Exchange Honey for Sugar in Recipes

As a general rule, I cut sugar in half (sometimes 2/3) from recipes and still have a good tasting snack!

That said, you can substitute honey in equal amounts with sugar in recipes, but be aware that you will want to reduce the liquid amount just a tad. Generally, reduce liquid by 1/4 cup for every cup of honey used. You'll also want to add an extra 1/2 tsp of baking soda for every cup of honey to counteract the increased acidity.

I wouldn't recommend artificial sweeteners. There's tons of information out there about the side effects of them. Perhaps learning the negative effects could be part of her research for her class project?

I don't know about the ratios but another good substitute would be rice sugar/syrup. I have tried it and it worked out well but it is pretty expensive. If she is only substituting sugar then this next suggestion won't help but I almost always use apple sauce when the recipe calls for oil.

Oh yes, and it is low on the glycemic index and it has a rich taste that is a bit like liquid brown sugar and it cooks beautifully. It is called Agave Syrup. If you cannot find it in your grocery market or at costco then you can find it at the liquor store (it does NOT contain alcohol). It is made from a cactus and it is delicious. Even better than honey, and if you knew me, you would know that was a bold statement! :)

It is also known as Agave Nectar.

For things like chocolate chip cookies, you need the brown sugar, it helps make the cookies tender and should only use "brown sugar splenda" in place of regular brown sugar because if its calling for brown sugar, the recipe wants the molasses that is in the sugar. I have a pancake recipe that calls for 2 Tbsp of granulated sugar and I do 1 Tbsp granulate sugar and 1 Tbsp of honey. I also add a little cinnamon to help spruce up the flavor. Good luck!

I can't help with ratios, but here's some other sugar substitutes: stevia, xylitol (& other sugar alcohols); real maple syrup, agave nectar, molasses, dates, figs, date sugar, 100% fruit juice, etc.

Honey tends to be sweeter than sugar and burns more quickly, so watch your cookies, because they will cook faster ;) The flavors of the different sweeteners may not combine well with the sweeteners that are in the chocolate chips, so a more plain cookie (like a sugar cookie) may be easier to work with (even the toll house recipe without chocolate chips . . .).

Non-sugar sweeteners are a bit different to work with, so your daughter will want to google some cooking pages that use those sweeteners in baking. There will be a lot of information on how to work with them and what kind of ratios to use (stevia is very sweet, so you only need a little bit, etc)

Agave nectar. I would just google "agave nectar chocoloate chip cookies" and I bet you'll find a recipe with ratios, etc.

It is nearly a 1:1 ratio being that there is a little more sugar or a little less honey. For example your recipe calls for 3/4 cup of white sugar...try between 2/3 and 3/4 cup of honey instead. However you will need to reduce the amount of water in the recipe by 1/4 cup per every 1 cup of honey used. As far as the brown sugar I am not sure, maybe try using honey mixed with molasses (don't quote me on that ;-). Other substitutes would be stevia and xylatol (but they are expensive)