has many varieties. Coconut Sugar is considered a very healthy sugar in comparison to regular sugar. What if you dont have Coconut Sugar in your pantry/kitchen and you are in between your cooking process? Is there any other healthy substitute still available? Of Course, there are some other healthy Coconut Sugar substitutes available. You can use these substitutes for those recipes/dishes that call for Coconut Sugar.
You have to know about Coconut Sugar first so that it would be easy for you to choose the best substitute for your desserts, beverages, and baked goods.
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What Are The Best Sugar Substitutes For Baking
Nowadays people like to use more all natural sugars, some of my favorites being maple syrup, stevia, agave and honey. Since creating this chart Ive discovered 2 other sugar substitute brands I really like, Lakanto Sweetener and Swerve. Lakanto brand offers both liquid and powdered sugar replacements while Swerve is a great alternative dry sweetener.
Sugar Substitutes That You Should Stay Away From
Saccharine
Aspartame
Sucralose
So, first of all I am honestly not sure if saccharine is even around anymore. But just in case it is, lets just agree to stay away from it, shall we?
Saccharine is made in a lab, has a bitter after taste, and the jury is out on whether it is safe for human consumption . Previous studies showed it wasnt and then there were rebuttals.
A study DID, however, show that saccharine, aspartame and sucralose all may disrupt gut bacteria .
So while the jury is still out on aspartame as well some folks believe it to cause some health issues such as cancer, seizures, etc..
Heres the thing why risk it? If there is controversy stay away from it.
As for sucralose This is a tough one. Do I feel STRONGLY about it? Not really. But heres the thing with sucralose, it is not a calorie-free sweetener like most people might think. It contains maltodextrin and that not only has calories but also affects blood sugar .
Studies have shown it to break down at high temperatures and produce harmful substances and to possibly affect gut bacteria .
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Replacing Table Sugar With Turbinado Sugar
Turbinado sugar is made from the first pressing of the sugar cane, so is much less refined than common table sugar. It retains some of the natural molasses of sugar, so it has a slight carmel flavor. If youre looking for a less refined sugar, this is the way to go.
Turbinado sugar is more coarse and crunchy than refined sugar, so youll have to take some extra time when creaming your sugar. You can use it in a 1:1 substiution for sugar. For every 1 cup of sugar, use 1 cup of turbinado.
What Is Caster Sugar
The world of sugars can be a bit confusing since there are a number of different types of the sweet stuff and names can differ from country to country. Caster sugar is very popular in British baking but less common in American recipes.
Granulated sugar always refers to white sugar in the U.S. It has a somewhat gritty texture and is the most common type of sugar stateside. Powdered sugar, also known as confectioner’s sugar, is simply granulated sugar that has been ground into a fine powder and combined with cornstarch to keep it from clumping. Caster sugar is somewhere between the two. It has smaller crystals for a super-fine but not powdery consistency.
Caster sugar incorporates more easily than granulated sugar into delicate, airy recipes like sponge cake, mousse, meringue, and soufflé. It’s also used to sweeten fresh berries since it dissolves quickly. Many bartenders use caster sugar for shaken or stirred cocktails instead of simple syrup.
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Keto Peanut Butter Bread
How to use it: Use a very small sprinkle to sweeten drinks, oatmeal or yogurt. As a substitute in baked goods, youll want to use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon for every cup of sugar. Youll need to reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe and replace the volume with ingredients like applesauce, pumpkin puree or powders like mesquite. The easiest thing to do is use recipes that already incorporate stevia.
Can You Make Your Own Caster Sugar
If you find that you are out of caster sugar, you can actually make your own. You just need some granulated sugar and either a food processor or a blender.
Put the required amount of granulated sugar into the blender or food processor and turn it on, but be really careful not to over-blend it and accidentally create a sugary powder instead of caster sugar.
You will need to keep a close eye out to make sure that you are getting the right consistency.
