We get calls all year long from consumers wanting to substitute honey for sugar. Some people prefer the taste of honey, some feel that honey is a more “natural” product, and some think that honey is healthier than sugar.
We help callers understand the facts surrounding honey and sugar substitutions. If the substitution is in a baked product, you will substitute half of a cup of honey for one cup of sugar. Remember to decrease the amount of liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup for every cup of honey used. Sometimes this substitution will affect the overall quality of the product. The best option would be to start with a recipe designed to use honey.
If you wish to substitute honey for sugar in a drink, such as lemonade, use half the amount as listed above, but do consider using a bit of hot water to help the honey dissolve into the drink.
Honey is a natural product produced by bees using the nectar from flowers to make honey. Raw honey contains pollen grains but is usually available in the store as processed honey. This product may have been heated or filtered. Sugar is also a natural product made by processing sugar beets or sugar cane. We should avoid using an excessive amount of either product.
For our callers that think of honey as a healthier option, it does have a small amount of minerals but overall it is not really much healthier than sugar. The American Diabetes Association states that there is no advantage substituting honey for sugar in the diabetic diet. Most of us would benefit by limiting our sugar intake.
It is interesting to find that honey is not really any healthier for us than sugar. I never realized this .
Hi Julie, honey does offer some ‘healthy’ benefits over sugar. Unlike table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (the most commonly used sweeteners in the U.S.), honey contains other nutrients that studies show to be beneficial to health. The biggest health boost comes from the antioxidants in honey. Antioxidants reduce oxidative stress in our cells, which helps protect our cells from damage. Honey also contains amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) and vitamins and minerals, such as Thiamin, riboflavin, pyridoxin, vitamin A, niacin, panthothenic acid, phyllochinon, vitamin E, and vitamin C.1 The mix of these nutrients varies, depending on which plants the bees visited.
Interested to learn that when using honey, reduce liquid in recipe by 1/4 cup.