I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post. I am not a doctor; please consult your practitioner before changing your supplement or healthcare regimen.
The first major step many of us take toward wellness is eliminating sugar. In my own health journey, I clung to sugar for as long as I could — lots and lots of ice cream. I had a rash on my face that many of our customers remember. When my skin issue resolved, I got comments occasionally (that made me laugh inside), “I haven’t seen you in so long. Your skin looks so good.” Ha ha ha. Apparently my rash was rather noticeable.
Is sugar bad for you?
When I finally released my grip and eliminated sugar, my rash went away immediately. I am sad to think how many people go to dermatologists (and receive pharmaceutical or steroidal topical creams) for skin issues when diet will often heal a variety of rashes, (including my daughter’s eczema) and begin to heal the root cause.
What else went away immediately upon eliminating sugar from my diet? Arthritis! It started in my 30s. I’d wake up with my fingers bent and crooked. I couldn’t straighten them, and they were painful to touch.
Although I had this symptom for over a year before giving up sugar, it was completely gone, never to return, upon eliminating sugar.
(There were other issues that resolved as well, including candida overgrowth.)
So, basically, sugar is a downfall for those of us with autoimmune issues. Learn more details here about why white sugar is bad for you.
What kind of sugar is best?
For those who are healthy and symptom-free, sugar is still something to enjoy in moderation. Substituting in whole food alternatives is healthful for everyone.
If you continue to have sugar in your diet, just make sure it’s organic evaporated cane juice or unrefined Sucanat (not white sugar like C&H). These are less refined, more natural forms of sugar and are not genetically modified.
Even healthier options include maple sugar (my personal favorite) and coconut sugar (find at many grocery stores or here).
One way to eliminate, or reduce sugar intake, is to substitute in honey. If you have old favorite recipes you’d like to convert, below are guidelines and a helpful chart!
How to Sub Honey when Baking
When baking with honey, there are a few characteristics that make it different than baking with sugar.
Here are the 3 main differences:
- Honey browns more quickly in the oven or even in the frying pan (like with pancakes). The solution is baking honey-sweetened batters at a lower temperature.
- Honey is heavier, denser and wetter than sugar. Increasing the quantity of leavening just slightly helps to counteract this.
- Honey is sweeter than sugar AND has a stronger flavor. Decreasing the amount of honey in a recipe that originally called for sugar will prevent your baked good from being too sweet or tasting too strongly of honey, which doesn’t allow other flavors to come through.
Below are the conversions to help you make adjustments. As you’ll notice, there is also the instruction of potentially reducing the liquid in a recipe. This refers to pancake-like recipes that often call for milk. Because honey makes baked goods wetter, it is helpful to reduce milk or other liquid ingredients to compensate.
The recipe below is printable! 🙂
When baking with honey, there are a few characteristics that make it different than baking with sugar. Below are the conversions to help you make adjustments.
- 1/4 cup sugar—> 3 Tablespoons honey
- 1/3 cup sugar—> 3 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 cup sugar—> 1/3 cup honey , add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, reduce potential liquid by 1 Tablespoon
- 1 cup sugar—> 3/4 cup honey , add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, reduce potential liquid by 2 Tablespoons
- 2 cups sugar—> 1 cup + 6 Tablespoons honey , add 1 teaspoon baking soda, reduce potential liquid by 1/4 cup
-
Reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees.
Pin for easy reference:
Here’s a link to my cookbook and videos. The cookbook is called EAT BEAUTIFUL: Grain-free, Sugar-free and Loving It and has lots of honey-sweetened recipes!
Renee Kohley says
This is so helpful! Thank you!
Megan Stevens says
You are welcome. Thanks for commenting, Renee!
Jessica from SimplyHealthyHome says
I love this. I’m so glad you put it together.
Megan Stevens says
Thank you, Jessica.
Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says
This is SO cool! Thank you for sharing this with us. Super helpful!
Megan Stevens says
You’re welcome, Emily. I’m so glad it’s helpful!
naturalfitfoodie says
Thank you so much for this wonderful resource Megan. Pinning because I know i will need it later.
Megan Stevens says
Great! 🙂
Tash @ HolisticHealthHerbalist says
This is really cool! I would have been WAY off if I was guessing…thanks for this useful tool! 🙂
Megan Stevens says
LOL, I know what you mean! 🙂
Raine Saunders says
This is great, and such an awesome resource for those who are trying to heal from gut dysbiosis. I love that there’s hope for people who are afraid of relinquishing “all sugar” while healing, and that they can still indulge in a well-deserved
treat now and then. Thank you for sharing Megan!
Megan Stevens says
So glad to, Raine. 🙂 I know that for me sweets were essential in the early stages of healing. Honey was my friend! (And still is, but not with the same necessity or intensity.)
