A stack of warm, fluffy pancakes drizzled in delicious maple syrup for breakfast sound heavenly. Don’t they? Even though waffles and pancakes can be topped with other things like chocolate syrup, fresh fruit, compote or whipped cream, nothing comes close to the yummy taste of maple syrup.
Obtained from the sugary sap of maple trees, the sweet taste of maple syrup is quite unmatched. The hint of caramel blended with a toffee like flavor, gives it a rather unique complex taste. Even though the flavor of maple syrup is deliciously sweet, it is rather expensive and can burn a hole in your pocket. Plus, not everyone has a bottle of maple syrup handy at home and the sudden craving for pancakes can be intense and doesn’t go away easily.
If these are some of your concerns, then you might want to look for some other alternatives that can prove to be a worthy substitute for maple syrup for its sweet flavor.
Did you know that it takes 40 litres of sap to produce just 1 litre of maple syrup?
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Maple Syrup Substitute – What Can I Substitute For Maple Syrup?
Since we are looking for the substitutes of maple syrup, it goes without saying that you must look for something that has the same amount of sweetness. Apart from the taste factor, the other factors concerned with the use of maple syrup is its availability and cost. Thus, you must look for other alternatives that are cheaper than compared to maple syrup and also are easily available. That being said, you must note that the taste will have.
In order is a list of some popular substitutes used as a sweetening:
1. Sugar – White Sugar And Brown Sugar
Sugar would in fact be the most obvious choice as a sweetening maple syrup substitute, and that is why it is the first item on our list. In a majority of baked goods, sugar can replace maple syrup; however, due to its low-sweetening property as compared to maple syrup, the quantity of granulated sugar added must be 25% more than the quantity of syrup that was supposed to be added.
You can roughly estimate that for every 2/3 cup of maple syrup, 1 cup of sugar needs to be used. You can use sugar to sweeten the pancake batter also. It will help lightly sweeten it from within.
2. Molasses
Molasses or black treacle is a dark thick syrup that is produced during the sugar extraction procedure. The sugar cane juice is extracted and the sugar crystals are separated from that juice. What is left after the extraction is a dark, thick liquid called as molasses.
It is used as a flavoring agent and offers a sweet, caramelised flavor and used widely for baking in the west. Follow a 1:1 ratio for swapping maple syrup with molasses. You can use 1 cup of maple syrup in place of 1 cup of molasses.
3. Honey As A Maple Syrup Substitute
Can I replace maple syrup with honey? Yes, you can! Honey is one of the best maple syrup substitute. There could be nothing closer to maple syrup than honey. Both of them have the same thickness, the same amber-like color, and not to mention the similarity in sweetness.
All these factors prove that maple syrup can be replaced by honey in almost all of the recipes (Yes, it goes well with pancakes too!). Even though the taste of honey and maple syrup varies, the sweetness is almost at par. You can replace 1 cup of maple syrup with 1 cup of honey.
4. Corn Syrup
Though lacking terms of sweetness, corn syrup might just be the most inexpensive alternative for maple syrup. In fact, it is also a secondary ingredient in the maple syrups that you’ll find in the supermarket. Even after being completely colorless, corn syrup has the same texture as maple syrup, which makes it a great substitute. But corn syrup is not healthy and ideally should be avoided.
Apart from this, you can also use agave nectar as pancake sweeteners.
Related Reading:
Out of Muscovado sugar? Try these substitutes for muscovado sugar.
Recipe For A Perfect Substitute for Maple Syrup
Even if the substitutes can easily sweeten your meal, it might lack that same intense flavor. However, what if we were to tell you that you can mix any two of its substitutes along with other ingredients to prepare a sweetening agent that has a distinct maple-syrup like taste? Here is a sample recipe that might help you in preparing a great substitute for maple syrup.
Things You’ll Require For The Recipe –
- Brown Sugar – 1 cup
- White Sugar – About ½ cup
- Butter – 1 teaspoon
- Water – 1 Cup
- Vanilla extract – 1/2 teaspoon
Steps For Preparation –
- The first step in the recipe involves the caramelizing of the white sugar.
- Boil the water in a different saucepan.
- Once the water is boiling, add brown sugar to it so that it dissolves perfectly.
- To this mix of melted brown sugar, add the caramelized white sugar and stir thoroughly.
- In order to balance out the sweetness of the mixture, add vanilla extract and butter to the same mix and stir well until you get a thick texture with the desired consistency.
- Cool till it reaches room temperature.
What Is The Difference Between Real Maple Syrup And Other Syrups?
Some popular brands market themselves as ‘pancake syrup’ and not maple syrup. Why? It’s true, they are just pancake syrups. There is no maple syrup in it. Real maple syrup is expensive, tastes different, and the texture is far superior in comparison to an inexpensive pancake syrup.
Real maple syrup comes from the sap of maple trees, it is then further boiled down where the sugar chemically changes and the beautiful amber color is obtained.
Related Reading:
Finding an alternative for refined sugar? Try these healthy substitutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here, we have answered a few FAQs about maple syrup and its substitute.
1. Is brown sugar the best alternative for maple syrup?
You can replace brown sugar with maple syrup. To replace maple syrup, make a syrup with a ratio of 1 cup of brown sugar to 1 cup of water and let it come to a boil.
2. Is regular syrup and maple syrup somewhat similar?
The main difference between both syrups is the ingredients. Pure maple syrup is made from maple tree sap. The sap is boiled until the required consistency.
3. Is maple syrup healthy?
Maple syrup can be considered slightly healthy, as pure maple syrup contains antioxidants.
4. Can applesauce be used instead of maple syrup?
Adding applesauce instead of maple syrup won’t give a liquidy and sweet taste as maple syrup is sweeter than applesauce.
Wrapping Up!
This maple syrup substitutes works great with pancakes and waffles. So, if you are looking for some alternatives that’ll sweeten your meal, make sure that you take a look at their availability and price. For a good substitute is the one that meets both of these factors and delivers that sweet punch to your recipes.
What do you like to drizzle on your pancakes?