For those who may be new to our site, we’ve been sharing posts devoted to specific sugar alternatives. We want these sweeteners to seem accessible and not completely scary or unknown! Please see theNatural Sweetener Guidefor a list of all the sweeteners we use.
What is Coconut Sugar?
Coconut sugar is made from the flowers of the coconut tree. Coconut sugar can be called by two names, coconut sugar or coconut palm sugar. In addition to that, there is a product called Palm Sugar which is a very popular in Asian cuisine. Coconutpalm sugar is the most common name used by US companies. We have used products that use both names of “coconut sugar” or “coconut palm sugar” in their titles.
The first question you might have about coconut sugar is “does it taste like coconut?” The answer is a big fat “NO”.Coconut sugar does not taste, smell or look like coconut at all! In the above picture, you might find it has a similar appearance to brown sugar, because of it’s rich brown color. It can clump together and has a sweet scent similar to brown sugar. For this reason, coconut sugar has become a favorite sweetener! Especially for it’s nice sweet caramal-y flavor to baked goodies.
Why Coconut Sugar is Healthy
Coconut sugar is a whole, pure and completely natural sugar. It doesn’t through the extensive refining process as sugar does, so it is a whole, pure food. It will not give you sugar high’s and low’s and won’t make you feel sluggish or bloated. It’s naturally full of vitamins and minerals likeamino acids, potassium, magnesium, iron and zinc and is a completely safe as a diabetic sugar substitute. Coconut sugar has a low glycemic index (35), making it safe and convenient for any one concerned with blood sugar levels. Not all natural sweeteners are perfect for those who are concerned with this, but coconut sugar is one that is safe!
Why We Love Coconut Sugar
Aside from the health benefits, we love coconut sugar because it tastes good! It’s doesn’t taste like coconut sugar, despite the name! Coconut sugar is a great sugar alternative for many reasons. It bakes very well (similar to sugar)and helpsgive an amazing texture to all our favorite dishes! It caramelizes like sugar, thus making great brownies or chewy cookies. It’s substituted for sugar 1 to 1 and it mimics the taste of brown sugar. This flavor combines so well with chocolate for healthy Nutella or almond for almond cookies. It’s sweet enough to replace regular white sugar in, but healthy enough to call it a “whole nutrient rich” food. Coconut sugar is so amazing, even Dr. Oz loves it!
How to Use Coconut Sugar
Coconut sugar is a wonderful natural sweetener that can be used in many ways!
Because of coconut sugar’s properties, it’s the perfect natural sweetener for baking and cooking. Here are some of our favorites:
Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Martha Stewart’s Chocolate Creme Brulee
Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
Coconut sugar is great for lots of different dishes, but it’s not perfect for everything. It’s color and flavor is not ideal for every dessert you make. We don’t use coconut sugar in white, light or delicate flavored treats like whipped cream or white frosting. So sometimes we combine coconut sugar with other sweeteners to achieve the look and taste we want!
Mini Donut Hole Muffins
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies
Mint Brownies
Where to Buy Coconut Sugar
The best place to find coconut sugar is either at local health food stores (sometimes they go on sale for great deals) or online! We love buying coconut sugar through amazon.com. The products we often purchase are shown in our amazon products list on our blogs sidebar. You can always subscribe to items through amazon.com, helping to save a little money. You can also check out health food sections in any regular grocery store. We also just discovered that you can buy coconut sugar at Costco! If you would like to try out this natural sweetener but don’t want to commit to the cost, split it between you and a few friends. You won’t regret the price nor the delicious health benefits and you’ll be helping to share a healthy sugar substitute with your friends!
Questions: Have you tried coconut sugar before? What do you love about it?
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