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Guide to Sweeteners

Source of Recipe

Whole Foods
Many people are looking for alternatives to refined sugars these days, and this can be a bit sticky around holidays and special occasions when everyone wants to make and eat special sweets or traditional family desserts. A little knowledge about sweeteners and their best uses can help make sweet holiday times even sweeter.

Sugar/Sucrose--
Sugar comes in heaps of forms, but the most common are granulated white, brown, turbinado, and confectioner. Sugar not only adds sweetness but also tenderness and stability to doughs and mixes. The main sources of commercial sugar are sugar cane and sugar beets. Keep these types of sugars tightly sealed in a cool, dry place and they'll keep indefinitely.

Always store brown sugar in a thick plastic bag; if it hardens, toss an apple wedge into the bag and wait a few days - the sugar will soften and you can take out the apple.
Substituting brown sugar for white sugar will make anything you're baking moister with a bit of a butterscotch flavor.

Maple Syrup---

Pure maple syrup is graded according to color and flavor, the highest being AA. The higher the grade, the lighter and more delicate the syrup, so if you want something very maple-y, try a Grade B. If you're aiming to substitute sugar, the A or AA works best. You can replace honey with maple syrup in any recipe very successfully, using the same measurement.
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Honey---

Considered the most nutritious sugar with trace amounts of potassium, calcium, and phosphorus, honey provides 40 percent more sweetening power than white sugar and has such a pronounced flavor that it is hard to add it to any recipe with subtlety. But when you want that incomparable honey taste, there is nothing better.
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Molasses---

There are two types of molasses: sulphured and unsulphured. Sulphured molasses is the by-product of sugar making; the fumes used in manufacturing the sugar are retained as sulphur in the molasses! Unsulphured molasses is made from the juice of sugar cane or sugar beet. Light molasses is from the first boiling of the cane, dark molasses is from the second, and blackstrap, the third. Blackstrap molasses is strong flavored, but it is a great source of iron and calcium. Just try to make gingerbread without molasses; your guests won't forgive you!

Barley Malt and Rice Syrup
Grains have a very gentle sweetness that can be coaxed out by tricky sorts. Made from soaked and sprouted barley, which is then dried and cooked down to a thick syrup, barley malt is the sweetener that's easiest for the body to digest. Rice syrup is made in almost the same way, and it is usually a combination of rice and barley. Some of the best Chai teas are sweetened with rice syrup—with a deep, discreet and earthy flavor.

Substitutions
If you'd like to substitute another kind of sweetener for granulated sugar in baked goods, use this guide:

Sweetener Substitution Ratio Reduce Liquid?
Confectioners' Sugar: 1 3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar - No
Brown Sugar: 1 cup firmly packed to 1 cup sugar - No
Turbinado sugar: 1 cup to 1 cup sugar - No
Maple syrup: 3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar Reduce by 3 tablespoons
Honey: 3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar Reduce by 1/4 cup
Barley malt & rice syrup: 3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar Reduce by 1/4 cup
Molasses: 1 1/4 cup to 1 cup sugar Reduce by 5 tablespoons for each cup used

NOTE: 1st measurement = Sweetener
2nd measurement = Substitution Ratio
3rd measurement = Reduce Liquid?





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