Notes about cooking with Maple Syrup

When maple syrup is used in place of sugar, one should remember that some recipes will convert better than others. Most recipes have a very precise balance of liquid to dry ingredients and they can be difficult to get just right. Remember that not only does maple syrup add a brownish tinge to whatever it is you are making, it also tends to make maked goods brown more quickly than sugar.

Basically you have to account for two things when substituting maple syrup for sugar in a recipe; that maple syrup is sweeter than sugar and that it adds extra moisture to the recipe.

For general cooking, use only 3/4 the amount of maple syrup as sugar. For example if a recipe says to use 1/4 cup (50 mL) sugar, use 3 tablespoons (45 mL) of maple syrup. In baking, for every cup of sugar substitute 3/4 (175 mL) maple syrup, and reduce the dominate liquid (milk, or water, for example) by 3 tablespoons (30 mL).

The above information taken from the "Simply Maple!" Cookbook produced by the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association.

More information can be found at www.ontariomaple.com.