Brown Sugar is the most widely used product. Firstly, it is a strongly flavored sweetener, which is made of granulated sugar and molasses, giving desserts softness, moistness, and richness. Brown sugar adds a unique rich flavor even to salty products like glazes and barbecue sauces. Brown sugar is the product of sucrose. It is brown in color because of molasses which is jaggery. It is a widely used product as it is mostly used in baking and making sweet flavored dishes. There are many brown sugar substitutes that we can use in place of brown sugar.
We should use brown sugar substitutes because they are a great alternative as they have multiple benefits for your health, although some substitutes are better than brown sugar in nutritional content and advantages. In this article, we focus on the best brown sugar substitutes that taste nutritional content and benefits similar to brown sugar.
How Substitute ingredients could affect Brown Sugar?
- Substitute ingredients may be light in color when baking, but brown sugar remains dark in color due to caramelization.
- Brown sugar freezes, substitutes do not freeze.
- Texture, color, and taste may be different in substitutes and brown sugar.
- Some alternatives have an aftertaste, while brown sugar has no aftertaste.
- You will have to adjust your baking time depending on your substitute, whatever you are using.
- Brown sugar contains moisture, things made from it dry quickly and they are stored for a long time. If we talk about substitutes, some substitutes are dry and stored for a long period of time.
Here are the best brown sugar substitutes that are similar in color, nutrition, and benefits.
Coconut Sugar
Coconut sugar is a great substitute for brown sugar. It is produced from the sap of coconut palm and it is also referred to as coconut palm sugar.
Harvesters cut into the stem of the flower bud of the coconut palm tree to extract its nectar. The sap is combined with water, then boil it into a syrup and leave it cool and crystalize. After that, they separate the dried sap into sugar granules which look like white sugar which we generally use for cooking purposes.
Nutritional content
- Low glycemic index.
- Low in fructose
- No empty calories.
Benefits
- It contains several nutrients like Iron, Zinc, Calcium Potassium, and fiber Inulin. These nutrients are in more amounts. Therefore, it is also good for bone health.
- Vitamin C, which is rich in coconut sugar and helps to improve the texture of skin and hair, helps to build immunity.
- Nitrogen is rich in coconut sugar, which helps cardiovascular health and protects the heart.
- Coconut sugar contains healthy fats which help in to prevent heart diseases or cholesterol levels.
- It is low in calories which helps to lose weight.
- After that, it is easily digestible and good for the guts.
- It helps to boost energy.
- It is an excellent product for diabetic patients.
Coconut sugar is a healthy sweetener and is commonly used in baking recipes. Its color is same as the brown sugar. Although its name is coconut sugar its taste is exactly similar to brown sugar which is slightly flavourful and smoky tone.
Muscovado Sugar
Barbados sugar, Khansari sugar, and Khand are additional names for muscovado sugar. Muscovado got its name from a Spanish word that means unrefined in English. Colombia, India, and the West Indies are the main countries that produce muscovado sugar. In addition, muscovado sugar is raw sugar which means the molasses are not extracted. In addition, it is only made of sugar cane.
Without much processing, muscovado sugar is able to retain nutrients present in sugar cane.
Nutritional Content
- No Fibre
- No fat
- Low in Calories
Benefits
- Antioxidants help to prevent cell damage by free radicals. Otherwise, such harm can speed up aging and diseases like heart disease.
- Compared to the natural sugar found in fruits, which contains fiber and nutrients, your body digests these more quickly.
Muscovado sugar is used in chocolate cookies and brownies. Its taste is like a delicious toffee. Muscovado sugar can be used with brown sugar for a smoky flavor. It is an amazing alternative to brown sugar because it includes a similar amount of molasses. Also, its granules are also similar to brown sugar. Although, it contains a lot more molasses than brown sugar, giving it a deeper color and more flavor.
White Sugar
White sugar is produced from refined sugar cane or sugar beets, commonly known as granulated sugar or table sugar. The sugar cane or beets are first juiced in food processors, and the water is then removed by boiling the cane juice. Similarly, the molasses-coated, liquid that coats sugar crystals is removed from the raw sugar by filtering it at high speeds.
Nutritional Content
- Granulated sugar or white sugar is starch- and fiber-free.
