every recipe I see and follow, upon coming to the sugar amount, my reaction is always: "What???"

and I never add the full amount and, you guessed it, it tastes like I did not add the full amount.

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High on a threshold yearning to sing
Down with the dancers having one last fling

That’s the definition of something or other.

Baking is chemistry - you don't change up the measurements.

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late

Sounds like you figured out your mistake.

Funny you should mention this ... I'm in the process of making what is supposedly a traditional Southern New Year's Day meal, and the recipes for cornbread I've gotten say to either not sweeten it, or if desired, to sweeten with regular white sugar (ugh). I went with honey instead, so we'll see how it turns out.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

In baking, white sugar locks in moisture, helps to stabilize the matrices that trap air, and prevents proteins from binding into dense blobs.

I've experimented on and off with Stevia and Monk Fruit as a sugar substitute when baking. A little baking soda and egg white helps when using them.

...You may find that the same tweak is helpful when using honey.

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Older, classic family recipes use less sugar than most modern formulae.

And yes, there are ways to reduce/replace sugar!

Explore and enjoy.

Quote
Tiangou
In baking, white sugar locks in moisture, helps to stabilize the matrices that trap air, and prevents proteins from binding into dense blobs.

I've experimented on and off with Stevia and Monk Fruit as a sugar substitute when baking. A little baking soda and egg white helps when using them.

...You may find that the same tweak is helpful when using honey.

There's plenty of moisture in this recipe, so I didn't think that'd be a problem ... there's already egg in the recipe, but no baking soda, since you don't want it to rise. Also since the sugar is optional, I figured it wouldn't make much difference to use honey instead. (Actually, I'm rather surprised that none of the recipes I found use molasses ... I would think that'd be a natural for Southern-style cornbread.)

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/2024 07:54PM by PeterB.

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Ombligo
Baking is chemistry - you don't change up the measurements.

This is true for risen breads but not really for quick breads (or cookies, in my case). A complete omission of sugar would change the recipe enough perhaps that it would probably not work, but quick breads are not dependent on exacting measures of any one ingredient, hence the name.

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High on a threshold yearning to sing
Down with the dancers having one last fling



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/2024 08:17PM by mrbigstuff.

I’ve had good luck using allulose.

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PeterB

Quote
Tiangou
In baking, white sugar locks in moisture, helps to stabilize the matrices that trap air, and prevents proteins from binding into dense blobs.

I've experimented on and off with Stevia and Monk Fruit as a sugar substitute when baking. A little baking soda and egg white helps when using them.

...You may find that the same tweak is helpful when using honey.

There's plenty of moisture in this recipe, so I didn't think that'd be a problem ... there's already egg in the recipe, but no baking soda, since you don't want it to rise. Also since the sugar is optional, I figured it wouldn't make much difference to use honey instead. (Actually, I'm rather surprised that none of the recipes I found use molasses ... I would think that'd be a natural for Southern-style cornbread.)

To my tastebuds, molasses isn't as sweet as honey.

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richorlin

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PeterB

Quote
Tiangou
In baking, white sugar locks in moisture, helps to stabilize the matrices that trap air, and prevents proteins from binding into dense blobs.

I've experimented on and off with Stevia and Monk Fruit as a sugar substitute when baking. A little baking soda and egg white helps when using them.

...You may find that the same tweak is helpful when using honey.

There's plenty of moisture in this recipe, so I didn't think that'd be a problem ... there's already egg in the recipe, but no baking soda, since you don't want it to rise. Also since the sugar is optional, I figured it wouldn't make much difference to use honey instead. (Actually, I'm rather surprised that none of the recipes I found use molasses ... I would think that'd be a natural for Southern-style cornbread.)

To my tastebuds, molasses isn't as sweet as honey.

True, but molasses has that burnt sugar/caramel-ish taste that honey doesn't.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

Quote
PeterB

Quote
richorlin

Quote
PeterB

Quote
Tiangou
In baking, white sugar locks in moisture, helps to stabilize the matrices that trap air, and prevents proteins from binding into dense blobs.

I've experimented on and off with Stevia and Monk Fruit as a sugar substitute when baking. A little baking soda and egg white helps when using them.

...You may find that the same tweak is helpful when using honey.

There's plenty of moisture in this recipe, so I didn't think that'd be a problem ... there's already egg in the recipe, but no baking soda, since you don't want it to rise. Also since the sugar is optional, I figured it wouldn't make much difference to use honey instead. (Actually, I'm rather surprised that none of the recipes I found use molasses ... I would think that'd be a natural for Southern-style cornbread.)

