Corn syrup is a sweet liquid and a popular ingredient for making jams, jellies, frosting and candy, since it does not crystallize. For baking purposes, it can be used as a substitute for sugar, but it should never be used to replace the full amount of sugar. Corn syrup is not as sweet as refined sugar and using it will slightly affect the taste and color of your final baked good. You can either use dark or light corn syrup, as they may be used interchangeably, but dark corn syrup will yield a slight molasses flavor.
Replace only half of the amount of sugar called for with corn syrup. If the recipe calls for 6 cups of sugar, only replace 3 cups of sugar with corn syrup.
Add 1 1/2 cups of corn syrup for every 1 cup of sugar. If you are replacing 3 cups of sugar, then add 4 1/2 cups of corn syrup.
Reduce the liquid volume you are adding to the recipe, whether it be milk or water, by 1/4 cup for every cup of sugar you replaced. The corn syrup's liquid form will make up this difference. If you replace 3 cups of sugar, then reduce the liquid ingredients by 3/4 cup.
Add the other half of sugar not being replaced. If you do not have any white (granulated) sugar, you can substitute maple sugar, light brown sugar, date sugar, turbinado sugar or sucanat. One cup of each of these sugars equals one cup of granulated sugar. Brown sugar may reduce the batter's volume, but will usually make baked goods chewier.
Tip
If you do not want to use any dry sugar ingredients, fully substitute the sugar with maple syrup. For every cup of sugar, replace it with 3/4 cup of syrup and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Additionally, reduce the liquid ingredients by 3 tablespoons per cup of replaced sugar.
Instead of making substitutions, you can just cut back the amount of sugar you add by one-third. This will make the baked product less sweet and possibly less tender.
References
Writer Bio
Michelle Brunet has published articles in newspapers and magazines such as "The Coast," "Our Children," "Arts East," "Halifax Magazine" and "Atlantic Books Today." She earned a Bachelor of Science in environmental studies from Saint Mary's University and a Bachelor of Education from Lakehead University.