Absolutely despise maple syrup! Is there a good substitute?

susan Faurot
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8 Comments

susan F. April 29, 2013
Thank you so much for all of your suggestions! I am going with the Golden Syrup and will experiment from there.
 

Voted the Best Reply!

rosalind5 April 28, 2013
Have you tried Lyle's Golden Syrup? It's a staple in British baking - something they have with pancakes, for example, and has a pleasant sweet flavour.
 
bigpan April 28, 2013
I assume it is the maple taste you hate, not sweet syrup in general. Try using blue agave syrup - usually at a good cook store or organic store.
 
petitbleu April 28, 2013
I love sorghum syrup. When I first tasted it, I gave up maple syrup for a long time, even though I like maple syrup. But because sorghum tends to be such a small-batch homestead operation in many cases, it varies wildly. Some sorghum is very light amber in color, and the flavor is very mild (this tends to be the case with Amish or Mennonite-produced sorghum because they tend to cook over steam) whereas some producers cook over wood fire--this yields a very dark and more flavorful sorghum. I prefer the latter, but if you use the darker kind in baked goods it's very pronounced (not a bad thing in some cases, but perhaps not what you're going for here). You might try to find a light sorghum for this recipe.
 
nomoreviolence April 28, 2013
Agave syrup has a lighter and less sweet flavor -- you might like it!
 
Hilarybee April 28, 2013
To get the balance of richness and sweet, I'd choose something with a similar body and color to maple syrup. My first choice would be molasses, but not blackstrap. Other natural sweeteners that I think would be nice: Barley Malt Syrup, which will be sweet and add a malty taste which would go well with the flavors in the recipe. Another choice is sorghum; it has a really distinct flavor, also sweet, but almost nutty.
I don't think honey is the best choice, since there is already brown rice syrup in the recipe, which is lighter and high on the glucose.
I don't think honey is the best choice for a couple of reasons. 1) Darker syrup will suit the flavor profile in the recipe. Since the recipe calls for brown rice syrup as well, a common honey sub, you wouldn't want to add more of the same flavor. 2) Recipe is designed to be vegan. Honey is not vegan.
You could play around with honey by taking out the brown rice syrup and trying a combination of honey & molasses, honey & sorghum, honey & barley malt syrup.
 
susan F. April 28, 2013
Thanks! Not wildly keen on honey either, but will try that instead of the maple syrup.
 
ZombieCupcake April 28, 2013
Honey
 
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