baking with honey?
 

i seem to have myself a big stockpile of honey--really good honey. many of the jars are becoming crystalized, which is fine, i know it never goes bad. but, since i HAVE it, i would like to use it more, and less of the sugar, in baking.

what should i know to use honey instead of white sugar?

http://www.homebaking.org/foreducato...kinghoney.html has some good tips.

Honey is sweeter than sugar. Honey will keep breads moist longer, and you'll find things like muffins may actually be a bit sticky. The taste will be slightly different, too...depending on the type of honey.

You could make mead out of your honey, too. VERY easy and VERY yummy. lots of recipes on the web, with instructions.

GOT MEAD!

www.gotmead.com

Use the same amount of Honey as the reciepe calls for for sugar, but reduce the liquids called for by a 1/3rd.

I only use honey to cook with / bake with (including pecan pie, except, I while I substitute the honey for the white sugar, and still use the brown sugar).

My grandfather's family used honey (he kept bees) and during the 2nd world war when they rationed sugar, sold the sugar rations (as well as honey)...

Been using honey for cooking / baking my whole life.

and I agree, if you like adult beverages, mead and fruit (like apples, pears, peaches, cherries etc.) add a quart of honey for every gallon of water.

Pat

have never ever heard of mead??! may try it, but first i'll start using it to cook with much more. pat, that was all very interesting.

i just think its better for us than plain sugar, and since we have it, may as well use it. many around me get alot for free, allowing the keepers to keep hives on their pastures/land. i often get ppl asking if i'd please take some! so i usually do, and we also used to have it given to us, but that has gone away with the last place we lived on. often ppl ask me for something simple and want to pay me but i don't want pay, so i ask for honey, which they are usually thrilled to give me, since many dont' use it as much. we're talking a case of 12-1quart jars, often getting 3 or more cases per year. and since its made here, if you ask the right guy, you can score some REALLY fresh honey for eating on bread. add some fresh goat milk, and that's a meal for a queen!!!!

Yar! A tankard of mead fer me hearty lads! Yar!

http://www.beerdude.com/howto_brew_first_mead.shtml

Here's a link on how to do it.

chewie,

I use honey when baking bread too. If something only calls for a tablespoon (or two) of sugar, I just substitute honey for the sugar (in bread as I do it by hand, I probably use a little more flour to make up for the extra liquid).

pm me if you'd like the reciepe for the bread.

Pat

That would be a very very sweet mead. Might even be considered a sack mead because all the honey wouldn't ferment.

I use 2.5 pounds per gallon for a dry mead, 3.0 per gallon for a medium mead and 3.5 per gallon for sweet mead.

1 quart would be about 5 pounds.

WWW

Here is a recipe I use *ALOT* ... my DH can't get enough of them!

http://backpackingrecipes.wordpress....b-energy-bars/

No Bake Energy Bars .. basically Oatmeal, Honey & Peanut Butter. Yummmmy.

You can add other things, such as cocoa, raisins, blueberry's, etc to it as well.

because honey is a liquid you need to not only cut the suger but the liquid in some recipes

This is my favorite bread recipe. You can use all white or 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat. I make at least 2-3 loaves a week. It uses honey. Not much, but still. This bread turns out perfect every time. I make the dough up in my bread maker and then bake it in a bread pan in the oven. I let it dry overnight on it's side, turn to let the other side dry for a few hours, and then it slices up like store bought bread. I always slice it upside down. For some reason, that just works best.

http://www.tammysrecipes.com/homemade_wheat_bread

Don't listen!!! Honey is bad!! Ship all your honey (hazardous material) to me immediately for disposal.
John

Lol!!!

lol ol tex! well, i wouldn't want to harm you, so we'll just eat it up ourselves!

thanks for the recipes, i have used it in bread for a long time now, and other things like biscuits and muffins sometimes, but never anything else, so will get to using it more. just seems so dumb to use/buy sugar when i have 20 or more jars hanging around. i think they are quart sized, plastic, so even if it crystalized, i just cut it open, as i hear using micro kills the honey.

some ppl here use it either on tea, or bread and nothing else! so every time the topic of honey comes up, i mention how much we use and love it, never seems to fail, i get a coupla more jars! oh, poor me! (snicker, grin!)

