Q: I started baking a lot in the last few years, almost always sweet recipes. But I prefer my baked goods subtle, not headache-inducing, and I always measure sugar scantly or outright reduce by a quarter-cup or so. But I know that sugar does more than sweeten - it adds moisture and improves texture, and who doesn't want a good moist breakfast cake?
Is there a good way to offset the negative effects reducing sugar has on the texture of a baked good (quick breads and cakes, mostly)? More liquid, an egg yolk, using honey or maple syrup in smaller amounts instead of granulated sugar? I'm not worried about the nutrition of sugar, just things being too sweet!
Sent by Bailey
Editor: Bailey, you're right that sugar plays a role in giving baked goods a nice texture and keeping them moist. Reducing it can sometimes mean dry and tough baked goods.
In her book, Bakewise, Shirley O. Corriher recommends cutting out an egg white if a recipe is ending up too dry, and this seems like good advice for your situation. Depending on how the recipe, you might even think of adding another egg yolk (egg whites dry baked goods out, the yolks add moisture).
For some ideas on substituting other less-sweet kinds of sugar, take a look at this post and its comments section:
• Agave to Stevia: A Handy Guide to Substituting Sugars from the Columbus Dispatch
Readers, do any of you have experience with reducing the sugar in recipes?
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I'm another one who hates too-sweet baked goods, and (forgive the generalization) I find most American recipes to be almost painfully sweet. I tend to automatically reduce the sugar by at least 1/3 in any new recipe I try.
Harry Eastman's book Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache uses nuts and vegetables in place of butter in baked goods, and though I know "healthy baking" wasn't the request here, the recipes are also quite low in sugar. I've never had to adjust the level in any of them, and bonus- the texture is almost always sublime and moist.
Ooops, Eastwood. NYE celebrations have already started over here, see ;)
I do even do reduce the white sugar in American recipes by half and never substitute with more fluids or other ingredients. Never did any harm to the cookies or cakes. Reducing the brown sugar is a little more tricky I find. I do that as well but not as much as the white sugar.
I agree with RinEngel that you can reduce sugar quite a bit without any serious problems. I sometimes find myself adjusting other parts of the recipe to make the dough feel right, like adding less flour or more water. The key to baking is always to pay attention.
For certain types of recipes, I can cut out sugar entirely and substitute fruit puree for sweetness and moisture. It doesn't produce exactly the same result as sugar, but the result is good. However, I also work only with whole wheat flour and have found using white flour less effective with fruit purees because it doesn't absorb moisture as well.
My successful recipes are here:
http://sweetenersandlight.blogspot.com/
I have had some failures, but generally I can work with the moisture balance and get something pretty good.
That's funny, I reduce the sugar in American recipes by about a third, too. In savoury ones, too, if they have sugar. I always thought it was just me...
I often cut the amount of sugar in muffins without otherwise changing the recipe, without any consequences. Muffins do tend to be more forgiving than other baked good, though.
You can bake with pure glucose, in most breads and cakes. Weight for weight, It's less sweet than sugar. It does have slightly different reactive and taste properties, but those probably won't be noticeable in home baking.
I also reduce sugar in American recipes by half. But I'm making pecan pie now and I'm scared the consistency will be wrong without all the sugar.