To my tastebuds, molasses isn't as sweet as honey.

True, but molasses has that burnt sugar/caramel-ish taste that honey doesn't.

Yum.

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It is what it is.

Quote
PeterB
Funny you should mention this ... I'm in the process of making what is supposedly a traditional Southern New Year's Day meal, and the recipes for cornbread I've gotten say to either not sweeten it, or if desired, to sweeten with regular white sugar (ugh). I went with honey instead, so we'll see how it turns out.

when I was very young, my father introduced me to honey butter on fresh warm cornbread. It is my kryptonite. Christmas eve I ate an entire 9x9 pan of cornbread and honey butter. I own it.

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"Defending your own life when in immediate danger to me is a basic right of each person. " Lemon Drop 11/17/2023 03:10 pm

Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008) Private citizens have the right under the Second Amendment to possess an ordinary type of weapon and use it for lawful, historically established situations such as self-defense in a home, even when there is no relationship to a local militia.

"The conclusion is thus inescapable that the history, concept, and wording of the second amendment to the Constitution of the United States, as well as its interpretation by every major commentator and court in the first half-century after its ratification, indicates that what is protected is an individual right of a private citizen to own and carry firearms in a peaceful manner." Right to Keep and Bear Arms: Report of the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1982. Digitized September 30, 2008.

From the NYSRPA v Bruen "Today, we decline to adopt that two-part approach. . . . Despite the popularity of this two-step approach, it is one step too many. Step one of the predominant framework is broadly consistent with Heller, which demands a test rooted in the Second Amendment's text, as informed by history."

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N-OS X-tasy!

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PeterB

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richorlin

Quote
PeterB

Quote
Tiangou
In baking, white sugar locks in moisture, helps to stabilize the matrices that trap air, and prevents proteins from binding into dense blobs.

I've experimented on and off with Stevia and Monk Fruit as a sugar substitute when baking. A little baking soda and egg white helps when using them.

...You may find that the same tweak is helpful when using honey.

There's plenty of moisture in this recipe, so I didn't think that'd be a problem ... there's already egg in the recipe, but no baking soda, since you don't want it to rise. Also since the sugar is optional, I figured it wouldn't make much difference to use honey instead. (Actually, I'm rather surprised that none of the recipes I found use molasses ... I would think that'd be a natural for Southern-style cornbread.)

To my tastebuds, molasses isn't as sweet as honey.

True, but molasses has that burnt sugar/caramel-ish taste that honey doesn't.

Yum.

there are a number of molasses types. Blackstrap has the most flavor, but the least sugar content. Think of refining crude oil. blackstrap molasses is the last dregs. Were it from oil, it's the stuff we pave with.

We are big fans of dark brown sugar.

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"Defending your own life when in immediate danger to me is a basic right of each person. " Lemon Drop 11/17/2023 03:10 pm

Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008) Private citizens have the right under the Second Amendment to possess an ordinary type of weapon and use it for lawful, historically established situations such as self-defense in a home, even when there is no relationship to a local militia.

"The conclusion is thus inescapable that the history, concept, and wording of the second amendment to the Constitution of the United States, as well as its interpretation by every major commentator and court in the first half-century after its ratification, indicates that what is protected is an individual right of a private citizen to own and carry firearms in a peaceful manner." Right to Keep and Bear Arms: Report of the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1982. Digitized September 30, 2008.

From the NYSRPA v Bruen "Today, we decline to adopt that two-part approach. . . . Despite the popularity of this two-step approach, it is one step too many. Step one of the predominant framework is broadly consistent with Heller, which demands a test rooted in the Second Amendment's text, as informed by history."

I've adjusted overly sugared recipes and have been very happy with the results. Cookies, cakes, cornbread ....

The adjust down isn't much, 1 or 2 tbsp/cup.

Baking is chem, but there is room to adjust in many recipes, even risen bread. But the added liquid, that's a lot more difficult to tweak I find.

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!#$@@$#!

Nolite manducare flavo.

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mrbigstuff
and I never add the full amount and, you guessed it, it tastes like I did not add the full
amount.

I would suggest adding the full amount, then.

Just use one of the natural sugar substitutes in the recipe. Allulose (which is a natural sugar from figs, etc) works and has close to zero calories. Swerve (brand name) is largely a sugar alcohol made from fruits, etc that also has essentially zero calories. It is easier to find in stores than allulose. Both are very low glycemic. You do have to use more allulose than sucrose to get the same sweetness level though.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

.....but have you ever gotten......baked.....???

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_____________________________________

I reject your reality and substitute my own!