- Its Glycemic index is 65.
- White sugar contains no fat.
- No Protein.
- No vitamins and minerals.
Benefits
- The brain uses glucose as fuel. Thinking, learning, and memory skills are all functions of the brain. Our brain is the body organ with the highest energy need, it needs a steady supply of glucose, which white sugar can provide. Thus, white sugar in balance can improve brain function.
- An excellent source of energy is white sugar. When the white sugar circulates in the blood and is absorbed up by cells that help in energy production because it transforms into glucose.
- Patients with low blood pressure should consume sugar cubes, which help to quickly raise blood pressure
- Patients with diabetes have different blood sugar levels. When someone goes for a long time without eating, their blood sugar levels drop, thus their body needs raw sugar to replace itself..
White sugar in granules and other natural sugars are used as sweeteners in a wide variety of foods, including baked items, beverages with added sugar, and flavorful dishes. We can use it as a brown sugar substitute because it can provide the same results in most cases.
Piloncillo
These sweeteners are made from sugar cane juice that has been converted into a syrup. Piloncillo, also known as Mexican brown sugar, is a raw type of pure cane sugar that is commonly used in Mexican brown sugar.
Piloncillo is made by boiling cane juice into a thick, crystalline syrup. After that, it is put into cone-shaped cones to set. Due to its conical shape, the name piloncillo translates as “pylon”. It has an earthy quality to it with hints of both bitter and sweet flavours.
Nutritional Content
- No vitamins and minerals.
- No fats.
Benefits
- Panela provides us with unique levels of group B, A, C, D, and E vitamins, as well as minerals like zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, calcium, copper, and manganese,.
- It also provides carbs like fructose.
- It provides us energy, which is crucial and necessary for the growth of metabolic processes. It also helps in our self-activation by serving as an entirely natural energizer.
Turbinado Sugar
Turbinado sugar is unique in comparison to other types of sugar because it is made from the first squeezing of sugar cane. To create crystals from the syrup that is released during the pressing of Sugarcane, it is first heated. Crystals are then spin to remove any left liquid. Because they’ve received less processing than granulated or brown sugar, these crystals are more granular, darker, and flavor-wise rounder. Turbinado sugar has a flavor that is a little bit thick and molasses-like, which is what makes it so good and most people prefer it to granulated sugar.
Nutrition Content
- There is no fats in Turbinado Sugar.
- No proteins.
- No vitamins and minerals
- It provides 18 Calories in 1 tablespoon.
Benefits
- Turbinado sugar has bigger crystals than ordinary granulated white sugar. The natural molasses flavours that are present in this sugar advise consumers to consume less of it.
- Antioxidants are present in greater amounts in raw sugar than in other sugars. Antioxidants are compounds that may help stop or delay cell damage.
- Turbinado sugar are more beneficial to vegetarians and vegans as well. Bone char, an animal byproduct used to refine sugar, is not included in this sweetener.
Maple Sugar
A natural sweetener made from maple trees is called maple sugar. In addition, white sugar and brown sugar can be replaced with maple sugar.
Nutritional Content
Contains in a spoonful of maple sugar
- 30 calories
- 0 grams of protein
- no fat.
- Nine grams of carbohydrates
- No fiber
Benefits
- Maple sugar contains a number of the minerals that our bodies require to be healthy. Iron, zinc, manganese, and calcium are the topics at hand.
- Antioxidants prevent cell damage, which can result in chronic disease.
- The plant-based substances in maple offer protective properties against various malignancies, diabetes, bacterial infections, and even some neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s in other words, commonly known as hypertension.
- Maple sugar is ideal for clean-label products and gives an unusual flavor that customers adore in addition to being healthful.
Conclusion
In conclusion, brown sugar substitutes have a number of popular ingredients, such as white sugar, molasses, maple syrup, and coconut sugar. The downside of brown sugar substitutes is that sometimes a substitute is not enough to make some recipes, so you have to use brown sugar for this. Sometimes it is necessary to add substitutes to brown sugar because the benefits and nutritional value of each thing are different. Although brown sugar and its substitutes are very beneficial for health as healthylifehuman always recommends don’t take it in excessive amounts it may be harmful to your health.
