Baking with agave nectar (instead of granulated sugar) is as easy as pie, if you adjust to a few simple facts.
- Agave is 1.4 times sweeter than sugar
- It adds additional liquid to the recipe
- It browns quicker than a recipe with sugar
- It also makes the batter a bit stickier
Let’s look at a standard chocolate chip cookie recipe and see what we need to change if we want to bake it with our natural sweetener.
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
First, we want to replace the 1 1/2 cups of refined sugar, of course. I recommend using 1 cup (it’s sweeter than sugar, remember?) of amber agave to compensate a little for the loss of the brown sugar flavor.
Secondly, we need to re-thicken the batter because of the extra liquid from the agave syrup. So, let’s increase the flour to 2 1/2 cups.
Next, turn down the oven temperature by 25 degrees. Cookies are normally baked at 375 degrees F, but since agave sweetened baked goods brown faster, we want to bake them in a slightly “slower” oven.
And finally, make sure your cookie pans are lined with parchment paper and sprayed well.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe With Agave Nectar
1 cup amber agave nectar
2 sticks butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
I’m sure you know the procedure for mixing a cookie dough, but just in case…
1. Beat the agave, butter, eggs and vanilla by hand or in an electric mixer until creamy and fluffy.
2. Sift together the flour, soda, and salt, and blend it thoroughly with the creamed mix.
3. Fold the chocolate chips and optional nuts into the batter.
4. Bake it off at whatever size you like. (I prefer 8-inch cookies. But, I’m a glutton!) Check your oven after 8 minutes or so. It shouldn’t take much longer than 8-10 minutes.
Photo Credit. Thanks!
Note: Baking cookies with agave nectar will result in a softer, moister end product.
One last tip: If you want to avoid all white sugar in your diet, use unsweetened or malt-sweetened chocolate chips!
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I just started using Agave nectar I wish I started before. I love the way it taste in coffee. I will be doing this recipe. I will post a link to it on my website. Thanke you so much.You do a great job explaining how to account for the difference in baking with sugar and the nectar.
Thank you for your comment and linkluv, Roxana! So kind of you! I hope you enjoy these cookies.
Leave a link to your website when you come back next time. I’d like to come visit. (I’ve seen your Examiner pages, but I assume you were talking about your own website.)
Wanted to let you know I tried the Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe…They were great! (soft and moist) Didn’t miss the sugar a bit! Even hubby liked them and he doesn’t typically like it when I change recipes.
YAY Christine! Thanks for letting me know. Hi to hub!
I only had barely 3/4 cup of agave left in the house, so I added 1/4 cup of brown sugar. I also added macadamia nuts. All the kids raved about them.
That’s a great idea, Sharon! Thanks for sharing it.
I use agave in my banana bread and LOVE it. I even made a chocolate cake with it. I have been substituting sugar with it for a few months, but my experimenting with baking has been limited for other reasons. I want to make some chocolate chip cookies with my daughters as trying to decipher cookie packages is too much work when grocery shopping with a 3 year old. I want to treat them. We have gone just about complete vegan (I will also be adapting this recipe–no prob I hope) and I am trying to cut out sugar as well. So I want to treat them and show them that there are still yummy foods out there with a little work and we can do it as a bonding experience. I can’t wait to try this recipe with them this afternoon. I will let you know how it goes and I try to share the good recipes on fb for anyone that might want to look. Thanks for posting this.
Have fun with the recipe, Jennifer. Truly, agave seems to make things taste better than sugar. Thanks for your feedback!
Best,
Chef Keem