Kitchen Tips All About Ingredients Your Guide To Buying, Cooking, and Baking With Honey Get the buzz on honey. By Carl Hanson Carl Hanson Carl Hanson is a Senior Editor at Allrecipes who has been writing about food and wine for nearly 20 years. He enjoys creating content that informs, entertains, and assists busy home cooks get nourishing meals on the table for their families. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines and Caitlyn Diimig, RD Caitlyn Diimig, RD Caitlyn Diimig, RD, is a registered dietitian and food editor for Dotdash Meredith and Allrecipes magazine. Whether editing complex health information into easy-to-understand stories or developing 30-minute delicious recipes for dinner tonight, she makes leading a healthy lifestyle achievable through food. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines Updated on April 5, 2021 Bees create honey from the nectar they gather from flowers. The type of flowers and the climate all impact a honey's appearance, aroma, and taste. That's one reason there are, according to the National Honey Board, more than 300 varietals. Not sure which to try? A good rule of thumb: The lighter the color, the milder the flavor. Here's a handy guide to some of the more popular types of honey you'll find at your grocery store, plus favorite recipes using honey. Honey and turnovers | Photo by Meredith. Types of honey Honey can be mild or spicy, buttery, fruity, herbal, or woodsy, depending on the source of the nectar. Orange blossom honey: This white to extra-light amber honey is bursting with orange notes. Give it a go in salad dressings and marinades, or pair it with creamy cheeses, such as Brie, goat cheese, and Camembert. Alfalfa honey: Nectar from the violet-colored blooms of alfalfa make for a mild-flavored and light-amber honey. Its neutrality makes it ideal for baking and cooking. Try it in marinades for fish or chicken, too. Clover honey: With its pleasantly mild taste and flowery aroma, clover honey is a popular choice for tabletop or baked goods. It will sweeten, but not dominate, a recipe. Avocado honey: It doesn't taste like avocados, but if you love molasses, you'll love this variety. Bees create a velvety, dark, robust honey from avocado flowers. Try it in rich chocolaty or nutty desserts, or use it to top off pancakes or waffles. Buckwheat honey. Bees that pollinate buckwheat produce this dark, flavorful honey with pronounced notes of malt. Its strong flavor makes it a popular ingredient in baked goods and even barbecue sauces. You can even try it in place of molasses. What Is Manuka Honey — and Is It Good for You? Honeycomb is fun as a novelty — try spreading it on toast — but it's not useful in recipes. Honey butters and creams are generally in a crystallized and semi-solid form; they're best used as spreads, as they tend to be more expensive than liquid honey. Honey and cornbread | Photo by Meredith. How to bake with honey Honey is the original all-natural, unprocessed sweetener. And, since it's sweeter than white sugar, you can use less of it when baking: Use ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon of honey for every cup of sugarDecrease the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cupAdd ½ teaspoon of baking soda for every cup of honeyReduce your oven temperature by 25 degrees F Another reason honey is great to use when baking is because it's hygroscopic (water-attracting): it absorbs moisture from the air, keeping your baked goods moist and delicious for days. Baklava | Photo by Meredith. Baklava Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie Best Brownies Honey Peach Pie Apple Honey Bundt Cake Honey storage and safety Honey is relatively shelf-stable, but it should be stored in an air-tight jar. Heat will cause it to degrade over time, so you may wish to store your honey in the refrigerator if you don't eat it very often. If your honey has crystallized, gently heat it in a pan of simmering water (or uncap the jar and microwave on medium power until fluid, checking every 30 seconds) to restore its consistency. Note: Never give honey to children younger than one year old. Honey may contain trace amounts of botulism spores. While these spores are harmless to most people, immature digestive systems are susceptible. Infants can develop breathing problems or paralysis. (Pasteurization or cooking will not destroy the spores.) Honey recipes to try Honey is a wonderful ingredient in many sweet and savory applications — as well as in beer and fermented as wine. Honey can also be infused with herbs such as rosemary, thyme, or sage. These flavored honeys are especially nice for glazing meats. Grilled Peaches and Cream | Photo by homeschooler3. Grilled Peaches and Cream Savory Garlic Marinated Steaks Pepper-Honey Cedar Plank Salmon Lithuanian Krupnikas (Honey Liqueur) Savory honey recipes Honey Ribs Craig's Mystic Wings Grilled Lime-Cilantro Ahi with Honey Glaze Tangy Grilled Pork Tenderloin Fennel in Wine and Honey Honey dressings, sauces, and condiments Basil Vinaigrette Dressing Margaret's Honey Mustard Honey Garlic BBQ Sauce Cornflake Waffles with Honey Sauce Honey desserts Vanilla Port-Poached Figs with Honey Cream Honey Carrot Cake Honey Graham Crackers Honey and Nut Ice Cream Honey baked Honey Wheat Bread Honey Bran Muffins Honey Wheat Sandwich Rolls Honey Bun Cake RELATED 18 Honey Desserts That Couldn't Bee More Delicious 10 Honey-Garlic Recipes That Prove This Is the Ultimate Flavor Combo Portions of this article originally appeared in the April/May 2021 issue of Allrecipes Magazine. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit