Pastry Chefs Confirm Best Sugar Substitutes For Baking

When it comes to baked goods, it could be a delicacy for many. One of the main ingredients in the delicacies is sugar; it can be brown sugar, granulated sugar, or a mixture of both.

What does sugar do for baking? It adds sweetness to many recipes and can also keep ingredients together.

However, it’s not always simple; some people can’t have that much sugar or want a simple substitute. Sugar substitutes are common in baking. Even though they don’t have the same role as sugar, they still allow those who don’t eat sugar to enjoy the food. Here are the best sugar substitutes, according to bakers.

1. Coconut Sugar

First on our list for sugar substitutes is coconut sugar. Often referred to as the closest substitute for sugar, bakers considered it an excellent option.

“Similar to brown sugar, it is just as sweet as white sugar with a toasted toffee flavor. It works great in cookies, bars, pie crust, and more. You will get a stronger flavor and darker color than using it, so keep that in mind when making lighter bakes,” said Chef at the Institute of Culinary Education, Ann Ziata.

Pastry program manager Dominick Miller-Luna says it’s best to use sugar and bright desserts like lemon curd or strawberry jam.

“It lends an incredibly more texture to your finished baked goods, such as muffins and banana bread,” He added.

Ziata says it’s helpful to track coconut sugar in the food processor before use, since it’s close in consistency to granulated sugar.

2. Maple-Syrup

Second on our list, we have maple syrup. According to Miller-Luna, syrup still has the same functions as sugars. “ I keep in mind it’s flavor profile of what I’m pairing it with in the final product,” he says.

He recommends that syrup pairs best with spices, nuts, Earl Grey tea, and orange zest. Despite being liquid, it’s not suitable for all recipes, such as cookies, which need sugar to help structure. Maple syrup pairs best with dough, ice cream, and cake batter.

“Depending on the recipe, you may need to decrease the wet ingredients like milk or water, or increase the amount of flour by a couple of tablespoons to account for the extra moisture from the maple syrup,” Ziata says.

3. Other Sugar Swaps

For our third place on the list, there’s a variety of sugary swaps, such as applesauce.

“It could be a great way to add natural sugars into treats like cakes, muffins, and bread. It’s high water content. Might mean you need to adjust or increase your dry ingredients, but applesauce is a wholesome way to sweeten your baked goods,” says Miller-Luna.

Another example of a sugary swap is monk fruit. It’s a good sugar substitute, as it gets its sweetness from its small, round melon, and it’s a good one-to-one replacement.

Click here for more stories from Digital Media Generation.