If you want to be able to cook sweets without the negative health effects of refined sugar, honey is an excellent option. Among other reasons, honey is metabolized more slowly by your body, meaning that you are less likely to get a sugar “high” after eating something made with honey.
Image via WikipediaHoney can be challenging to cook with, though, for several reasons. So many people don't cook with it because they don't know how. But once you know how to use honey in your favorite kitchen creations, it's not hard at all to use.
The first challenge that honey presents is that it burns more easily that normal sugar. This problem is usually solved by doing your cooking or baking at a slightly lower heat.
The main hurdle to cooking with honey is that it is a liquid. Replacing sugar with honey will ruin some recipes if you don't make an allowance for the extra liquid that the honey adds.
For most muffins, simple quick breads, yeast breads, etc., you can make the substitution without any adjustment. But for cakes, cookies and some other recipes you should decrease the amount of liquid in the recipe to account for the honey.
Honey is also very easy to use in pies. Since they are already somewhat liquid, you can replace the sugar with honey. If the pie filling seems too runny, just add a little extra thickener before you pour it in your pie shell.
The flavor of honey can sometimes be an issue, but not usually. If you are making a recipe that you don't want the flavor to be noticeable, there are several things you can try. First of all, get the mildest flavored honey you can. Usually that will be a very pale clover honey. (The paler the honey, the sweeter and milder the flavor, in general.)
Image via WikipediaIf necessary, you can use part honey, and part some other sweetener, such as apple juice concentrate, agave nectar, stevia, or even sugar if you have to. Or, if you want to be adventurous, you can also try using different flavors of honey to add different subtle and unique flavors to your cooking. There are dozens of different kinds of honey - honey from each type of flower will taste different, and add a different aroma to your food.
Honey can add a delicious and subtle flavor to your cooking, while adding some of its healthy benefits as well. Because honey is sweeter than sugar, you can also get away with adding less of it. Honey is a great option to try in your holiday baked goods this season!
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