If you're a decent beekeeper, there's a good chance that you'll be able to harvest 40 or more pounds of honey from each of your hives. That's a lot of honey. Unless you eat a whole lot of toast, you may want to consider other ways to use your copious crop.
Honey is not only wholesome, delicious, sweet, and fat-free, but it's also incredibly versatile. You'll find uses for honey in a myriad of recipes that call for a touch of sweetness.
You can use honey in appetizers, baked goods, main dishes, and desserts. Here are some tips for cooking with honey:
- Because of its high fructose content, honey has a higher sweetening power than sugar. This means you can use less honey than sugar to achieve the desired sweetness.
- To substitute honey for sugar in recipes, start by substituting up to half of the sugar called for. With a little experimentation, honey can replace all the sugar in some recipes.
- If you are measuring honey by weight, 1 cup of honey will weigh 12 ounces.
- For easy cleanup when measuring honey, coat the measuring cup with nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil before adding the honey. The honey will slide right out.
- In baking, honey helps baked goods stay fresh and moist longer. It also gives any baked creation a warm, golden color. When substituting honey for sugar in baked goods, follow these guidelines:
- Reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey used.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda for each cup of honey used.
- Reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees to prevent overbrowning.
