Ultimate List of Healthy Refined Sugar Alternatives & Substitutions for Cooking and Baking

Do you want to easily reduce your intake of refined sugar, but don’t know where to start? Numerous healthy refined sugar alternatives are available, and you can begin using them in your kitchen today!

Refined sugar is widely known to be detrimental to health, but Americans still eat more sugar than the people in any other nation on earth. Making delicious food without using much refined sugar has been important to me for years, and I’ve learned so many great ways to do this!

What is Refined Sugar?

Refined white sugar is made through a process which extracts the natural sugars from sugar beets or sugarcane. It is extremely processed and retains no health benefits from the original source. Because of this, it causes blood sugar spikes and over time can lead to severe health issues.

What is Natural Sugar?

Natural sugar is found in whole foods such as fruit, vegetables, and dairy. When the food is unprocessed or minimally processed, the sugar in it doesn’t cause the same extreme negative health effects or blood sugar spikes. In addition to sugar, these foods also contain important nutrients which are beneficial to your health.

While you still want to eat natural sugar in moderation, it’s much healthier for you than refined sugar.

Healthy Refined Sugar Alternatives

There are so many healthy alternatives to refined sugar, and as you begin using them in your cooking and baking, you’ll quickly find your favorites!

Coconut Sugar

This is my favorite granulated alternative to refined sugar! It can be used as a 1:1 substitute for regular sugar or brown sugar in recipes.

Keep in mind that it does have a strong caramel-like flavor which can impact the taste of certain recipes. Because of this, I recommend using it recipes that have their own distinct flavor, such as Almond Flour Brownies. You can also combine it with other refined sugar alternatives to minimize the caramel flavor.

Coconut sugar is made from extracting the sap of coconut palm trees and exposing it to high heat to evaporate the liquid. What’s left is the coconut sugar crystals which you can use in so many ways in your kitchen!

Molasses

Molasses is added to refined white sugar to make brown sugar, but you can use it by itself to sweeten foods. While it has the flavor of brown sugar, keep in mind that it’s not nearly as sweet.

It’s a wonderful way to add depth of flavor and slight sweetness to so many dishes or condiments! However, it’s not a direct substitute for refined sugar.

Molasses is made during the process of refining sugar, however, it retains some of the nutrients from the sugar beets or sugarcane.

Date Sugar

Made from ground dried dates, date sugar is a delicious sweetener that can be used as a 1:1 ratio substitute for refined sugar. Since it’s made from the whole fruit, it contains the numerous health benefits present in dried dates.

Keep in mind that it has a date butterscotch-like flavor which will impact recipes. Also, since it’s made from fruit, it won’t dissolve in recipes like refined sugar or certain sugar substitutes. It can add a slightly gritty texture depending how much you use.

Unsweetened Applesauce

While this may not be the first refined sugar substitute that comes to mind, it can be a really good one! It adds a slightly fruity flavor to food, and can be used as a 1:1 ratio substitute for refined sugar. However, since it is wet ingredient, you will need to decrease the other wet ingredients slightly.

Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is a classic on pancakes, but it can also be used to sweeten many other foods! Since it’s slightly sweeter than refined sugar, you can replace 1 cup of white or brown sugar with 3/4 cup of maple syrup. In baking, make sure to reduce other liquids in the recipe by 3 to 4 tablespoons per 3/4 cup of maple syrup.

Maple syrup has been made through a simple process for hundreds of years. Sap is extracted from sugar maple trees and the water is evaporated until the syrup reaches the desired sweetness. Like other natural sweeteners, it contains numerous vitamins and minerals.

Stevia

Stevia is an herb that has been used as a sweetener for over a thousand years, and it has become more popular recently. It is available in a few different forms which vary in sweetness and amount of processing. Make sure to use either purified stevia extract or green leaf stevia (the least processed option). Altered stevia blends often have very little of the herb in them and contain other harmful ingredients.

Since stevia varies depending on the form, you can follow the usage directions of whichever option you choose.

Mashed Bananas

You can also use overripe mashed bananas as a sugar substitute in baking. Keep in mind that it will add a banana flavor to whatever you are making.

To do so, use half the amount of mashed banana as sugar called for in the recipe. Since mashed bananas are a wet ingredient, you will need to slightly decrease other wet ingredients in your recipe.

Rapadura

This is another wonderful granulated 1:1 ratio substitute for refined sugar! It has a strong, roasted caramel-type flavor, so you’ll want to use it in recipes where it will compliment the taste. It can also be used to sweeten drinks.

Rapadura is evaporated cane sugar juice that has not been processed. The molasses and sugar are still combined giving it a rich color and flavor. It’s traditionally made in various countries and also known as sucanat, jaggery, gur, panela, piloncillo, chancaca, and tapa de dulce depending on the brand and where you are in the world.

Monk Fruit Extract

Even though monk fruit has only recently gained popularity in the United States, it has been used in China for centuries. Its sweetness comes primarily from certain antioxidants in the fruit which makes it 100-200 times sweeter than sugar.

Many versions of monk fruit extract on the market contain unhealthy added ingredients such as erythritol, so it’s best to carefully check the ingredients of any monk fruit extract you buy. For the healthiest option, choose a product that contains 100% monk fruit extract.

While the flavor of monk fruit extract doesn’t typically interfere with recipes, the sweetness of pure monk fruit extract makes so that it’s not a 1:1 substitute for sugar. It’s easiest to use it in drinks and cooking instead of baking. If you do choose to bake with it, you will likely need to experiment with modifying the ingredients in the recipe to make it turn out correctly.

Raw Honey

Raw honey is one of the most delicious sweeteners there is, and it has been used for all of human history! Heating honey destroys many of its health benefits, so it’s not best to cook or bake with it.

Use raw honey as a flavorful sweetener for tea or coffee, in salad dressings or other condiments, or as a delicious topping for muffins, bread, or pancakes. It’s also a wonderful way to sweeten yogurt or smoothies!

Recipes with Healthy Refined Sugar Alternatives

Easy Dark Chocolate Almond Flour Brownies – Without Eggs

Best Gluten Free Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins with Chocolate Chips

Simple Banana & Date Oatmeal Cookies – Gluten Free Snack

The Best Gluten Free Pumpkin Cranberry Bread with Chocolate Chips

Healthy Refined Sugar Alternatives – Conclusion

There are so many healthy refined sugar alternatives available! As you begin to try some, you’ll quickly discover which ones work best for you! I only keep a few of these in my pantry, but I use them in so many foods each week.

Which refined sugar alternative are you most excited to try? Let me know in the comments!