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Sugar Vs Honey Benefits
Honey is, in fact, another form of sugar. Although honey has the same basic composition as other types of sugar, it is considered a better sugar for your diet because of its nutritional value and health benefits. For example, while honey has more calories, it contains trace amounts of protein, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes with nutritional value, while sugar contains empty calories with no additional nutritional value. Also, honey is much sweeter, which means you dont need to add as much to drinks or baked goods to get your desired sweetness. So even though it has more calories, youll actually consume fewer calories when substituting honey for sugar!
Coconut Sugar A Healthy Sugar Alternative Or A Big Fat Lie
The harmful effects of added sugar are becoming increasingly more evident.
As a result, people are turning to natural alternatives.
A sweetener that has become very popular in the past few years is coconut sugar.
This sugar is derived from the coconut palm tree and touted as being more nutritious and lower on the glycemic index than sugar.
This article separates the facts from the fiction to determine if coconut sugar is really a healthy sugar alternative.
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Fewer Calories But Do They Yield Great Results
Editor’s note: Good news! Since publishing this post, we’ve introduced our Baking Sugar Alternative, a 1-to-1 substitute for granulated sugar designed specifically for baking success.
Have you ever wished there was such a thing as zero-calorie baking? I sure have. What if that piece of pie, cupcake, or blueberry muffin added no calories at all to your daily diet?
OK, pipe dream. But what if you could at least reduce the calorie count of the sweetener you use in your frosted layer cakes, chocolate chip cookies, fudge brownies and more? Id be all for that wouldnt you?
I’ve been spending extra time perusing the sugar shelves in the baking aisle of my local supermarket lately. After all, sugar can add a ton of calories to your cookies and cakes are there any good alternatives?
Can you easily reduce the calories in your baked treats just by using a natural sugar replacement?
Understand Im not talking alternative sweeteners here.* Honey, agave, maple syrup, molasses, turbinado, take your pick all are sugars and have similar calorie counts. Im also not referring to baking sugars based on artificial sweeteners like sucralose , aspartame, and saccharin.
*Interested in baking with honey and other liquid alternatives? See this post: Baking with liquid sweeteners.
Instead Im zeroing in on two so-called natural sugar replacements: Swerve® and Truvia® Cane Sugar Blend .
Using Confectioners Sugar In Recipes
Confectioners sugar is widely used in different sweet recipes. In baked goods, it produces sweetness and makes the dough highly delicious. Its also added to frostings, and the fine crystals produce an alluringly smooth texture and appearance in buttercream and icings. Confectioners sugar is also added to baked goods after preparation, like donuts, candies, and cupcakes. Here, the sugar is sieved and dusted over the baked goods to give it a snowy effect.
Confectioners sugar is also used in hot drinks like tea or coffee. Since it dissolves easily due to its powdery texture, it makes a good option for such recipes in place of regular sugar. This is also especially useful when making a sugar recipe. They tend to come out better when the sugar added can easily mix and blend without leaving any obvious textures. And its superfine texture is highly sought-after in decorative toppings as well.
In general, confectioners sugar is a common inclusion in popular dishes like
- Cakes
- Coffee and tea
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Salt And Sugar Substitutes For Better Heart Health
The importance of heart health continues to gain attention as more healthy diets emerge and as foodservice establishments shift to accommodate them. To avoid heart disease, it’s important to monitor your intake of salt and sugar. Below, we explain why salt and sugar can be bad for your heart, and we offer solutions for substituting these ingredients in your cooking and baking.
Powdered Sugar: What Is It
Before we delve into the possible alternatives for powdered sugar, we should first understand exactly what it is.
Powdered sugar is achieved by grinding granulated sugar down by milling it into a powdered form. You may also know it as confectioners sugar, icing sugar, or 10X sugar.
Finely ground sugar, such as this, is easily dissolved and is ideal for frosting, icing, and adding glazes to baked goods. This is why it is regularly used by confectioners.
Ever noticed a dusting of snow-like powder on different pastries and doughnuts? This attractive scattering is powdered sugar and youll typically find it dusted on baked confectionaries as a charming decoration and to add a little sweetness.
Although tasty and attractive to look at, it is not the healthiest ingredient. Too much powdered sugar, and any sugar for that matter, can have serious health effects.
