457497 Mon Nov 05 11:57:52 -0800 2007 24 31 Home Cooking 0 3096973 Can anyone share experience or guidelines on using agave nectar baking? Is it at all suitable for baking? I'm curious to know how it behaves versus, say, honey in terms of moisture, and what its relative sweetness is under heat. I've only seen it (and only experienced it) used in liquid or "raw" preparations - maybe there's a reason for that... Mon Nov 05 11:57:52 -0800 2007 10074 Caitlin McGrath 1 3138035 So far I've had very good results with substituting agave nectar with any liquid equivalent (honey, maple syrup, the dreaded corn syrup) - I use slightly less than the liquid sweetener I'm substituting for honey or maple syrup- if a recipe calls for 1/2 c I use a little more than 1/3 c - it's a little sweeter. For corn syrup, I use equal amounts I'm not a huge baker, so I've yet to try substituting it for sugar in cookies - however, if I were to try, I would probably decrease by a bit some of the other liquid going into a recipe. I very much like using agave nectar - knowing that it's natural, low GI and I really like the taste. And there's no funny aftertaste or texture issues as there are in other substitutes. Good luck, and please post any findings. Mon Nov 19 07:04:18 -0800 2007 3096973 58768 kellypw 1 3138400 I've substituted it for honey in a muffin recipe. Worked fine! Mon Nov 19 08:44:04 -0800 2007 3096973 126235 NYCkaren 1 3319168 Agave nectar is perfectly suitable for baking. I have been using agave nectar for a couple of years. It doesn't make crispy chewy cookies. Cookies turn out more cake-like. It is very similar to baking with honey. Some say to reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees, but it doesn't seem to make a difference by doing that. Pretty much any recipe calling for sugar can be replaced with agave nectar. Also, agave nectar can be mixed with other alternative sweeteners like Stevia or xylitol with good results. Mon Jan 21 21:19:19 -0800 2008 3096973 159537 mz733l 1 3319203 agave is the only sugar i use regularly in baking. it works beautifully once you get the hang of it. the flavor of light agave is relatively similar to honey, with a slight caramel finish. the dark amber agave has more of a mild molasses flavor [without bitterness]. agave is nearly twice as sweet as table sugar, so use half as much...and adjust wet ingredients accordingly, as you're replacing a dry ingredient with a liquid. volume-wise, it's pretty much the same as using corn syrup or simple syrup instead of granulated sugar, and in terms of viscosity, it's a bit thinner than honey. reducing the baking temp by 25 degrees can help depending on the recipe. i'll be curious to hear how it works out for you... Mon Jan 21 21:35:11 -0800 2008 3096973 103920 goodhealthgourmet 2 3319497 After seeing it mentioned here a few times recently, it caught my eye the other day in a store and was taken aback (and put it right back) when I saw the price tag - at least $9/lb and I think the bottle was actually a half pound making. This store is more expensive than some but not usually insane. Is it always that expensive? If so, why do you use it, especially exclusively? Is it just a taste preference, or is it supposed to be that much "better for you" than honey or other less expensive sweeteners? Tue Jan 22 03:55:15 -0800 2008 3319203 11980 MikeG 3 3320274 well i'm a unique case because i have a specialty baking business, so i insist on using it due to the nature of my products. but i buy it in bulk at a restaurant supply store, so it only costs me about $3 per pound. it is typically very expensive, but i personally think it's worth it if you don't use it all that much.i was already using it personally at home before i started using it professionally. then again, if you've ever seen some of my other posts, i'm a little bit [ok, a lot] nuts about health & nutrition, and a purist about my food & ingredients. Tue Jan 22 09:11:14 -0800 2008 3319497 103920 goodhealthgourmet 3 3321472 Trader Joes just started carrying it, priced in the $3-4 range for a 12oz bottle. paulj Tue Jan 22 13:41:16 -0800 2008 3319497 12139 paulj 4 3323110 What? Where? Which TJs? I asked at the one in Queens and they said 'no, but I'll put in the request for you - lot's of people ask about it'. FYI to the OP: I can't remember the name of the bakery but they were voted #1 in some mag for their baked goods in NYC (cakes, cupcakes, cookies) and they only use agave (plus no wheat and no dairy which I found fascinating and all coconut oil). Tue Jan 22 23:26:33 -0800 2008 3321472 12487 krissywats 5 3323133 please tell me you're not talking about babycakes bakery. i recently tried their stuff, and it was truly awful. Tue Jan 22 23:48:12 -0800 2008 3323110 103920 goodhealthgourmet 6 3323148 Actually I think it was babycakes. I haven't tried there stuff but have heard from several friends they are fantastic. I'm sorry to hear a bad report. What were your problems with their products? And forgive me, but since you have a specialty baking business, are you biased against a competitor? (I ask that with all the respect in the world) Wed Jan 23 00:00:34 -0800 2008 3323133 12487 krissywats 7 3323176 not biased, just very critical :) seriously though, right now i do so much baking for other people...and sometimes it would be nice to pick something up that someone else made instead of having to bake it myself! anyway, after hearing a lot of "buzz," both positive and negative, i wanted to see for myself what all the hype was about. so i sampled 7 or 8 different items with a friend, and