Honey is a sweet treat on its own, but it can also be a delicious addition to your favorite recipes! Not only is honey a healthy natural sweetener option, it also possesses unique floral qualities that can add new, subtle flavors to a dish. When you first start cooking with honey, however, you may find that it works a little bit differently than other sweeteners like granulated sugar. Cooking with honey can take a little getting used to, but once you get it figured out it will be well worth your effort. Today we’ll share a few tips to help you get started.
Go Slow and Low
If you’re baking with honey as a substitute for sugar, you should be a little more conservative than you might be used to. Because honey can be almost twice as sweet as granulated sugar, you should typically use less honey than you would with other sweeteners. You should also reduce the temperature of your oven by about 20 degrees and bake recipes longer to prevent the honey from burning.
Mind the Moisture
Because honey is a liquid rather than a solid sweetener, it will increase the moisture content in your recipes. As a general rule, you should reduce the amount of liquid ingredients in the recipe by about ¼ cup for each cup of honey you add.
Add Baking Soda
A little baking soda can reduce the acidic qualities of honey and help baked goods to rise. Add about ½ teaspoon of baking soda for each cup of honey you use in a recipe.
Consider the Source
Depending on where they came from, different honeys will have different flavor profiles. Some of our honeys have notes of citrus, while others are sweeter and less acidic. It all depends on what types of flowers the bees that made the honey were foraging on. Try to choose honeys with flavor profiles that suit the recipe you’re making.
Looking for some new honey-infused dishes to try? Check out our recipes page to find everything from a rich honey ricotta cheesecake to a hearty honey barbecue meatloaf. You can even submit your own recipes for others to try!