Maple Syrup Facts and Recipes

The Native Americans were the first people to make maple syrup, even though maple trees could be found throughout England. They would use their tomahawks to make a V shaped cut in the tree and use reeds or pieces of bark to run the sap into buckets.

Among the maple trees than produce maple syrup are sugar maple, red maple, black maple, box elder, Norway maple and the western bigleaf maple.c

In the spring, if a hole is drilled into a maple tree, it will start to drip a watery substance called sap. When boiled, this substance turns into maple syrup. It takes 30 to 40 gallons of sap from a maple tree to make one gallon of maple syrup.c  

The Canadian Province of Quebec produces more maple syrup than all of the United States and Canadian provinces combined. 

With the highest concentration of maple trees in its forests than any other state, Vermont produces the most maple syrup out of all 50 states.2 

Choose your favorite cooking recipe that calls for sugar. For every cup of sugar, substitute three quarters of a cup of maple syrup.

For your baking recipes, your first step will be to decrease the oven temperature by 25°F since maple syrup caramelizes and burns faster than sugar.c c

Use the same substitution ratio as in cooking, but also decrease the amount of liquid in the recipe by three tablespoons for every one cup of maple syrup you use.c

Since maple syrup is slightly acidic, you need to neutralize your batter so it will rise and form properly. To do this, add a quarter teaspoon of baking soda to your recipe for every cup of maple syrup, but only if the recipe lacks buttermilk, sour milk or sour cream. Do not add baking soda if these ingredients are also present, as they will neutralize the acidity themselves.c

Using maple syrup in place of sugar will add a brown tinge to whatever you are cooking or baking. Baked goods with maple syrup also tend to brown quicker than those with sugar.c

In two teaspoons of maple syrup, you will find:

• 35 calories
  
• 9g carbohydrates
  
• 9mg calcium
  
• 27mg potassiumc
  

In terms of calories, maple syrup comes measures in around the brown sugar range:

Granulated sugar: 46 calories/tbsp
Brown sugar: 50 calories/tbsp
Maple syrup: 53 calories/tbsp
Honey: 64 calories/tbspc

Maple syrup is low on the glycemic index, making it a great sugar substitute for diabetics.c