vegan alternative to honey?

Question

is there any vegan alternative to honey for cooking to like stick stuff together?

Answer 1

First pick would be agave nectar. Love that stuff! You can also use regular maple syrup or molasses. Ricemellow's a good option, too... it's a vegan alternative to marshmallows and works well with rice crispy treats :)

Answer 2

I agree that agave nectar is best for flavor. It is also great for diabetic people because it doesn't spike your blood sugar level after ingesting it, so your insulin levels stay low also.

Molasses is great for vegans as it is rich in calcium! It does add an earthy flavor, especially the dark molasses that is unsulfured.

Maple syrup is also good for baking and cooking (although some syrups contain alot more moisture/liquid than others, which can add too much liquid and not enough sugar taste) and has a slight added maple flavor to the item being cooked or baked.

Honey is an animal by-product, and thus vegans do not ingest animal by-products. It may or may not hurt the bees. Funny how the industry has taken more and more honey from the bees, and now there is this mysterious "hive collapse syndrome" that is killing off the bees of the hive. First they blamed it on a virus, and now the evidence says it isn't. Makes you wonder if bees have enough honey to live through the winters, or even enough to keep the bees happy and healthy.

Answer 3

I don't understand why people who don't know anything about a vegan diet bother to answer questions like this. Giving out incorrect information really degrades this place. Grrr!

There are a lot of good answers here. I would add BROWN RICE SYRUP. It is VERY sticky and sweet and wonderful. It is used in a lot of baked goods. I'm surprised more people didn't list it. I like it in cookie recipes especially.

Here's some info:
Brown rice syrup is a liquid sweetener with the consistency of honey. It can be substituted for honey in baking. It has a unique caramel-like flavor that can be used to enhance a recipe, but it will disappear if used sparingly in a recipe.

Brown rice syrup metabolizes slowly but does have calories and carbohydrates. Diabetics and low-carb dieters should use it with caution. Otherwise, it is fine for anyone who wants a whole-food natural sweetener.

Brown rice syrup is made by combining barley malt and brown rice and cooking the mixture until all the starch is converted to sugar. The mash is then strained and cooked down to a syrup that is only 20 percent as sweet as sugar.

The final product is roughly 50% soluble complex carbohydrates, 45% maltose, and 3% glucose. It is a "time-release" energy source. The glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream immediately, the maltose digests over one and a half hours, and the complex carbohydrates burn over two to three hours.

Brown rice syrup is considered to be one of the healthiest sweeteners in the natural food industry, since it is produced from a whole food source and is made up of the simple sugars.

Brown rice syrup is excellent for a bit of sweetness on toast, whole grains, sweet potatoes or squash, or in tea. It blends well to sweeten salad dressings, soups, and sauces. I've been surprised that I have been able to make toffee and crisp cookies with rice syrup. And it is wonderful in gooey treats like pecan pie. I'm finding new uses all the time. It's one of my favorite sweeteners
From: http://www.dld123.com/sweetsavvy/sweeteners/summary.php?id=Brown%20Rice%20Syrup

P.S. About the bee shortage, did you know that organic beekeepers are not reporting any cases of colony collapse? My honey supplier has told me that a lot of commercial beekeepers take all the honey and feed the bees high fructose corn syrup and other unnatural foods which weaken their immune system. What are they thinking? Beekeeping needn't be cruel and harmful.
Here is an interesting article:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_5194.cfm

Answer 4

Raw Agave Nectar
Maple Syrup

Answer 5

I use agave nectar, as it has a similar sweetness to honey. It's a little thinner than honey, but still good. It's also good in hot tea.

You can also use brown rice syrup, which is fairly thick, but not as sweet as honey.

Answer 6

Syrup

Answer 7

Honey is used as a sweetener, not a binder.

I use raw agave nectar.

Answer 8

Agave nectar would be your best bet.

In some cases something gooey like syrup or molasses may work.

Answer 9

Being vegan doesn't mean you only don't eat diary products! please. It means you don't any any meat AND you don't eat anything produced/made by animals.... eggs, honey, etc. Syurp is a good alternative. Good luck!

Answer 10

Why would eating honey not be a Vegan product? It is a pure substance and you aren't harming not hurting any animals and not eating animals? Anyhow. I don't understand the whole vegan thing anyway. No offense.