The Best Unrefined Sugars For Baking

“Unrefined” sugars are sweeteners that naturally come from nature, instead of genetically-modified plants, and are processed as little as possible. These natural sweeteners are full of their natural vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber and do not contain any toxic by-products of processing such as bleaching agents. Natural sweeteners are also not addictive like refined sugars, which have been shown to have drug-like effects on our brain and body. Read my blog post about secret sugars to learn more about added sugars.

Now, in terms of which sugars are unrefined:

Unrefined Sweeteners:

Maple Syrup – Made from the sap of maple trees. It has a distinctive flavor that adds a warm note to recipes. Make sure it’s 100% maple syrup with no other additives.

Honey – A natural sweetener made by bees from the nectar of flowers. It has a rich, sweet flavor that can add depth to baked goods. Make sure it’s raw and buy local if you can.

Date syrup – Made from dates and naturally rich in potassium, magnesium, and calcium. Read the ingredients to make sure it’s only dates and no other sweetener added.

Coconut sugar – Made from the sap of coconut palm trees and has a caramel-like flavor. The sap is mixed with water, boiled into a syrup, then set out to dry and crystallize. It can be used as a 1:1 substitute for white or brown sugar in most recipes. It’s affordable and easily accessible! There are different varieties sometimes: “Golden” is closest to white sugar while “brown” is closest to brown sugar.

Maple sugar – Made by boiling maple syrup until the liquid evaporates and it leaves just the granulated sugar. It’s pretty expensive, so I always use coconut sugar instead. But maple sugar is still a great option.

Date sugar – This is dehydrated dates that are ground up. Make sure it’s 100% date sugar and doesn’t have other sugars added.

Stevia – Make sure it’s 100% stevia. A lot of options for “stevia” have added sugars, sugar alcohols, and flavors added.

Using fruit as sweeteners

Obviously fruit is unrefined and using whole fruit as a sweetener is a win! The best fruit to sweeten desserts are bananas, dates, apples, pineapple, coconut, berries, figs, etc. They’re so easy and fun to use, add bulk to recipes, and have higher fiber content.

How do you use the unrefined sweeteners?

For white and brown granulated sugars:

• Use brown coconut sugar as a 1:1 replacement for brown sugar and add a little bit of honey or maple syrup to add the moistness needed.
• Use golden coconut sugar, maple sugar, or date sugar as a 1:1 replacement for white sugar and cane sugar.

Here are some of my recipes using coconut sugar (I haven’t used maple sugar or date sugar for anything yet):

Refined Sugar Free Nestle Toll House Cookies

The Best Choc Chunk Cookies with Coconut Sugar

Brownie Bites

Refined Sugar Free Blueberry Muffins

Healthy Reese’s Cups

Fluffy Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Edible Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet

For liquid sweeteners:

• Use honey or maple syrup. Maple syrup is a thinner liquid sweetener, so use it with that in mind. Honey is the thicker one of the two, so if you need a thicker liquid sweetener, then opt for honey. However, if you want a milder flavor (honey can have a strong flavor if used in a large quantity), then you can use maple syrup and honey together. Using both of them in combination (a 1:1 ratio) will create a stickier result with a milder flavor.

Here are some of my recipes using maple syrup or honey:

Chocolate Banana Muffins with Oat Flour

Coconut Energy Balls

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Caramel Bars

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Fluffy Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Using fruit as a sweetener:

Fruit won’t be able to replace liquid or granulated sweeteners on a 1:1 ratio, but after experimentation, you’ll get the hang of using fruit as sweeteners in recipes! Also, you can find lots of recipes that use fruit as sweeteners, so you don’t even need to create your own if you don’t want to.

Here are some of my recipes that have fruit in them:

Sweet Lemon Bites (sweetened with dates)

Fig Energy Bites (sweetened with figs and orange juice)

Banana Popsicles (sweetened by the banana)

Mango Popsicles (sweetened by the mango and coconut milk)

Baked Pears with Pecan Crumble (naturally sweet pear + some coconut sugar)

Coconut Blueberry Chia Pudding (naturally sweetened by blueberries & coconut milk, but you can also add honey)

Blueberry Banana Smoothie (sweetened by the blueberries and banana)

Coconut Energy Balls (sweetened by the coconut and also honey)

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