No Knead Bread
 

1 package rapid rise yeast
2 tbs. honey – originally 1 ½ tablespoons of sugar. (to be honest, I use the same tablespoon I eat soup with, and can’t measure a half very easily.)
1 tsp. Salt (originally 2, but 1 works as well and is better for you)
2 cups warm water. (If y’all eat mashed potatoes, you should save the water you boil the potatoes in and use it in place of the 2 cups of water too (makes a higher raising loaf and changes the flavor a little too…)
5 cups all purpose flour
Combine yeast and honey to water and let stand for 5-10 minutes to insure yeast is working (called proofing – basically means you should see foam on top of the water / honey mixture. If there isn’t foam, throw it out. You’ve been lucky enough to have a dead package of yeast. Start again with 2 cups of warm water and 2 tablespoons of honey and another package of yeast) in your mixing bowl.
Add 3 cups of flour and the teaspoon of salt to the wet mixture, and stir with the same spoon (I don’t like to wash things) you used to measure the honey with. Continue stirring until you don’t see any dry flour.
Then add approximately 2 remaining cups of flour bit (the first time, I turn the shifter 5 times) at a time. I stir with my hand to form a very sticky ball. Then add the remaining flour (I shake 4 times each time I add flour). You want a ball that while it’s still a little sticky, is also able to get most of the dough off your hand. (note, I’m a guy and as I’ve written I use the tablespoon I eat soup with, the teaspoon I mix honey in my coffee with, and the shifter to measure the flour. I’ve used between approximately 1 to 3 cups of flour here… I think in part because of the humidity of the day, and part because while I use a “measuring cup” to measure the 2 cups of water, I’m not very accurate there either, and the shifter isn’t a real accurate measurement device either. The key words is a “ball that while it’s still a little sticky, is also able to get most of the dough off your hand”.
No need to knead. Use some more flour to get the dough off whatever you’re mixing with and your hands. Don’t worry about using extra flour.
Let rise in the bowl for 45 min. to an hour (covered) should raise about double in size...
Punch down, separate into two halves, and roll into long (12" or so) rolls. Put into greased French bread pan and let rise for an hour or so till it looks good. You’ll probably have to flour the table and your hands. It’s sticky dough. We don’t have “French Bread pans”, and the “normal” bread pan is too big. We make round loaves in a pie pan, and have found bread pans that are 2/3rds the size of a normal bread pan that work really well.
Let bread rise again to about double in size. (another hour or so)
Bake 425 degrees for 10 min. Turn oven down to 375 degrees for an additional 20 min.
Butter the top and sides of the loaves after you remove from the oven. (Normally takes about a total of 2 tablespoons of butter to coat the sides and tops.)
Try the bread as toast. You’ll love it!
I use the same basic recipe to make both rye and cracked wheat bread. To make it rye, I substitute the approximately 2 cups of general purpose flour with rye flour. I also add 2 tablespoons of caraway seed to the initial 3 cups of flour and 1 teaspoon of salt for the dry ingredients. For cracked wheat, I substitute 2 cups of whole wheat four for the 2 cups of general purpose flour. To make a “special” white bread, I shake a tablespoon of sesame seed over the two loaves. I also add a tablespoon of corn flour to the 2 buttered pans. (I shake off all the “extra” corn flour).

I've also started adding 2 tablespoons of sun dried (well actually dried in the dehydrater then stored in olive oil) tomatoes to half of the batch... then roll that half in chopped onions... wow!

Note: Bread rises best at about 85° F. It takes longer at lower temperatures… the key isn’t an hour listed for t the bread to rise, but doubling in size. Also, that doubling isn’t critical… I should say at least double. I’ve got busy doing other things on both the first and 2nd raising. The first isn’t any problem (it still punches down normally); the 2nd does give some air pockets in the bread… still tastes great!)

Honey is 3# per quart and 12# per gallon.
 

And, it's easy to get 3# per gallon of water to completely ferment, if you use yeast nutrient and energizer. It'll give you a good level of alcohol, though.

Honey is always just about 80% sugar and 20% water. Even when it crystallizes in a sealed container. The 20% water is still present.
Honey is not exactly "sweeter than Sugar" But it is different. It contributes a distinctive flavor when it is used in Recipes, according to the Type of Honey and what the bees fed on to make it.

I made my 1st 5 gallon of Mead in 1991. Last year I made 30 gallons.
Some years more, some years less. I give a bit away as Yule gifts to Family & Friends.We use it for Our Blessings & Libations.

I work it off dry. Then I add Honey back to sweeten it & cover the alcohol taste. Sorbate keeps it from re-fermenting

My favorite style of Mead uses 12# of Honey and 3# of Amber Malt extract, per 5 gallons, to make my version of Braggot. I don't add hops to my Braggot. The Malt Extract gives it a very different flavor.

Mead is very different from Wine. Melomel is a Mead made with fruit juice.
Pyment is Mead made with Grape juice, IIRC. Methligen(sic.) is Mead made with various Spices and Herbs.
I love MEAD!

Old John,

I'm making my first batches of mead this year after studing about it for over a year. Hopefully I can PM you when I have any questions.

WWW

that bread recipe looks great, thanks for posting it all!

last night i made pudding with goat milk and honey--wow, what a treat! tastes similar to that candy 'bit o honey'. i only did half honey, half sugar, so's not to shock the family! this is how i switched them from white to wheat flour, now they can't stand white made stuff!

My favorite commercial mead is Viking Blod mead by Dansk Mjod.

http://www.oaktreewines.com/product.aspx?Item=18508

Totally delish. Hibiscus hint gives it a nice counterpoint. I would SO make mead (and eventually make very merry) with my extra honey. :D

Surely, I'm glad to help .....
 

I have helped several folks get started over the years. I've given a few workshops on Mead, at various "Folk Gatherings".

Right now, I think I have about ten 1 gallon jugs of Sack, in my storage area.
I bottle mine in champagne bottles......because you can seal them with a crown cap, just like beer bottles....I make a lot of home-brewed beer, too,
65 gallons last year.
I have 2 cases of champagne bottles of Mead & Braggot, laid by.
I'll be making Mead, before this month is out...can't take a chance on running out. It's a "necessary", in my house.
I love Mead.

chewie- just sent you a message

These cookies are meant to be soft and gooey, don't over bake! My one friend loves this recipe as they are allergic to dairy - no butters or margarine allowed.

1 1/2 c oil
2 c sugar
1/2 c honey (I use 1 c sugar and 1 c honey)
2 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking soda
1 tps salt
2 tsp cinnamon
4 1/2 c flour

bake 10 min at 350 until the edge start to brown.