Honey is sweeter than granulated sugar. You can use it to partially replace sugar in some baked desserts. However, because honey is an acid it will not fit in every recipe. The following guidelines are for substituting honey in recipes.
- If a recipe calls for 1/2-cup sugar or less, omit the sugar and use the same amount of honey instead.
- One-cup honey contains 1/4-cup water. As a rule, when you replace sugar with honey, cut the liquid by 1/4 cup. If a recipe calls for one cup of sugar, use one-cup honey and reduce the liquid by 1/4 cup.
- When you use honey in cake and cookie recipes, prevent overbrowning by lowering your oven temperature by 25 degrees.
- When you use honey to sweeten fruits, use light-flavored honey so it does not mask the fruit flavor.
- To freeze sliced or crushed fruits, use one part strained honey to 4 to 5 parts fruit. For whole fruits, add one-cup water to each 2 cups honey. Use just enough diluted honey to cover fruit.
- When you make jelly with added pectin, use up to 2 cups honey to replace sugar. For example, if a recipe calls for 7 cups sugar, use 5 cups sugar and 2 cups honey. For jelly with no pectin added, honey may replace 1/2 the sugar.
- To use honey syrup to can fruits, use proportions of one-cup sugar and one cup honey. For sweet fruits, like dark sweet cherries or pears, add 4 cups water to the sugar and honey combination. For slightly acid fruits, like peaches, add 3 cups water; for acid fruits, use 2 cups of water. If canning highly acid fruits like apples or rhubarb, use one-cup water to the one-cup sugar and one-cup honey combination. Boil sugar, honey and water together for 5 minutes.
CAUTION--avoid the use of honey in any form, for infants younger than one year. This includes honey that has been baked into a cookie or bread or used in any other type of food. There is a concern that infants' gastro intestinal tract can't handle the botulism toxins that are sometimes found in honey.
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