Doctors and experts around the world agree that too much sugar consumption is the leading cause of obesity, type-2 diabetes, and other debilitating, chronic diseases.
As with most ingredients, too much is bad for you but, in moderation, you should be safe.
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What Is Confectioners Sugar
Confectioners sugar, also known as powdered sugar or icing sugar, is simply white granulated sugar grounded to a fine powder and mixed with a small amount of cornstarch. The fine texture of the sugar means it easily mixes and melts in recipes when used, especially if youre adding it to dough or batter. The cornstarch acts as an anti-caking agent and ensures the sugar doesnt clump, which is why you can store confectioners sugar for long periods.
What Can I Substitute For Coconut Sugar
Are you stuck in between your baking process due to not having Coconut Sugar? If yes, you need not worry now because we have a list of natural sweeteners that can be easily substituted for Coconut Sugar. You can choose according to what you have around.
1. Raw Honey :
Raw Honey can be a great substitute for Coconut Sugar. It is found in liquid form, so we have to be careful when using it in our recipe. Raw Honey has a bit complex flavor opposite to pasteurized honey. It gives a nice touch to your recipe/dish. Use 1/4 of Raw Honey in place of Coconut Sugar for a perfect blend. This is a perfect Coconut Sugar replacement.
2. Maple Syrup :
Maple Syrup is a widely popular sweetener. The only difference between both of these is the texture, one is in dried form and another one is in liquid form. Maple Syrup contains caramel and vanilla that give a nice aroma to the recipe. You can substitute 1 cup of Coconut Sugar with 1/4 cup of Maple Syrup. This is the best substitute for Coconut Sugar in baking you ever find.
3. Sucanat :
Sucanat is not processed like regular sugar, its a kind of raw sugar. The texture of Sucanat is harder than Coconut Sugar. You can use a food processor or grinder to make a fine powder of Sucanat so that it would dissolve well in a recipe/dish. You can use it as a Coconut Sugar alternative in a ratio of 1:1.
4. Stevia Extract :
5. Blackstrap Molasses :
6. Date Sugar :
7. Turbinado Sugar :
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Healthy Sugar Alternatives: How To Choose The Right Sugar Replacement For You
It may be difficult to sort through all the sugar alternatives on the market to decide which one is right for you. Here are a couple of things to consider:
Understand the four categories of sugar alternatives. There are four common types of sugar substitutes: artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, novel sweeteners, and natural sweeteners. Each has potential benefits and negatives depending on your goals.
Think about why you want to cut down on sugar. If you have diabetes, for instance, artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols, like xylitol, may be a better choice when consumed in moderation. Natural sweeteners, like honey, can still raise blood sugar. Always consult with a doctor or dietitian if youre not sure of your best option.
What Is Coconut Sugar
Coconut sugar, also called coconut palm sugar, coco sap sugar, or coconut crystals, is the sugar made from the sap of coconut palm tree flowers. It’s a natural sugar that is relatively unprocessed, especially in comparison to granulated white sugar or ‘table sugar’.
This sugar goes most commonly by the names coconut sugar and coconut palm sugar, but should not be confused with palm sugar. Palm sugar is a similar sugar from the palm tree.
The simple 2-step process of making coconut sugar includes: collecting sap from the coconut flowers then removing the liquid by dehydrating. This dehydrated form is broken into the granules that we purchase as coconut sugar.
What has created the buzz around coconut sugar? It actually has a lower glycemic index than granulated sugar. Granted, the calories are about the same so it’s not a low-calorie option.
Still, the relatively unprocessed sugar has a fiber, inulin, that helps to slow the digestion of sugar. The low GI of this sugar and the trace mineral content makes it a viable healthier eating choice.
Table Sugar GI = 60 vs. Coconut Sugar GI = 54
To make things even more confusing, coconut sugar is also available in liquid form. This liquid option also goes by two names, either coconut sap or coconut nectar!
More Great Baking Substitutions: Buttermilk Substitute, Arrowroot Powder Substitute, Cream Cheese Substitute
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