There’s nothing worse than starting a recipe and then finding out you don’t have all the ingredients. This is especially true if one of the ingredients is hard to come by, like palm sugar. We’ve compiled the list of the best palm sugar substitutes.
Palm sugar isn’t found in a lot of grocery stores so you often have to go on a hunt for it or order it online.
If you don’t want to wait for online deliveries to arrive, you’ve come to the right place. You can use a palm sugar alternative and not really notice a difference.
Palm sugar has a distinct flavor. However, there are a few other alternatives for this sweet component.
Let’s take a look at some ingredients that can fill its shoes.
🌴 What Is Palm Sugar?
The sugars inside the sap in palm tree flower buds can be extracted, lightly processed, and ultimately turn it into palm sugar. It requires minimal processing and doesn’t require any additional chemicals which make it a very “clean” sugar to use.
This doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice sweetness. In fact, palm sugar tends to be a lot sweeter than its common white sugar alternative.
This sugar is an especially sweet additive that’s popular in Asian cuisine. It has smoky undertones that are reminiscent of golden caramel. Moreover, it adds a rich, complex flavor to many Indian and Thai dishes.
Just like regular sweeteners, you can find palm sugar in crystallized or syrup form. This makes the ingredient much more versatile.
Quick read: 20+ Sugars and How to Use Them
🍽️ Overview of Top Substitutes
| Sugar | Conversion (Palm Sugar: Sugar) |
|---|---|
| Granulated Sugar | 1:1 ¼ |
| Brown Sugar | 2:1 |
| Honey | 2:1 |
| Maple Syrup | 1:2 |
| Molasses | 1:1 |
| Date Sugar | 1:1 |
| Cane Sugar | 1:1 ¼ |
| Coconut Sugar | 1:1 |
| Golden Monkfruit | 3:1 |
🥣 Best Substitute for Palm Sugar
Palm sugar is an excellent way to add depth to your dessert. However, it’s not always readily available.
So, if you can’t find the ingredient at your local groceries store, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s a list of the top palm sugar alternatives.
Granulated Sugar
The main reason people use palm sugar in a recipe is to add a little sweetness. If that’s what you’re after, granulated sugar should do the trick.
It’s a staple in almost everyone’s pantry, and we’re all familiar with its delightful taste. It can add a delicious, almost sticky, twist to any dessert.
Granulated sugar can stand in as a substitute when it comes to adding sweetness, but it does fall short in the flavor and texture departments.
Palm sugar has a much more complex flavor profile that is tough to replicate. Therefore, using granulated sugar can leave your dessert tasting a little bland.
A similar issue occurs with the texture. Granulated sugar is far drier than palm sugar. This can leave your desert feeling a tad crumbly.
To work around this issue, you can add a bit of corn syrup. Adding a little to your sugar will help with both flavor and texture.
Brown Sugar
If you’re trying to replicate the flavor and texture of palm sugar, your best bet may be to use brown sugar. There are a few things to consider when deciding.
This substitute has a much wetter consistency than granulated sugar. It almost feels sticky to the touch. The added moisture makes it a much more suitable replacement.
Moreover, brown sugar has its own multi-layered flavor profile. This flavor gets even better when you add heat to the equation. For this reason, it can work for almost all recipes that call for palm sugar.
Still, it’s significantly sweeter. Therefore, if you’re using brown sugar, you want to add about half what the original recipe called for.
Honey
If you’re looking for a more natural substitute, honey may be the choice for you.
Honey and palm sugar have incredibly similar compositions.
The first is their flavor profiles. They don’t taste identical, but honey may be the closest you’ll get to the taste of palm sugar.
As for the second, they both behave in a similar way when you put them in the oven. That makes it honey a good alternative in almost all baked goods.
There are a couple of key differences. The first, and most obvious, is consistency. Honey is a liquid at room temperature, while palm sugar is usually solid.
