If
you are craving something sweet, but you're trying to eat healthy and avoiding
refined sugar, an excellent option is honey.
One
of the best benefits of honey is the fact that metabolizes significantly more
slowly than sugar, which makes it much less likely for you to experience a "sugar
high" following a snack involving honey. Most people do not attempt cooking
using honey, because they have never learned how and it can be a little intimidating
to try.
Once
you obtain a basic understanding in using honey as a sweetener, it actually becomes
quite easy to do. Honey makes a stellar sugar substitute, because it can add all
of the sweetness that you need for your baked goods without adding any negative
health effects. Honey has no negative effect on your health, making it a great
deal healthier for you than what refined sugars can offer.
The
first challenge that you may face while attempting to cook using honey is the
fact that honey burns much more easily than normal sugar. To eliminate this problem
change your recipes to cook at a lower temperature in order to keep the honey
from burning. Your baked goods will still cook the same, and the honey will keep
from being burned in the process.
The
second challenge that you may face while attempting to cook with honey is that
replacing sugar with honey may ruin a few of your recipes if you do not plan an
allowance for the liquid which is added by the honey substitution.
Honey
is a great sugar substitute when it comes to pies since they are already fairly
liquid-like in nature, and if you end up with a slightly runny pie you can always
add a little thickener to even it out. Many muffin recipes, breads involving yeast,
and quick breads can generally adjust themselves to the honey addition, though
you may need to do some math to adjust your cake and cookie recipes if the addition
of honey makes them runny.
Honey
may cause a slight change in the flavor of your baking, but this is not usually
an issue. You can buy honey with a milder flavor if you want to avoid having the
honey change the taste of your baked goods.
The
best honey for this purpose is typically a pale clover honey because the honey
is typically sweeter and more mild depending on how pale the color is, although
there are exceptions to this. If you still have a problem with the flavor, you
may consider only substituting some of the recipe's sugar with honey in order
to tame the flavor while still making the recipe a healthier one. Other sweeteners
worth trying include apple juice concentrate, stevia, and agave nectar.
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Throughout this website, statements are made pertaining to the properties and/or
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