Here's What You Can Substitute For Maple Syrup

Whether you're baking French toast casserole, whipping up a delicious glaze for your pork chops, or looking for the perfect topping for your stack of pancakes on Sunday morning, nothing beats maple syrup. Made of maple tree sap that's been boiled down and concentrated to create the sugary, sticky syrup you love, the popular condiment is often used as a natural sweetener in both desserts and savory dishes (and even the occasional cocktail!).

But what if the next time you're ready to cook with it, you open the pantry only to find you're out of maple syrup? Before you panic or make an unnecessary trip to the grocery store just for a bottle of the good stuff, there are a few things that you probably already own that you can easily substitute for maple syrup. Here are some of the most common alternatives, according to bloggers and other home cooks.

If you're out of maple syrup, there are a couple of options that you can use instead with a 1:1 ratio (meaning for every one cup of maple syrup, for instance, you can use one cup of one of these alternatives). One of the most popular is honey, which A Couple Cooks says is hands-down the best substitute. While it has a slightly different flavor, it has a very similar same texture, so it's especially good for using in baking or cooking. Just remember that honey's consistency is a little bit thicker than syrup, so you may need to adjust accordingly.

According to The Spruce Eats, other common maple syrup swaps include corn syrup, agave nectar, and molasses. Molasses is a great option because it has that same rich, caramel flavor of maple syrup. Note however that it is much darker so it could alter the color of your final dish (for example, if you're baking bread, it might be a deeper brown than if you had used maple syrup).