10 Ways I Use Raw Honey Instead of Processed Sugar in My Cooking and Drinks

I carry more than twenty kinds of honey in the shop, and people ask me the same question every week: is honey actually better for you than sugar? I am not a doctor, so here is the kitchen answer. Honey is still a sugar. It has calories, and a spoonful is a spoonful. What it is not is refined. The raw honey I carry from Huckle Bee Farms, a veteran-owned family honey company in Pennsylvania making small-batch honey since 2012, is screened and bottled, never heated or filtered down to syrup.

Here are the ten ways I use it instead of white sugar in my own kitchen.

1. In my coffee, and I use about half as much

Honey is sweeter than table sugar by weight, so where I used to put two sugars I now stir in one teaspoon of honey. It dissolves in hot coffee in seconds. The Espresso Infused Raw Honey is the one I keep by the coffee maker because it does not fight the coffee flavor, it leans into it. Plain Raw Wildflower Honey works just as well if you want the coffee to taste like coffee.

2. Hot and iced tea

This is the easiest swap there is. For hot tea, a teaspoon of Mint Infused Raw Honey in black tea tastes like a mint tea without a second bag. For iced tea, stir the honey into the tea while it is still hot, then chill it. Honey does not dissolve well in cold liquid, so sweeten first and ice second. A pound jar sweetens a lot of pitchers.

3. Pancakes, waffles and French toast, instead of syrup

Most pancake syrup on the grocery shelf is corn syrup with coloring. A drizzle of Blueberry Infused Raw Honey on a warm pancake does the job of syrup and jelly at once. Warm the honey for a few seconds if it has thickened. Raw honey firms up in a cool kitchen and that is normal.

4. Oatmeal and yogurt

Flavored instant oatmeal packets and fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt are where a lot of hidden sugar lives. I buy plain and sweeten it myself, which puts me in charge of the amount. Cinnamon Infused Raw Honey turns plain oats into cinnamon oatmeal with one spoon. Raspberry Infused Raw Honey swirled into plain Greek yogurt beats any flavored cup I have tried.

5. Salad dressing, no sugar packet needed

Bottled dressings almost always list sugar in the first four ingredients. My house dressing is three parts olive oil, one part balsamic vinegar, a spoon of Dijon, a pinch of salt, and a teaspoon of Raspberry Infused Raw Honey. Shake it in a jar. The honey rounds off the vinegar the way sugar would.

6. Glazes for chicken, pork and salmon

Brown sugar glazes are mostly sugar with a little flavor. Honey glazes are the other way around. Brush Peach Infused Raw Honey on chicken thighs in the last ten minutes of roasting, or on salmon for the last five. It caramelizes fast, so keep an eye on it. When the Habanero Infused Hot Honey is in stock, a half-and-half mix of peach and habanero is the best grilling glaze in my house.

7. Marinades and barbecue sauce

Store barbecue sauce is often a third sugar by weight. When I make my own, Hickory Smoked Infused Raw Honey does the work of both the brown sugar and the liquid smoke. Whisk it with tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, a little Worcestershire and black pepper. For a marinade, thin it with soy sauce and a squeeze of citrus and let the meat sit an hour.

8. Baking, with one adjustment

You can swap honey for sugar in most quick breads, muffins and banana bread. The rule I use: for every cup of sugar, use three-quarters of a cup of honey, cut the other liquid in the recipe by a quarter cup, and drop the oven temperature by 25 degrees because honey browns faster. Raw Wildflower Honey is my baking jar. It has enough flavor to notice and not so much that it takes over. Cookies that need to be crisp are the one place I still use sugar, because honey keeps things soft.

9. Toast and biscuits, instead of jelly

Read the label on a jar of jelly and you will find more sugar than fruit. Blackberry Infused Raw Honey on buttered toast tastes like blackberry jam and has two ingredients.

10. A dessert that is just fruit and a spoon

When I want something sweet after dinner and do not want to bake, I slice a pear or an apple, warm a spoon of Chocolate Infused Honey for ten seconds, and drizzle it over. Same idea with Salted Caramel Infused Raw Honey on vanilla ice cream, or Pineapple Infused Raw Honey on cottage cheese.

Is honey really healthier than sugar?

Honey is a sugar, so it is not a free pass. The case for it is three things. It is sweeter than white sugar, so most people use less to get the same result. Raw honey is not refined or heated the way table sugar and corn syrup are. And a jar with real flavor replaces several bottles of sweetened products, like syrup, jelly, flavored yogurt and dressing, that each carry their own added sugar. If you are managing blood sugar, treat honey exactly like sugar and talk to your doctor.

Can babies have honey?

No. Do not give honey in any form to a child under one year old. Raw and pasteurized honey alike can carry spores that an infant's digestive system cannot handle. After the first birthday it is fine.

What does raw honey mean?

Raw honey is honey that has been screened to remove wax and bee parts and then bottled, without being heated to high temperatures or fine-filtered. It keeps its natural pollen and enzymes and it will crystallize over time, which is a sign it is the real thing. Set the jar in warm water to loosen it. Never microwave it in the plastic bottle.

Where does the honey at Krafty Bandit come from?

Every jar of raw and infused honey in the shop is made by Huckle Bee Farms, a veteran-owned family honey company in Pennsylvania that has made small-batch raw and infused honey since 2012. Their raw honey comes from American beekeepers, and the infused flavors are made with real fruit, spices and botanicals steeped into it. You can find the whole lineup in our honey collection or read the guide to infused honey flavors.

Stop in and we will help you pick a jar. Krafty Bandit is a boutique and handmade goods shop in Belle Vernon, PA.