How to Substitute Agave Nectar for Sugar

Many people want to avoid sugar for personal reasons and so they turn to more natural sources which have not been as refined. Honey and agave nectar are two popular sweeteners which can be used instead of sugar, but honey is made through beekeeping, and some vegans want to avoid it. Other people simply do not like the flavor. Agave nectar is the answer, it has a light flavor which will not overpower other flavors in a dish. This means that you can successfully substitute it in your cooking for honey or sugar. Since it is a liquid, you cannot do an even switch for sugar, refer to the information below for how to have success in all of your recipes which substitute agave nectar for sugar.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Examine your recipe to make a note of all of the white and brown sugar and the liquid (milk, water, juice) you need. Also find the temperature the dish will be baked at in the oven.

2. Preheat the oven to 25 degrees F below the temperature named in the recipe. Agave nectar browns faster than sugar. Without lowering the temperature, the food will brown too quickly and be dark on the outside and undercooked inside.

3. Add the total amount of added sugars needed for your recipe and multiply it by 2/3. For example, if your recipe requires 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar add these together to get 1 cup total sugar. Multiply this by 2/3 to get the replacement amount of 2/3 cup agave nectar. For every 1 cup sugar in a recipe, you will use 2/3 cup agave.

4. Reduce the total amount of liquids in your recipe by 2 tbsp. for each 1 cup of sugar you replace with 2/3 cup agave nectar. This means that if your recipe only has 1/2 cup sugar, you will replace that with 1/3 cup agave and put in 1 tbsp. less of liquid.

5. Bake your dish in the oven, but increase the cooking time by 6 percent at 25 degrees F lower than required in the recipe. For example, if your recipe says to bake a cake for 60 minutes at 350 degrees F, you will bake it at 325 degrees F for 64 minutes.

Tips & Warnings

• Measure your egg or oil in the measuring cup first, then pour in your agave nectar. The fat will coat the inside of the measuring cup and help your agave nectar to slide out of the cup after you have measured it. This also works for syrup and honey.

References

• Madhava's Agave: Sugar To Agave Conversion

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