popular types of sugar in baking

NATURAL SWEETENERS

While we understand how sugar is important in baking, and one may think it is tough to give it up entirely, natural sweeteners might do the trick. They are low in calories, low in fructose and taste just as sweet as refined sugar.

Honey

Honey is the most common natural sweeteners available. It is a sweet liquid that is produced by bees from the nectar of flowers. Honey is natural and versatile, and can be used in many ways, such as baking, drinks and sauces. It is slightly sweeter compared to sugar, so one must be careful with our recipe when swapping refined sugar with honey. Here is a pro tip: Subtract 1/4 cup of other liquids from the recipe for every 1 cup of honey, because honey contains about 20% of liquid. When baking with honey, make sure the oven heat is lowered since honey contains higher sugar and have the tendency to caramelize and burn faster than sugar.

Coconut Sugar

Coconut Sugar is obtained from the nectar that is produced by the blossoms of coconut tree. It has notes of butterscotch and brown sugar, with sweetness similar to sugar. Coconut sugar is well known to be a healthier alternative to regular sugar when it comes to baking. The recommended ratio when baking is 1:1 when substituting white sugar with coconut sugar.

Molasses

Molasses is a thick, dark syrup and a byproduct of sugar cane’s refining process. First, sugar cane is crushed to create juice, and then boiled until it creates sugar crystals and the remaining syrup becomes what we known to be molasses. Blackstrap molasses (thickest texture, darkest and the least sweet) is obtained from the 3rd boiling and has only 45% sugar content. Blackstrap molasses tastes slightly bitter, salty and intense. It can be used to substitute any recipes that call for brown sugar or honey. Molasses is great in savoury cooking too, with baked beans, BBQ sauces and gingerbread cookies.

Maple Syrup

Maple Syrup is a natural sweetener obtained from the sap of maple tree. It is great to drizzle on pancakes, waffles, bacons and on desserts. However, there is a big difference between Maple Syrup and Maple-flavoured syrups (a.k.a pancake syrup). Maple-flavoured syrup IS NOT Maple Syrup – they are made of sugar syrup with maple flavoured extract and colouring. So do read your bottle labels carefully! Maple Syrup has its own grading system, they are graded based on their colour and taste. There is Grade A Golden with Delicate Taste – the lightest syrup with a smooth, subtle maple flavour which makes it ideal for whipped cream, maple candies and on fresh fruit. There is also Grade A Amber Rich Taste – the classic maple syrup which is rich in flavour, smooth and sweet, ideal for pancakes, granola and waffles. The Grade A Dark Robust Taste is a darker colour syrup, best used for sauces and glazes, candied or over ice-cream. Those who wants a strong dark colour syrup with stronger maple flavour. Lastly, Grade A Very Dark Strong Taste has the most intense maple flavour, and it looks a little like molasses which makes it ideal for baking, custards and for cooking.

Stevia Sweetener

Stevia sweetener is a no-calorie natural sweetener that is derived from the leaves of stevia plant. It is known to be 200-350 times sweetener than regular sugar. It is often used to reduce calorie intake and helps in weight loss regimes. Stevia sweeteners can be used in various ways such as baking, beverages and food because it is stable in high heat.

Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener

Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener is a zero-glycemic, zero-calorie natural sweetener that is obtained from the sweet extract of monk fruit (better known as Luo Han Guo fruit). It is known to be 150-200 times sweeter than regular sugar and like stevia, it is suitable to use in beverages, food and baking.