Is It Ok to Bake With Honey?
Yes, it is ok to bake with honey.
Honey is a good choice for many baking recipes because it adds moisture to your baked goods without raising their glycemic index and contains more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than sugar. It also helps keep your biscuits and cakes moist.
It’s a great substitute for sugar in most recipes, up to one cup. The amount of honey you use will depend on your taste preference and the recipe’s instructions.
The first thing to note when replacing sugar with honey in a recipe is that you need to take away the liquid in the other ingredients in order to compensate for the added moisture from the honey. This is best done at a rate of 1/4 cup less liquid elsewhere for every full cup of honey used in the recipe.
A little acidic in nature, honey will affect both the taste and the rise of your baked goods if it is not balanced out by the correct ingredient. To help balance out this acidity, you should add a small amount of baking soda to the recipe. This is just enough to help the ingredients work together and will make it easier for your baked goods to rise.
Another important consideration is that honey will brown much faster than granulated sugar, so reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees. This will help avoid over-browning your baked goods and ensure that you get a more consistent golden colour.
You should also use a cooking spray when measuring honey to prevent a sticky mess. The spray makes it easy to remove the honey from the spoon without smearing it on your hands or other surfaces.
It’s not a good idea to heat honey directly in the oven, as this will change its makeup and weaken its nutritional benefits, according to Ayurvedic practices. It can also damage the enzymes, vitamins and minerals it contains.
Using crystallized honey instead of fresh honey in baked goods is an even worse mistake because it will destroy the pollen and other natural goodness that the raw honey has to offer, which is what it is all about in the first place. If you must use crystallized honey in your baking, we recommend that you reconstitute it by placing it in hot water for a few minutes before using it in the recipe.
This will give you a much more stable and scrumptious result. Just be sure to let the batter cool before adding the crystallized honey!
Honey is a very heavy ingredient so it will often fall to the bottom of your mixture. To prevent this, make sure to combine all of the dry ingredients thoroughly with the wet before adding the honey and folding it in from the bottom with a wide spatula.
When you are ready to bake, it is important to follow all the directions in your recipe. It is also a good idea to check your oven’s temperature before placing any items inside it and to remember to turn off the heat once the baking process is complete.
