She Says: Baking with Agave
You can substitute Agave for any sweetener in a recipe. For example,
- Honey: Replace each cup of honey with one cup of agave syrup.
- Corn Syrup: When replacing a cup of light corn syrup, use 1/2 as much agave, and increase other liquids in the recipe by up to 1/3 of a cup. Like corn syrup, agave nectar will not crystallize.
- White Sugar: For each cup of white sugar replaced, use 2/3 of a cup of agave and reduce other liquids by 1/4 to 1/3 cup.
- Brown Sugar: For each cup of white sugar replaced, use 2/3 of a cup of agave and reduce other liquids by 1/4 cup.
- Check out this link for a full list of substitution ratios.
On Saturday I made two kinds of Vegan Brownies with agave nectar.
The first was Agave Vegan Brownies, a take on these brownies, minus the cinnamon and walnuts. The result was a fudgy and moist brownie, which I love – almost like the batter wasn’t quite baked enough! Agave is quite sweet and so these brownies are quite sweet. Mark kept asking if they were made with fruit, specifically, he tasted prunes. I think this might be because he assumes I bake with weird things, but they were very sweet. Next time I would either reduce the amount of agave, or add the cinnamon to cut the sweetness. I would mention that these required much more than 15 minutes of baking.
In the second batch, Pecan Butter & Cinnamon Brownies, I used the cinnamon and added about 1/2 cup of fresh Pecan Butter. I enjoyed the layers of taste that the cinnamon and Pecan Butter added better than the super sweet first batch, but they were a little dry. The texture of these was more like a solid piece of fudge than a moist or gooey brownie.
The moral of this baking story is that baking with agave is fun and delicious!
And if you want your very own agave nectar you are in luck!!!!! I am donating a bag of Trader Joe’s goodies to Angela’s Shop 4 A Cause. One item in the goody bag is Trader Joe’s Organic Blue Agave Sweetener!!!
Tags: agave, brownies, vegan brownies
May 4th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Mmmm looks sooo good!! I love agave, but so far I’ve only used it in greek yogurt or oats! I need to try that recipe =)
May 4th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
what a great idea to add in pecan butter! both batches look really good. I’ve haven’t baked much with agave, but these look great!
May 4th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
yum they look so fudge-y!!!!! MMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
May 4th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Ohhhh snap – undercooked-esque brownies are my favorite!!! These look awesome! Love the addition of PB – I’ll have to keep that in mind next time I make brownies!
May 4th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Brownies galore! These look so scrumptious. I think I’d probably use the agave, pecan butter, AND cinnamon in mine!
May 4th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
muy interestante! The website says u can use it to replace maple syrup, i bet it would be good in homemade granola!
May 4th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Great post!
May 4th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Mmmmmmm, love love love it! Brownie love!
May 4th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Those both look delicious! I love using agave.
May 4th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I feel realllly stupid, but I had no idea you could substitute AN for all sugars! Thanks for putting this together….I’ll definitely be puttin’ the stuff to use now.
May 4th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Those brownies look so moist it blows my mind! Thanks for the substitution website!!
May 4th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Delicious. Sometimes I purposely underbake my treats so that they have that texture.
May 4th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
MMMMM! The brownies look SO good!
May 4th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Thanks for the substitution info. That’s very helpful!
May 4th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Your brownies (particularly the gooey) look amazing! I never bake, but I am craving fresh baked brownies now — with agave, of course
May 4th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I baked with agave for the first time last week — my sister commented that the cookies were “bread-y.” That second batch of brownies sounds divine!
May 4th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Those look perfectly chewy…thanks for the info on substituting!
May 4th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Great experiment! I can’t wait to pick up some agave myself to try all of this out.
May 4th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Yummm they look delicious! I am going to buy some agave now!
May 4th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
you are a pecan addict. Stop talking about these brownies and showing pictures – I’m drooling!! They turned out great. I want a sample.
May 4th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
The brownies both sound delicious!
May 4th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
these brownies look aaaaaaaaamazing. thank you so much for sharing!! the vegan kids will love me when i make em!
May 4th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
I heart brownies!!! Thanks for the totally useful post. I bought some agave, but I have only used it in obvious ways. I haven’t tried to bake with it, but maybe now I will!
May 4th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
I love baking with agave! And now I want a brownie. LOVE that you added cinnamon, too. Cinnamon + Chocolate is the best.
May 4th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Agave is my favorite sweetener! I used to use it in everything and I sweat I could drink the stuff. haha
The nut butter addition is genius by the way =)
May 4th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
great post! another thing i’ve learned about baking with agave- you should reduce oven temp by 25 degrees, because agave tends to brown things. brownies are already pretty brown though, i guess!
May 4th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Those brownies certainly do look fudgy & delicious
May 4th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
ummmm. im drooling now. thanks for that.
May 4th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
I love using agave! You definitely have to keep a close watch when you bake with it though. Things baked with agave tend to overcook very quickly. The pecan butter-cinnamon brownies sound to die for!
May 4th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
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May 4th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
I love baking with agave!!! Both brownie batches look out of this world!
May 4th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Mmm both brownies look so good!
May 5th, 2009 at 5:07 am
LOVE MY AGAVE.
And there is typically so little Im intheloop on cooking or baking wise
May 5th, 2009 at 5:56 am
Those brownies look awesome (although it sounds like neither one was a complete winner). I’m going to try to bake with agave next time!
May 5th, 2009 at 9:48 am
i love this post because i have no problems whatsoever with (1) brownie batter and (2) solid pieces of fudge! i am bookmarking this page
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I bought this agave a few months ago at Trader Joe also, I may have to try this in a brownie!