Honey keeps baked goods moist longer than sugar does, and it brings its own flavor to the batter. It also behaves differently in the oven. Honey is part water, it's slightly acidic, and it browns faster than sugar, so baking with honey instead of sugar usually takes a few small adjustments.
Here's how to make the swap, using the National Honey Board's guidelines, followed by five kinds of baking where honey works especially well.
How to Bake With Honey Instead of Sugar
Start by replacing up to half the sugar with honey. That's the National Honey Board's advice for any recipe you haven't tried with honey before, and it keeps the texture close to the original.
Once you're ready to replace all of it, use equal amounts of honey up to 1 cup. Above 1 cup, use 2/3 to 3/4 cup of honey for each cup of sugar, depending on how sweet you want it.
For every cup of honey you use, cut the other liquid in the recipe (water, milk, or juice) by 1/4 cup, since honey brings its own moisture. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to balance honey's acidity and help the batter rise. Then lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees so the outside doesn't brown before the middle is done.
Two more habits help. Coat your measuring cup with cooking spray first so the honey slides right out. UGA Cooperative Extension also recommends mixing the honey into the fat or liquid before adding the dry ingredients.
Recipes built around honey from the start don't need any converting. Our honey cake uses a cup of raw wildflower honey and no refined sugar, and our honey apple crisp is sweetened only with raw knotweed honey.
More recipe ideas with honey
Cornbread:
Cornbread and honey butter are a classic pair. Put the honey in the batter instead and you get cornbread or muffins that are soft inside and crisp outside. For sweet heat, finely chop one serrano, Fresno, or jalapeño pepper and add it to the batter, or drizzle hot honey over the top.
Homemade Pies:
Honey pie is a custard pie flavored with honey. Add a blueberry topping or a little lavender to change it up. Honey also works in apple, pecan, peach, and lemon chiffon pies. Use the adjustments above when you convert a sugar-based pie recipe. If you want apples without making a crust, try our honey apple crisp.
Baklava:
Baklava is a layered pastry made with phyllo dough and chopped nuts, finished with honey. The phyllo bakes up flaky and the nuts stay crunchy under the honey syrup. Use walnuts, pistachios, or a mix of both. The honey is the main flavor, so this is a good place for a darker honey like our raw knotweed honey.
Honey Ginger Cookies:
Honey ginger cookies are a good break from chocolate chip. The spiced ginger and the raw honey sweetness go well together. Ginger also pairs with orange, so add orange zest for a honey ginger orange version. Our raw blueberry honey is light amber and lets the ginger and orange come through.
Vegetable Breads:
Zucchini, squash, cucumber, and rhubarb breads are a good way to use up a garden harvest, but they dry out fast. Honey holds moisture, so a loaf made with honey stays soft longer than one made with sugar.
Every recipe here works with any of our raw honeys. Wildflower is the all-purpose pick. Knotweed gives spice cakes and crisps a darker, caramel flavor.