Honey Cookies - My Recipe Treasures (2024)

FAQs

Is it healthier to bake with honey or sugar? ›

Honey offers more health benefits than sugar.

These beneficial compounds offer lots of nutritional advantages and, in particular, they have great antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory results. Baking with honey instead of baking with sugar can help to add a little bit of benefit to your baked goods.

Because honey does so much more than just add the right amount of sweetness (fun fact: honey is slightly sweeter than sugar, so you can actually use less to achieve the same sweetness intensity), it also acts as a humectant, drawing in and retaining moisture to ensure that your cookies come out of the oven with the ...

What Does Honey do in Baking? Honey is a 'humectant'. This means that it retains moisture- great news for baking as it helps keep biscuits and cake moist. Honey compared with traditional refined sugar, also means you gain a richer colour and fuller flavour.

Stir about 2 tablespoons of honey, maple syrup, or agave into 1 cup of granulated sugar. NOTE: These substitutes (honey, syrup, agave) will not produce a result as close to brown sugar. The sugar will not be as dark and the flavor will not be as deep and rich.

Honey has a lower glycemic index (GI) than sugar, too. The glycemic index measures how quickly a carbohydrate raises blood sugar levels. Honey has a GI score of 58, and sugar has a GI value of 60. That means honey (like all carbohydrates) raises blood sugar quickly, but not quite as fast as sugar.

Generally speaking, yes, it's OK to eat honey if you have diabetes. But you should consume it in moderation. Although honey has a lower glycemic index (GI) than table sugar, it still contains sugar. And any type of sugar will raise your blood glucose levels.

Science confirms that heating or cooking honey does indeed damage it, thereby eliminating many of its beneficial effects. As per the National Center for Biotechnology, heating honey causes adverse effects. Cooking honey lowers its quality, and it loses essential enzymes and nutrients.

Buckwheat Honey

Bees produce dark, flavorful honey if they pollinate from buckwheat. The honey carries strong notes of malt. For that reason, buckwheat honey is a popular choice for baked goods and also barbecue sauces. Some people even use it instead of molasses.

Honey is sweeter than sugar, so if the incorrect ratio is used, your baking will be too sweet, can have a strange chewy texture, and the cooking time will be different. But don't despair. It is actually very easy to substitute honey for sugar in your baking, and the ratios are relatively easy to remember.

Honey also is used in bakery foods to enhance the flavors of other ingredients.

What happens if you use honey instead of sugar? ›

People often consider honey to be healthier than sugar, but it depends on the use. Like sugar, honey is high in carbs, can raise blood sugar levels, and is high in calories. Both honey and sugar add sweetness to meals and snacks. However, they have different tastes, textures, and nutritional profiles.

Honey goes through a change in the color, texture and loses its nutrient value, when cooked or heated. In fact, heating honey can turn toxic and change the texture like glue.

With a few simple recipe modifications, honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar are all suitable replacements for brown sugar. Because these substitutions are liquid, you'll want to take into account how the extra moisture may affect the outcome of your recipe, especially when it comes to baking.

Depending on the type, honey can infuse baked goods with a fruity, floral, earthy, or nutty sweetness. To use it, you'll need 2/3 cup of honey for every 1 cup white or brown sugar, according to Ziata.

Honey has an amber color similar to maple syrup, and while it might be a touch sweeter, it makes a wonderful swap. It'll be similar in texture as well, if only a smidge thicker. The only place you may notice a difference in flavor is if you're topping your breakfast with it. In baked goods, it will be negligible.

Science confirms that heating or cooking honey does indeed damage it, thereby eliminating many of its beneficial effects. As per the National Center for Biotechnology, heating honey causes adverse effects. Cooking honey lowers its quality, and it loses essential enzymes and nutrients.

Beneficial bacteria and harmful heat

Heating honey to high temperatures – generally above 45-50°C – eliminates these benefits by killing the bacteria, enzymes, and antioxidants that make honey so powerful.

Honey goes through a change in the color, texture and loses its nutrient value, when cooked or heated. In fact, heating honey can turn toxic and change the texture like glue.