Out Of Sugar? Make Shortbread Cookies With This Sweet Alternative

There's nothing as tragic as corralling all your baking gear together on the counter and realizing that a key ingredient in your recipe has finished. So, if you're currently googling how to make shortbread cookies when you've run out of sugar, we've got an awesome substitution: Use maple syrup.

For every cup of sugar that your recipe calls for, sub it for ¾ cup of maple syrup and follow the rest of the method as normal. Incorporate the syrup into the butter and finish with the sifted flour. If the mixture is too wet, add a scant tablespoon more flour to account for the viscosity of the syrup. As always, the key to making the best shortbread (and the best pastry) is to handle it as little as possible. Take care to combine the flour gently, just until it appears crumbly, before bringing it together with your hands and rolling it out. This technique will ensure your shortbread has that distinctive tender texture and buttery flavor, no matter whether you use sugar or maple syrup.

A key thing to bear in mind when subbing sugar for maple syrup is to use the genuine article. The imitation maple-flavored syrups that are often reserved for pouring over pancakes tend to have a thicker texture and sweeter taste, which will adversely affect the balance of your ingredients and bungle the ratios. Usually made with corn syrup and artificial flavors, these cheaper varieties don't have the complex flavor of bona fide maple syrup either.

Using maple syrup instead of sugar to make shortbread does two things. Firstly, it's much easier to cream the syrup with the butter, which makes the prep time quicker. Secondly, as maple syrup has an almost toffee-like taste, it lends the finished cookies a yummy caramelized note. This recipe for maple walnut shortbread is flavored with maple syrup (and sugar), which gives it a distinctive caramel-like quality and scrumptious aroma that sets it apart from a classic shortbread. You could just as easily swap the sugar for maple syrup in many of your favorite cookie recipes without issue. Of course, shortbread made with maple syrup versus sugar will have a different consistency and taste; however, you'll still be able to cut the dough into rounds, fingers, or triangles as normal. Maple syrup has a complex bouquet as it is, but adding a vanilla bean into your bottle of maple syrup will elevate its flavor even further and imbue your shortbread with an inviting fragrance.

If you haven't got any maple syrup in your pantry, you can use honey instead. Just be aware that some varieties of honey have a stronger flavor than others. Lighter honeys, such as Acacia, have a mild sweetness, while darker options tend to be more intense and licorice-like.