Which Honey
Substitute?
Looking for a honey substitute? Below you will find several alternatives to honey, for a variety of different scenarios.
Substitutes for honey in cooking
Maple Syrup
Maple syrups is an excellent honey alternative for use as a syrup on pancakes, and also for making glazes and barbecue sauces. Maple syrup also has a deliciously rich, caramel flavour, and usually comes from the xylem sap of sugar maple, black or red maple trees.
Sugar
Where honey
is being used as a sweetener, very often, sugar can easily substitute it
directly. There are also different types
of sugar to choose from, including fruit sugars. See my comparison of
honey and sugar.
Agave Nectar
Actually sometimes called Cactus Honey - it comes from the agave plant and has nothing to do with bees. Some people do like to use it in cooking.
Marmalade or Apricot Jelly/Preserve
Apricot jam can be used as an alternative to honey in glazes. You can also experiment by substituting a spoon of honey with a spoon of marmalade when baking cakes.
Alternatively, use marmalade for glazes in place of honey. See these glaze recipes for more ideas. I certainly use orange marmalade when baking a marmalade cake.
Treacle and
Golden Syrup
Sweet, sticky
and sugary and popular ingredient for making flap jacks and toffee, if you have
run out of honey, perhaps you might like to experiment by substituting it with
one of these.
Substitutes for honey in weight loss
Pectin and apple cider vinegar
On the whole, I honestly think that using honey for weight loss does not make sense, because honey is high in calories. However, there
are some theories which state that honey will help stave off hunger
pangs better than an equivalent quantity of sugar.
This may be true
(because it is a different type of sugar - see my page Honey vs Sugar for more
information), nevertheless, it is still high in calories, and therefore, honey is
not going to help you lose weight! Anyone on a calorie controlled diet would be wise not to eat honey or sugar in anything other than small quantities.
However, the theory is that pectin is an appetite suppressant, and I have a page about the apple cider vinegar and honey diet - which believe it or not, has some very interesting research evidence (in humans!).
Honey Substitutes For Use In Beauty Remedies
Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera is a popular ingredient in beauty and personal care products. Interestingly, it is sometimes combined with honey or other products such as tea tree oil.
Tea Tree Oil
Like honey,
tea tree oil may be effective as an antiseptic, and in dealing with MRSA. You will find the study on this link: http://jac.oxfordjournals.org/content/45/5/639.full
(copy and paste the link into a new window to read the study ).
Hemp Seed Oil
Can replace
honey as a moisturizer in beauty treatments.
What's the real difference?
Pssst ... spread the word!
