How To Substitute Honey for Sugar

Choose a recipe to experiment with. Quick breads or muffins are a good place to start.

To start with, it's a good idea to substitute up to half of the sugar in a given recipe. Once you've experimented more and have a better handle on how it works, you can try a higher percentage of honey. Here are the principles of substituting honey for sugar:

1. Up to one cup, honey can be substituted for sugar in equal amounts. For example, you can substitute 1/2 cup of honey for 1/2 cup of sugar called for in a recipe. Over one cup, use about 2/3-3/4 cup of honey for every cup of sugar. This is because honey is actually sweeter than sugar.

2. Honey is a liquid, so you'll need to reduce the liquid in the recipe a little. Do this at a rate of 1/4 cup less liquid for every cup of honey used in the recipe.

3. Honey is also a little acidic. To counter-act this, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda for every cup of honey used.

4. Honey causes baked good to brown more quickly, so reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F and watch carefully as the time gets close.

Different honey will result in different flavors. Experiment with different types!

Contributed by Richard Stewart, Carriage House Farm

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