Tried subbing honey for sugar in my sourdough and got a gummy mess

Used 1/4 cup of local honey instead of white sugar in my usual loaf recipe and the inside turned out like wet cardboard. Learned that honey adds way more moisture than regular sugar so you gotta cut your liquid way back or adjust the flour. Anyone else wreck a batch swapping sweeteners?

2 comments

2 Comments

sageellis5d ago

Whoa hold on, honey has natural acids that mess with the gluten? I had no idea it was that complicated. I just thought it was a moisture thing and you could swap it one for one. No wonder people end up with bricks or goo.

seandavis6d ago

Oh yeah you're spot on about the moisture thing, honey's basically a liquid sugar so it throws off the whole hydration balance. What kills me is people don't realize honey also has enzymes and natural acids that mess with the gluten structure and fermentation time, so your loaf ends up both gummy and weirdly dense. Next time try cutting your water back by like 2-3 tablespoons when you sub honey, or bump the flour up a bit to compensate. Also honey makes the crust brown way faster so you gotta watch your oven temp or tent it with foil halfway through.