How to Bake Using Less Sugar
Sometimes, it seems like sugar is in just about everything! You may have looked into cutting back on your sugar intake at one time or another. The good news is that you do not always have to give up baked goods completely. Here are some tips to help you bake with less sugar.
Search for Low-Sugar Recipes
Some baked goods already call for low amounts of sugar. Take the time to compare various recipes to see which has the least amount before trying to modify an existing recipes.
Just Don’t Add as Much
This may not be the solution you were thinking, but if you are wanting to reduce sugar, this will do the trick. Depending on the recipe, you can typically reduce the amount of sugar a recipe calls for by about 15-25% before you begin to notice a major change in taste or texture.
Substitutes
If you go with an alternative sweetener, you can choose to completely replace the sugar with it or perhaps add half of the sugar and half of the substitute. It is typically best to substitute solid sweeteners for solids and liquids for liquids, but there are recipes that will still turn out great by swapping sugar for a liquid substitute. A few alternative sweeteners include:
Agave nectar or honey – Since these are liquid, they can change the texture of your baked goods, so be careful when adding it to recipes that call for solid sugar.
Stevia – Stevia comes in solid or liquid form, but it is quite a bit sweeter than sugar. For every cup of sugar that your recipe calls for, you can substitute by using about ½ teaspoon of Stevia. Because this will not create the same texture as sugar, you may want to consider using fillers such as applesauce, egg whites, or yogurt.
Coconut sugar – When baking with coconut sugar, you can use the amount called for in the recipe since the ratio for regular sugar and coconut sugar is 1 to 1. Using this alternative may result in a bit darker coloring of your bake.
Pureed fruits – We mentioned earlier how you can use applesauce as a filler if you include Stevia in a recipe, but you can also use reduced sugar (or no sugar) and add pureed bananas or apples to a recipe.
Decreasing your sugar intake does not have to include decreasing the amount of baking you do. Next time you want a sweet treat with less sugar, try some of these tips to find what works best for you!