How to Substitute Honey for Sugar in Baking and Cooking with Printable – Big Island Bees

Cooking with honey is easy! Honey can be used in place of refined sugar (including granulated sugar, brown sugar and even corn syrup) in almost any recipe. Follow these four tips so you know just how much honey to use.

Click here to download a copy of our Cooking with Honey Kitchen Cheat Sheet.

RULE 1

Honey is largely fructose and is therefore much sweeter than refined sugar. Depending on the honey, it can be two or three times sweeter than sugar. For every 1 cup of sugar, replace it with 1/2 to 2/3 cups of honey. Use our infographic for conversions.

RULE 2

Honey is slightly acidic, so add a little baking powder (about 1/8 to 1/4 tsp per cup of sweetening) to most batters and dough.  This addition is unnecessary with yeast breads because the honey leavening thrives in the mildly acid environment of honey.

RULE 3

Honey burns faster than granulated sugar. Lower the heat on the stove and stir more often or reduce oven temperature by 25°F when baking and cooking.

RULE 4

Honey adds liquid to a recipe. When honey is used instead of sugar, you must reduce the amount of liquid by ¼ cup for each cup of honey.

For examples of how to bake with honey, check out the following recipes:

Cook delicious, savory dishes like these recipes:

Honey recipe when using yeast:

Oat and Honey Wholewheat Bread