This can create a bit of a texture issue, but if you use the correct ratio during conversion, you should be fine.
Another reason you may want to use honey is all the health benefits that come with it.
Maple Syrup
Another amazing natural alternative to palm sugar is maple syrup. This sweet elixir works as a stand-in for more than one reason.
To start off, maple syrup has an incredibly smoky, earthy taste. This almost butterscotch flavor is an excellent way to add warmth to your dessert.
If you heat the maple syrup, its sweetness intensifies with a twist of bitterness. For this reason, it can work well to offset sugary desserts.
Maple syrup is also much easier to digest. If you have diabetes or IBS and you’re looking for a sugar substitute, this may be a great option, but check with your doctor first.
The texture is much different than palm sugar. If that’s going to be an issue in your dessert, you can try using maple sugar.
Molasses
Molasses can work as a substitute in a pinch. But, it’s not ideal.
Even though both are sweet, molasses and palm sugar don’t taste the same. Molasses has a much richer flavor, with a more robust consistency.
When baked, molasses has a tendency to turn bitter and that might not be the flavor profile you want for your dessert.
Note: If you add a little granulated sugar to molasses, you can address many of these issues. Mixing white sugar with molasses can stop it from going bitter. The final consistency will be close to brown sugar and you’ll retain the complex flavors too.
Date Sugar
While date sugar may not be as commonly found as some of the other options on our list, it fits the bill nicely.
Unlike all the other sugars, this one is made using fruit. The dates are dehydrated, then ground until they have the consistency of sugar.
This creates an intensely sweet and fruity ingredient. The earthiness from the dates makes a perfect substitute for palm sugar.
You will notice a distinct date flavor, so make sure that it will complement your dessert before choosing it.
Cane Sugar
Cane sugar is another great alternative for any recipe that calls for palm sugar. Just like granulated sugar, it can add the right amount of sweetness to your dessert.
In addition, cane sugar has a faint fruity flavor, but it isn’t as sweet as the palm variety. You may need to change the recipe proportions, but that is easily addressed. Just do a taste test to make sure it is as sweet as you want.
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Coconut Sugar
This sugar is made using the sap from coconut trees. This makes it a uniquely suited replacement.
Coconut sugar has a soft, crumbly texture that’s reminiscent of palm sugar. For this reason, you can almost always use a one-to-one conversion ratio.
The flavor is subtle, making it blend in seamlessly.
This sugar has been recommended for people struggling with blood sugar levels. Please discuss with your doctor before switching over though.
We have all of the Best Coconut Sugar Substitutes here.
Golden Monkfruit Sweetener
If you’re on a strict diet, and you’re trying to lose weight, Golden Monkfruit may be the way to go.
This sweetener can help you keep your shape as you treat yourself to dessert.
It’s important to note that it doesn’t add much flavor-wise, but it is significantly sweeter. Taste your dish as you prepare it to make sure you don’t use too much.
🍴 Recipes With Palm Sugar
Palm Sugar Agar Pudding — This delightful treat can be an excellent pick-me-up at the end of a long day. Substitute the palm sugar with brown sugar and no one will be the wiser.
Sambal Goreng Tempe — If what you’re looking for is a savory dish with a sweet twist, try out this recipe. You can make the whole thing in under 45 minutes.
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🥄 Frequently Asked Question
The most similar sugar to palm is brown sugar. However, a mixture of white sugar and molasses will also do the trick.
Be careful using the word “healthy” when talking about sugars. Palm sugar has a lower glycemic index which helps those with diabetes from spiking and crashing.
The “healthy” aspect of it comes from it’s a good source of mangenese, which helps osteoporosis and overall bone health.
It also has potassium in greater levels than leafy greens when based on weight.
Our Best Ingredient Substitutions
🔪 Wrapping Up
If you’re looking for a palm sugar substitute, there are a few options you can choose from. The most readily available replacement is granulated sugar, but brown sugar offers a much closer match to the flavor and texture.
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