neither of us wanted to swallow even one bite. they were all extremely dry [yet greasy at the same time] and pretty tasteless, and all the cupcakes, muffins and quick breads tasted pretty much the same. plus, the brownies were really bitter. i was really disappointed - i actually wanted it to be good, because there's so much bad gluten-free stuff out there. it sucks for those of us who can't eat traditional baked goods. Wed Jan 23 00:59:51 -0800 2008 3323148 103920 goodhealthgourmet 8 3324547 that's so ODD - not just magazine reviews but individual reviews online are really great. People are kinda' koo-koo for cocoa puffs about this place. Of course there is the occasional review where someone doesn't like it. What I keep hearing, though, is that their chocolate chip cookie is amazing. I guess I'll have to try for myself at some point. Wed Jan 23 11:02:16 -0800 2008 3323176 12487 krissywats 9 3324649 actually, the chocolate chip cookie was the only thing that wasn't bad...but it wasn't very GOOD either. the flavor was okay, but the texture was off - much too airy & spongy, not enough body/substance. it's tough, because i'm guessing a lot of the positive reviews are coming from celiacs who haven't had the "real thing" for a very long time, and are just grateful to be able to eat something sweet that won't make them sick. it's not just babycakes...pretty much all the gluten-free baked goods i've tried have been sub-standard...so i decided to rectify that by creating good ones :) now i just have to make sure the rest of the gluten-free world beyond my personal circle can eventually benefit and partake! Wed Jan 23 11:25:09 -0800 2008 3324547 103920 goodhealthgourmet 10 3324757 Post away with your recipes : ). Your criticism of Babycakes reminds me of the Crave bakery here in the Bay Area - people raves, but as my husband says - they have been Celiac too long... I am going to pick up some agave next time I am at TJs. I think I would really enjoy the taste... Wed Jan 23 11:50:42 -0800 2008 3324649 15001 jsaimd 10 3325126 That's interesting - I thought about clarifying above that I actually ignored the reviews from 'I've been a vegan for 20 years and these are great". The reviews I paid attention to were people that said they are constantly looking for the best cupcake/baked goods/cookie/etc and that this was it. I saw a lot of those too. Interestingly, I read one review that said because Babycakes does not use seperate equipment for each type of product they make, none of their products can be considered completely safe for celiacs. I wonder if in the beginning they were possibly great and are suffering the growing pains of more mass production because of all the good press? Just a though. Wed Jan 23 13:16:25 -0800 2008 3324649 12487 krissywats 5 3323171 Seattle area TJ The bottle has the Monrovia CA address (as opposed to Needham, MA). I don't know if that has anything to do with distribution patterns. Wed Jan 23 00:51:39 -0800 2008 3323110 12139 paulj 6 3324550 Yes, that may be. They also may have a higher demand in Seattle than in Queens, NY for Agave. Wed Jan 23 11:03:15 -0800 2008 3323171 12487 krissywats 3 3579535 Just after I posted this I saw that somebody else talks about the Trader Joe's. I just bought a small bottle cause I wanted to try it. Good to know it's not a bank-breaker. Wed Apr 09 20:47:15 -0700 2008 3319497 10245 oakjoan 2 5036400 How might you adjust the wet ingredients properly. I have a banana bread recipe that I tried this with and it always comes out dry. I've tried one less egg, then another time a little less water, etc. but the result is still the same! Thu Sep 17 06:30:28 -0700 2009 3319203 1109998 AmberWild 1 4593062 I dont eat sugar... but I love to bake and agave works great! The only thing is that if you bake cookies (say chocolate chip) and substitute agave for sugar they turn out more like cakey/sconey things (which are 99% of the time still amazing). But breads, like banana bread, and cookies like shortbread cookies work really well. Oh and I generally use like 1/2 of the amount of sweetener called for (if the recipe uses sugar). Also I haven't noticed any difference in temperature, but for some recipes i have noticed a difference in time, so you just have to keep an eye on whatever you are baking. Mon Apr 13 18:43:31 -0700 2009 3096973 281490 pamsoffer 2 4628326 I am new to all this. I am experementing with nonchemicaly created sweeteners and have a bit of the nector. I want to back cookies bad but hate cakie cookies. Any way around it. Sat Apr 25 14:49:43 -0700 2009 4593062 286129 BarbaraBusybee 3 4629003 Try substituting a portion of the sugar called for in the recipe. Use organic raw sugar for the rest? I use agave in a recipe for NY cheesecake and it was the best cheesecake I have ever made...and I get the agave from TJ's. Sat Apr 25 21:21:55 -0700 2009 4628326 87101 Densible 4 4995658 Can everyone please explain to me the aversion to using conventional sugars? Tue Sep 01 08:38:12 -0700 2009 4629003 1106155 bambikohaku 5 5036397 One reason is because sugar spike your blood sugar, while agave doesn't. It has a low glycemic (I think that's how you spell it) index, so it's not as harmful to the body as regular sugar. You're only supposed to have a small amount of sugar in your blood stream at a time. Either 1 tsp or 1 Tbsp., I forget. Anyhow, it's supposed to be minimal, and you get about that much from eating regular food like fruit or carbs. So adding extra sugar to your diet isn't the best for you. Thu Sep 17 06:28:49 -0700 2009 4995658 1109998 AmberWild