07/14

Coconut Palm Sugar: Caramel Flavored Heaven

Today over in AOL land, I’m reunited with my new culinary bestie, Julie Morris, from Navitas Naturals.  We are tackling natural sweeteners on my latest segment as an AOL lifestyle expert.

I have to admit, it was love at first taste for Coconut Palm sugar and me.  Not only are its stats impressive; 1:1 replacement for cane sugar.  Perfect for baking. Melts flawlessly into both hot and cold liquids.  It is incredibly versatile with only HALF the glycemic index of cane sugar.

But my favorite thing about Coconut Palm sugar?  The seemingly sinful and delicious caramel flavor.

No funky aftertaste here.  If you like the taste of caramel, this is definitely the natural sweetener for you. I made simple syrup with our Coconut Palm sugar and used it on everything from apples to popcorn topping (great recipes coming later this week) to oatmeal to even ice cream.  It is also a perfect alternative for sweetening your coffee.

My suggestion is that you make yourself a batch of simple syrup and give it a whirl as your go to sweetener.  I think you will be pleasantly and sweetly surprised.

Coconut Palm Sugar Simple Syrup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Coconut Palm sugar
• 1 cup Water

Directions:

• Combine palm sugar and water in a saucepan.
• Heat on medium, and slowly simmer, stirring occasionally to ensure sugar is fully dissolved.
• Reduce heat to low, and continue to simmer until the liquid has reduced to thick syrup.
• Be patient and don’t heat too high or quickly or sugar will burn.
• Let cool then transfer to a pour friendly container.

You MUST check out the delicious recipe I made with Chef Julie.  It is a bright and crisp grapefruit slushy sweetened with a tiny bit of Coconut Palm sugar.