Baking
Substitute for Honey
Swap honey 1:1 for maple syrup, golden syrup or agave, or use 1¼ cups sugar plus ¼ cup liquid per cup in baking. How each changes sweetness and browning.
- vegan
- vegetarian
Quick answer
Out of honey? The most versatile swaps:
- 1
Maple syrup
1:1
- 2
Granulated sugar + liquid
1¼ cups sugar + ¼ cup liquid per 1 cup honey
- 3
Golden syrup
1:1
Honey is a thick syrup of mostly fructose and glucose with a little water and acid. Those sugars attract moisture, so honey keeps cakes soft for days and makes bars sticky enough to hold together. They also brown quickly, and the acidity reacts with baking soda. A good substitute matches the job: thickness for binding, sweetness for flavor, or both.
Baking
Honey is sweeter than sugar by volume, which is why a cup of it takes 1¼ cups of granulated sugar plus ¼ cup of liquid to replace. Maple syrup and agave go in measure for measure; both are thinner, so trim a tablespoon or two of milk or water. King Arthur warns that honey scorches above 350°F, and recipes built around it are often baked low. Agave browns similarly fast; maple syrup and sugar brown more slowly, so the bake may need a few extra minutes to color.
Bars, granola and candy
Here honey works as glue. Golden syrup and light corn syrup are as thick and bind as firmly; maple syrup and agave are runnier, so bars crumble unless the mixture is cooked a minute or two longer to thicken it. Corn syrup is the safer choice in brittle and caramel corn, since it resists crystallizing.
Dressings, marinades and drinks
In a vinaigrette, honey mustard sauce, teriyaki glaze or iced tea, any liquid sweetener works at the same amount. Taste and adjust: maple brings its own flavor, agave and corn syrup bring almost none, so a squeeze of lemon helps replace honey’s slight tang.
When not to substitute
- Dishes named for honey. Baklava syrup, Jewish honey cake, Greek loukoumades and honey butter rely on its floral flavor; substitutes produce a sweet but different dish.
- Mead. It is fermented honey by definition; maple or cane syrup ferments into a different drink altogether.
- Food for babies under 1 year. Use a substitute rather than honey in anything an infant will eat, cooked or not.
Common mistakes
- Using granulated sugar with no added liquid. The dough or batter turns stiff and dry, and the crumb comes out crumbly.
- Swapping pancake syrup for maple syrup. It is flavored corn syrup and tastes flat once baked.
- Binding granola bars with thin syrup. Maple or agave without extra cooking leaves loose clusters instead of a firm slab.
- Ignoring browning differences. Agave tops darken early; tent with foil rather than pulling the cake out underbaked.
All 5 substitutes at a glance
| Substitute | Ratio | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maple syrup BakingCookingRaw & finishing | 1:1 | salad dressings, glazed carrots, granola, muffins | Thinner and a little less sweet than honey, with a woody, caramel taste. In a dressing the difference barely shows. In a batter, hold back 1 to 2 tbsp of the other liquid to keep the same consistency. |
| Granulated sugar + liquid BakingCooking | 1¼ cups sugar + ¼ cup liquid per 1 cup honey | quick breads, cookies, cakes, sauces | The swap given in Mississippi, Utah and New Mexico State extension charts: the extra sugar matches honey's sweetness and the liquid replaces its water. Baked goods come out paler, slightly drier and quicker to stale, since sucrose holds less moisture than honey. |
| Golden syrup BakingCookingRaw & finishing | 1:1 | flapjacks, gingerbread, sticky glazes, porridge | A thick cane-sugar syrup partly split into glucose and fructose, much like honey's own sugars. It pours and binds the same way and has a buttery, toffee flavor with no floral notes. |
| Light corn syrup BakingCooking | 1:1 | pecan pie, candy, granola bars, caramel corn | New Mexico State lists the two as interchangeable. It is less sweet and flavorless, and it browns less. Its glucose stops sugar crystallizing, which suits candy and bar recipes where honey acts as the binder. |
| Agave syrup BakingCookingRaw & finishing | 1:1 | iced drinks, smoothies, no-bake bars, vinaigrettes | Weighs the same per cup as honey in King Arthur's chart but runs thinner, and dissolves readily in cold drinks. Neutral to faintly vegetal in taste. Rich in fructose, it browns quickly, so watch the oven. |
Substitute calculator
How much honey does your recipe call for?
- Maple syrup1 cup pure maple syrup
- Granulated sugar + liquid1¼ cups granulated sugar + ¼ cup water or the recipe's liquid
- Golden syrup1 cup golden syrup
- Light corn syrup1 cup light corn syrup
- Agave syrup1 cup agave syrup
Amounts are rounded to practical kitchen measures. Swaps without a fixed ratio, or that can't be measured in the unit you picked, show their ratio instead.
Frequently asked questions
Is honey safe for babies?
No. The CDC says not to feed honey to a child younger than 1 year old, because it can contain the bacteria that cause botulism. Its warning covers products made with honey, including honey pacifiers. For an infant's food, choose a different sweetener.
What is the best vegan substitute for honey?
Maple syrup for flavor, golden syrup for texture. Golden syrup is closest in thickness, so it binds flapjacks and granola bars just as well; maple works best in dressings, glazes and breakfast dishes where its flavor is welcome.
Do I need to change the baking soda when replacing honey?
Recipes written for honey sometimes include extra baking soda to neutralize its acidity. With sugar, corn syrup or golden syrup, that soda has less acid to react with; if the batter has no buttermilk, yogurt or brown sugar, cut the soda by about half a teaspoon per cup of honey replaced.
Can honey be replaced in bread dough?
Yes. Yeast feeds on any of these sugars. Maple syrup and agave go in at the same volume; granulated sugar needs its ¼ cup of water per cup to keep the dough's hydration where the recipe intended.
Sources
- Prevention of botulism, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Ingredient substitutions and equivalents, Mississippi State University Extension
- List of ingredient substitutions for cooking and baking, Utah State University Extension
- In a pinch: ingredient substitution, New Mexico State University Extension
- Baking with liquid sweeteners, King Arthur Baking
- Ingredient weight chart, King Arthur Baking
More baking substitutes
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Substitute for Egg Wash
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Substitute for Eggs in Baking
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Substitute for Sugar
Replace 1 cup white sugar with 1 cup packed brown sugar, ¾ cup honey (less liquid, plus ½ tsp baking soda) or 1 cup maple syrup. What each swap changes.
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