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Not the most flattering pic, but here's my jaggery syrup |
The other day I decided to make up a bunch of healthy muffins to freeze and defrost each morning for breakfasts for my family. I wanted to make them refined sugar free, because if we're going to be eating these for breakfast, why put something unhealthy like refined sugar in it? The thing is, though, that part of the reason I wanted to make these muffins is not just for health reasons, but also for cost... and non refined sugars cost a whole lot more than refined sugars. The cheapest non refined sweetener I can get is jaggery, for $2.33 a pound, while raw honey costs me $4.15 a pound, date syrup is $3.63 per pound, and coconut sugar is $4.50 a pound plus international shipping...
Now what is jaggery? Its basically non refined cane syrup, just boiled down until you get a brick of mostly solid sweetener, and it originates in India, and can be found at Indian grocery stores. There is a very similar product, either called piloncillo or panela, from Central America, and it can be used the same way.
In other words, with difficulty. Jaggery needs to be grated or smashed up, and then melted before use. Not so simple to use in recipes, which makes me hesitant to use it, even though its the cheapest healthier sweetener I can get.
(And is it really healthier? Well, it's
jam packed with minerals, especially iron, and its free of chemicals used to refine it, so yes, it is healthier.)
But then, when I was looking at a recipe to try out, it called for honey, and I certainly didn't want to be using an entire cup of honey in that recipe- that's .75 lbs, or $3.11 just for the sweetener in that recipe. I tried to see if maybe there was a way to use jaggery in its place, thought maybe I could make some sort of syrup out of jaggery.
Bingo.
Hit the jackpot.
Apparently, jaggery syrup is the standard way of using jaggery in cooking- only I didn't know! I'm so glad to have figured that one out.
So, I made jaggery syrup and used it in place of honey for the muffin recipe and it came out perfectly! I am super excited! As for cost? Well, I used .19 lbs of jaggery to make 2 cups of syrup, so 1 cup cost me only 22 cents... much less than the $3.11 had I used honey. And it tasted great.
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Gluten free, vegan, pumpkin muffins,
sweetened with jaggery syrup instead of honey |