The Antidote Life says
This is SO helpful! I have always struggled with getting the right amounts of honey in some of my recipes when I substitute. Definitely won’t be making any horrible honey missteps anymore. 😉
Megan Stevens says
Chuckle… I’m so glad it’s helpful!! 🙂
Rachel says
Pinned this and am bookmarking it too! Such a strugglesaurus when it comes to converting this…
Megan Stevens says
Your comments often make me laugh. Thanks, Rachel. SO true.
Kathleen Ivan says
I rarely use sugar…..I use honey in my tea. I don’t bake a lot, but when I do I’ll consider using honey instead of sugar.
Megan Stevens says
Great, Kathleen! 🙂
Katrina Arbuckle says
Any tips for measuring honey? I love cooking with it, but measuring is always such a messy part.
Bonnie Way Purvis says
Spray whatever measuring utensil that you are using with a little cooking spray before you use it and that will help it to come out easier.
Megan Stevens says
Yes, filling your measuring cup with a preferred oil first (and then pouring the oil back into its original receptacle), and then putting the honey in will allow the honey to come right out when you pour. 🙂
Sarah Nicholas says
Hi I want to make challah bread. What would you suggest I do. The recipe has 5 eggs.
Megan Stevens says
Hi Sarah, you can probably sub in the honey for any sugar in the recipe 1:1. That’s what I’d do. Be aware that the loaf will brown more quickly before the inside is fully cooked. So lower your oven temperature about 1/2-3/4 of the way through baking, when the loaf starts to darken. Also, the honey will possibly make the loaf less stiff. So consider, if needed, chilling the dough before braiding it, so it holds its shape. Good luck!
Beth Ward says
Hello! In addition to GAPS protocol, I follow Ayurvedic medicinal recommendations which includes NOT heating honey past 105° F. Can I use maple syrup in recipes like this one as a substitute for the honey?
Megan Stevens says
Yes, you sure can!
Mr_O says
Refined table sugar is sucrose, which is a disaccharide of glucose and fructose. Your body metabolizes sucrose into its base sugars when it’s consumed. Honey is mostly glucose and fructose, with some maltose (disaccharide of glucose and glucose), some sucrose, and some water content. For nutrition purposes, honey and table sugar are nearly identical.
Kathleen DeRosa says
Is this true? Even with untreated, unheated, totally raw honey?
Mr_O says
Yep, that’s just the chemical formulation of honey. Heat treatment kills any botulism spores that may be in a batch of honey, but it doesn’t change the chemical composition. What’s more, is that since honey is easily digestible, it is quickly metabolized and spikes your blood sugar in much the same way that eating raw table sugar does. In fact, there’s not much difference between eating a tablespoon of honey, and a tablespoon of high-fructose corn syrup.
cindyking839709104 says
The main deal about heating honey is that it destroys all the other benefits of the honey…i.e ..the pollen in the honey…but it still sweetens…& heat does alter the chemical structures of compounds…as far as the changes which occur to the sugars in honey upon heating, I am not 100% sure.
Christine Forker says
It is true they are chemically similar but the GI (glycemic index) numbers are quite different. Honey has a lower GI and therefore does not cause the same spike in blood sugars. The enzymes that the bees put into honey when they are making it ensure that we are able to break down the sugars in our stomach where as refined cane sugar reaches the small intestine before it can be processed and is straight to the blood stream.
Mhathair says
I suffer from thyroid disease and now Hashimoto’s and have to remove gluten and white Foods sugar flour from my diet. We live in the south and we drink sweet tea I usually put two thirds of a cup of sugar ,the kind you mentitled above. I have to give it up and I always have raw local honey in my kitchen. How much honey would be equivalent to the 2/3cup?
Megan Stevens says
Hi and thanks for the great question. In your case, I’d consider putting in a combination of honey and stevia. With thyroid health, cutting back on all sweeteners that affect our blood sugar levels is a good idea. I’d use 1/3-1/2 cup raw honey, and then add stevia, to taste, to get it to the right sweetness overall. This will be better for your hormones, and also not overwhelm your tea with the honey flavor. 🙂
Colleen says
What does reduce by 1/8 cup mean? Do I reduce the batter by 1/8 of a cup?
Megan says
Hi Colleen, any potential liquid in a recipe: So this means if the recipe calls for milk, you would remove 2 tablespoons of the milk. This does not include oil. This rule doesn’t apply to all recipes because all recipes don’t have a liquid included.
Linda Oettli says
I’m making blueberry jam and am concerned about the baking soda bubbling up while the jam is boiling. Do I have to use the baking soda?
Dawn says
As I look at all the blogs and posts and advice on eating clean and taking better care of our family’s nutritional needs, I often think “ok, this is great advice but how?!?!?” I am left wondering how to actually do what the advice says, so reading this and seeing the conversions right here spelled out easily…THANK YOU! Great topic (reducing or eliminating sugar) with the “how to” to go along with it.
Lynn Clak says
Thank You very helpful
Terri says
Wow! The chart is so helpful—especially the notes about adjusting liquid, temp. etc. when substituting honey. 😊