Know Your Sweeteners

By Alana Chernila, mother of two girls from Western Massachusetts and author of The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making and the healthy food blog, Eating from the Ground Up

Refined or Unrefined? Healthy? GMO? And how does it taste?

The list of questions when it comes to sweeteners is long enough to make anyone’s head spin. Often, people make the decision to experiment with new sweeteners for health reasons, and they might entirely swap out white sugar for agave, honey, or maple syrup.

But I find that when we look at all the sweeteners on the shelf as ingredients rather than substitutions, it becomes more natural to use a variety of sweeteners, pulling them out for recipes where they really shine. I have many different sweeteners in my pantry, and I’ve grown to love them each for the flavor and texture they bring to a recipe.

Here’s an overview of the sweeteners you might see in my pantry or refrigerator:

White Granulated Sugar: This is the white refined stuff most people use most often. It’s sweet, fine, and often the sugar called for in recipes.

Powdered Sugar (aka Confectioners or Icing Sugar): This is a fine white granulated sugar mixed with an anti-caking agent, usually cornstarch. Powdered sugar is great for icings and for dusting baked goods.

Raw Sugar (aka Turbinado): I use raw sugar interchangeably with white sugar. It’s slightly less sweet, and I find it imparts a subtle molasses flavor to recipes. Raw sugar is more coarse than white sugar, and it’s a light tan color.

Brown Sugar: Most basic brown sugar is refined white sugar blended with molasses, so it has a molasses flavor and a higher moisture content than white sugar. Light brown sugar has less molasses added to it, and dark brown has more.

You can make your own light brown sugar by combining 1 cup white granulated sugar with 2 teaspoons molasses in a stand mixer. Whip with the wire whisk until combined. For dark brown sugar, increase the molasses to 1 tablespoon.

Muscavado Sugar: This is a type of brown sugar that is less refined than typical brown sugar, deeper in color, and more molasses-y in flavor. It’s not white sugar mixed with molasses—instead it’s sugar that hasn’t had all the molasses extracted from it. It can be used interchangeable with brown sugar, and especially shines in cakes and cookies that rely on the flavor of brown sugar.

Demerara Sugar: This is a brown sugar more refined than Muscovado sugar, but still containing some of the natural molasses. It’s coarse, flavorful, and great for sprinkling over baked goods. Often you’ll see this called for in a recipe to add crunch and sparkle to the top of a cake or cookie.

Maple Syrup: I use a lot of maple syrup in my kitchen. I love the flavor, it’s locally produced where I am, and I find it to be very versatile. Grade B is excellent for baking, and grade A is better for drizzling. Maple syrup needs to be stored in the refrigerator or freezer after you’ve opened the container.

If you can buy maple syrup in larger quantities for less money, it’s absolutely worth it. I freeze maple syrup, and then I thaw out the bottle when I’m ready to use it.

Maple Sugar: this is a coarse sugar often available at farmers’ markets from maple syrup vendors. Like Demerara and Turbinado Sugar, it’s great for finishing baked goods.

Honey: Honey is a bit like wine—there’s a nearly endless variety depending on the place, season, and flowers involved in its cultivation. Honey is available raw or pasteurized. I do my best to by honey locally, and I opt for raw and often unfiltered honey.

Golden Syrup: This is a sugar syrup in wide use in the UK with a delicious rich caramel flavor. If your grocery store has an international section, you’re likely to find it there next to the British tea and biscuits. Golden syrup is a good alternative to corn syrup in recipes, and it shines in cakes and cookies where you want a deep caramel-y flavor.

Brown Rice Syrup: this is a not-so-sweet syrup, especially useful because it’s very sticky and so holds a granola bar together like no other sweetener. Brown rice syrup needs to be stored in the refrigerator. It has a strong flavor not everyone loves, but if you’re using it for its sticky virtues (like in a granola bar recipe), you can mix it with brown sugar or some other sweetener and the flavor recedes.

Molasses (aka Treacle): This is a byproduct of the sugar-making process, a dark, highly nutritious, sticky syrup with a strong flavor. It’s essential in most gingerbread and ginger cookie recipes. Many people take it as a dietary supplement, and it’s delicious stirred into a glass of milk.

Sweet Sorghum (aka Sorghum Molasses): A dark syrup that comes from sorghum grass. It’s widely used in the south as a sweetener and syrup for pancake and grits. Sorghum can be used interchangeably with molasses, but the end result will taste a little different, as sorghum has it’s own unique taste.

Sorghum is delicious, but difficult to find outside of the south, so it’s a good one to order online or to drop a hint to your cousin in Georgia.

Agave: A light, sweet syrup extracted from the Blue Agave, a succulent from Southern Mexico. Light agave is similar in taste to honey, although it has a thinner consistency. Dark agave has a stronger flavor, and it bears some resemblance to maple syrup.

Palm Sugar and Coconut Sugar: These are both coarse, unrefined, granulated sugars produced from the sap of palm trees and used quite a bit in Thai and other Asian cuisines.

Stevia: This is extracted from the stevia plant, and is far sweeter than sugar. Because stevia doesn’t affect blood glucose levels, it’s usually used as a sugar alternative for people who can’t tolerate sugar. It has a strong, almost licorice flavor, and it’s available in granulated or liquid form.