Just A Spoonful of Sucanat

Okay, so when I was about twelve years old I would eat puffed rice cereal for breakfast all the time. (I still do!). But because the only ingredient is puffed rice, I felt that I had to sprinkle on a little bit of sugar, you know, to add pizzazz.

Well, one day after I took the sugar dish out of the cupboard, and pulled the lid off, I was met with a surprise. "Mom!?!" I called, staring in disbelief inside the dish, "Why is there bird seed in the sugar bowl?" Hearing laughter from the other room, I headed that way, dish in hand, to get an explanation. Turns out my mom had swapped out the sugar for something called Sucanat.

I had been used to using the off-white sugar known as "evaporated cane juice", but this was something I hadn't seen before. This stuff looked like it wasn't intended for humans and, ever the skeptic, I wasn't buying it.

"Just give it a try," my mom encouraged, "you might like it." So, not wanting to postpone my breakfast any longer, I cautiously sprinkled on some of the bird se...er...I mean Sucanat onto my cereal. Not quite knowing what to expect. I took a bite. It was...crunchy....sweet....delicious! I now had a new favorite cereal topping.

Okay, so I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the transition from using sugar in my baking to using Sucanat happened overnight, but it did happen surprisingly fast. Soon I was hooked, and I have come to love the stuff.

Just a fun fact for you: The word "Sucanat" actually comes from the blending of three words - sugar, cane, and natural, get it? As in, SUgar CANe NATural, as in SUCANAT?!? I digress... There are two types of Sucanat that I use. One is the regular, darker Sucanat, (made with molasses), that can be used as a substitute for brown sugar. The other is the lighter colored Sucanat, which is made with honey, and is often called "honey granules" or "Sucanat with honey." I use the honey Sucanat as a substitute for regular sugar in almost everything I make. Just use an even 1:1 swap.

(BTW, it is the honey Sucanat I put on my cereal, as the other type has a stronger molasses flavor. I often just use the honey Sucanat as a brown sugar substitute instead of the molasses Sucanat, because the latter has such a distinct taste).

We get our Sucanat from the same place we get our wheat berries, kamut, oat groats, and honey - The Bread Beckers. However, you might check if your local health food store carries it, if you're curious and just want to try it out.

So anyway, when you see "sucanat" in the ingredient list of a recipe I post, you will now know what I'm talking about : ) (I'll specify whether I'm using the honey or molasses type). I encourage you to give sucanat a go if you've never tried it because, after all, "you might like it!"

Have a great day!