Knowledge Base > Char Nolan - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)
Char Nolan - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)
This event was on
Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern
Join Chef Char Nolan in her virtual office as she welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to ask anything – from cooking techniques to cou… Read More.
Question:
Can you please share your recommendation on how interchangeable we can be with various sweetening ingredients like maple syrup, molasses, date syrup, etc. in recipes?
— Maura Ema
Answer:
So, uh, we did put a link at the bottom of this, uh, query line, uh, with access to a previously recorded event from Chef Fran Costigan, who is kind of like the expert. I will say this. Um, in terms of cooking with molasses versus maple syrup, you know, there are two very, very different, um, solutions, shall, shall we say, because molasses, it has so much more viscosity to it. Maple syrup is much, much sweeter. My own approach to this is I only use one sweetener when I bake and I stick with maple syrup because as they say, do what you know. Um, and, um, I've learned to sort of manipulate traditional recipes, excuse me, and flip them to be whole food plant-based, no oil. And using maple syrup for me works. Some people enjoy using date syrup. Um, I find it too sweet and I don't like how it discolor, uh, things that I bake. However, it does have some nutrient value to it. And the other thing is, if a recipe calls for, um, a fruit paste or maple syrup go with the date paste or the fruit paste because it has a little added fiber to it. And I think that it lends a more flavorful, uh, sort of like condition to whatever it is that you're baking or a salad dressing or whatever. So, uh, Fran's the expert stick with one sweetener. I like maple syrup, it's my favorite. Do what, you know. So that was a great question 'cause everyone is always interested in that.