September is National Honey Month and I thought that it would be the perfect time to talk honey. More specifically, all the great alternatives to honey.
As vegans, we cannot and should not ignore the ethical implications and environmental consequences of the bee husbandry industry. Doing so reduces our credibility as a serious movement trying to effect real-life change. Honey isn’t some magical ingredient no one can avoid. It’s an animal product that has been mass marketed and mass-manufactured for generations, and it’s been tested on animals.
With so many vegan alternatives available, honey is not only exploitative, it’s unnecessary.
Don’t worry: Finding a replacement for honey is simple. There are plenty of vegan alternatives to help satisfy that sweep syrup craving you may have.
FAQ: Are you really trying to say we should care about bees? That makes vegans look extreme.
Some well-intentioned vegans overlook the use of honey because of the widely spread myth that honey and bee products are all-natural by-products of the necessary pollination of our food crops. Some vegan bloggers and organizations have made matters more confusing by claiming that only extreme vegans avoid honey.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The truth is, consuming honey is not only detrimental to bees, but it also’s damaging to the environment and has dangerous consequences for our food supply. And honey is tested on animals such as cats and dogs, among others.
Sure, it may seem extreme to avoid products made from insects. But offering respect to the littlest members of our world seems logical when thinking about caring for those who are perceived inconsequential or weaker than ourselves.
We can avoid honey and bee products for our survival. So, we should.
Learn more about why honey is not vegan.
Six Plant-Based Alternatives to Honey
While some of these options are more similar to the taste and consistency of honey than others, all of them come from plants.
1. Agave Nectar
Agave nectar is a sweetener commercially produced from several species of the agave plant. That’s right, the same plant that produces tequila, which explains why agave pairs so beautifully in tequila co*cktails.
Most agave comes from Mexico and South Africa. Agave is sweeter than honey and tends to be less viscous. Like honey, agave nectar comes in various styles ranging from dark amber to light, each with their distinct flavor. Dark agave has a caramel taste, while the lighter agave is more reminiscent of delicate honey.
» Shop Now for Agave Nectar
2. Coconut Nectar
Made from the reduced sap of coconut palms, coconut nectar has a sweet, tangy taste with no coconut flavor. It is high in amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. The nectar also is low-glycemic.
» Shop Now for Coconut Nectar
3. Maple Syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species.
In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring.
» Shop Now for Maple Syrup
4. Molasses
Molasses is made by refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Interestingly, the word comes from the Portuguese melaço, ultimately derived from mel, the Portuguese and Latin word for “honey”.
Perhaps your only experience with blackstrap molasses has been in gingerbread or baked beans. You probably never gave much thought to it, but blackstrap molasses is an excellent source of iron and calcium. Like other plant syrups, molasses has several varieties and flavors. Barbados molasses, for example, is lighter and sweeter than blackstrap and goes perfect in a warm bowl of oatmeal.
» Shop Now for Molasses
5. Barley Malt Syrup
Comes from sprouted barley, roasted and cooked down to a syrup with a malt-like flavor. Substitute 1:1 for honey.
» Shop Now for Barley Malt Syrup
6. Brown Rice Syrup
Brown rice syrup is a sweetener made by exposing cooked rice to enzymes that break down the starches and turn them into smaller sugars. Then all the “impurities” are filtered out and all that is left is a thick dark syrup with a caramel-like flavor.
» Shop Now for Brown Rice Syrup
Make Your Own Vegan Honey
Skip the stores and learn to make vegan honey at home!Here are two recipes to get you started:
BONUS! Vegan Date Paste Recipe
Date paste could almost be the ultimate all-natural sweetener that goes perfect in almost every recipe. It’s smooth and silky and just a bit like caramel. You might think it’s a strange replacement for honey, but it works just as well as honey in any baked good you can dream up. So, goodbye refined sugar and hello healthy one-ingredient easy to make date paste!
Simple Date Paste
Prep Time: 1 hour
Additional Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Date paste is the ultimate all-natural sweetener that goes perfect in almost every recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 cup pitted Medjool or sweet pitted dates
- 2/3 cup hot water
Instructions
- Place dates into a bowl.
- Pour hot water directly over the top until all the dates are fully covered. Let soak for one hour or until soft.
- Drain water from the dates and place into a food processor or high-speed blender.
- Blend 6 – 8 minutes until completely smooth and creamy.
Notes
Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Will keep up to six months.
Let’s talk. What’s your favorite vegan honey alternative? Let me know in the comments!
