Substituting glucose syrup with corn syrup

[Norcalbaker59]

That was a little bit softer. I made the cookies on the large size 67 g each. It’s about 4”, that’s a salad, to give you some perspective.

They look good, but that corn syrup definitely made the dough softer. When I was mixing the dough it occurred to me that peanut butter cookies have an awful lot of sugar in them. I think I’ll make a recipe with less sugar.

 

[Cahoot]

I like making my cookies larger myself, just to give more of a bakery aesthetic. Those cookies look great and I'm sure Brendan will be very happy with them

Golden syrup needs to be more commonly available in grocery stores. I actually found it in the international aisle of the grocery store by where I live at university. That store's international aisle had a section for British imported pantry items, which I thought was really neat. Unfortunately it seems to be pretty inconsistently stocked in stores here, and I haven't found it anywhere I've been to yet, without going out of the way to a store purposely just to get it. And it's pretty expensive on Amazon - $15 for a 1lb can or $23 for a 2lb can are the cheapest, because of the shipping. I definitely regret not buying it when I had the chance.

I've also seen some recipes online for homemade golden syrup, such as this one https://www.internationaldessertsblog.com/make-golden-syrup/#mv-creation-7-jtr. I'm not sure how close it is to the real stuff though. It's simmered with a slice of lemon for 45 minutes, which looks to be how they invert some of the sugar and probably also contributes to the golden syrup flavour.

But there's also the confusing instructions where they write "If your syrup dries out before it turns golden, the problem is that the water evaporated before it reached the caramelization temperature." Unless if I've massively misunderstood making sugar syrups, isn't the temperature of the syrup directly tied to the concentration of sucrose in it? And at caramelization stage, it's 99% sucrose, i.e. almost no water. So in order to get caramelize it, the water needs to all evaporate!

 

[retired baker]

I was just mixing up a batch of peanut butter cookies for Bren. I found that my brand new tin of Lyles golden syrup leaked in shipping. There was mold inside. So I added corn syrup to this batch of cookie dough. We’ll see how it turns out; I’ve never use corn syrup in these cookies before.

not having anymore Lyle’s prompted me to go online to see if I could purchase some Lyle’s in a bottle. I thought it was interesting that the label on their bottle actually states invert sugar.

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My grandad made us Tate and lyle golden syrup sandwiches when we were kids in the UK.
Its a very good invert sugar.
Theres a factory not far from me near the canadien border. Funny thing is I never see the syrup for sale locally.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I like making my cookies larger myself, just to give more of a bakery aesthetic. Those cookies look great and I'm sure Brendan will be very happy with them

Golden syrup needs to be more commonly available in grocery stores. I actually found it in the international aisle of the grocery store by where I live at university. That store's international aisle had a section for British imported pantry items, which I thought was really neat. Unfortunately it seems to be pretty inconsistently stocked in stores here, and I haven't found it anywhere I've been to yet, without going out of the way to a store purposely just to get it. And it's pretty expensive on Amazon - $15 for a 1lb can or $23 for a 2lb can are the cheapest, because of the shipping. I definitely regret not buying it when I had the chance.

I've also seen some recipes online for homemade golden syrup, such as this one https://www.internationaldessertsblog.com/make-golden-syrup/#mv-creation-7-jtr. I'm not sure how close it is to the real stuff though. It's simmered with a slice of lemon for 45 minutes, which looks to be how they invert some of the sugar and probably also contributes to the golden syrup flavour.

But there's also the confusing instructions where they write "If your syrup dries out before it turns golden, the problem is that the water evaporated before it reached the caramelization temperature." Unless if I've massively misunderstood making sugar syrups, isn't the temperature of the syrup directly tied to the concentration of sucrose in it? And at caramelization stage, it's 99% sucrose, i.e. almost no water. So in order to get caramelize it, the water needs to all evaporate!

Surprisingly, Bren and Kristin really liked the peanut butter cookies. I thought it was going to be too sweet for them. Kristin said she thought I could sell the cookie for $5. But I think that’s an over-estimataion. But it’s a pretty good cookie. I think I could sell it for about $4; they area is very pricey. I’m still going to make a couple of changes to it though.

That DIY recipe for golden syrup is NOT golden syrup. All she is making is a simple syrup. Golden syrup is refiner’s syrup, the by-product syrup from removing the molasses in the sugar refining process. When they refine sugar, the cane is crushed and the juice is filtered to remove the fiber, and the juice is heated to evaporate the water and start the crystallization. They add sugar crystals to seed crytalization. It’s then centrifuged to remove any remained liquid and to remove molasses from the crystals. In the centrifuge process they want to make sure they get all the molasses off the sugar, so they use a “green” syrup made of white sugar and water that will stick to the molasses on the raw sugar crystal to help wash it off during centrifugation. Some sugars like organic cane sugar and raw sugar are only crystallized and centrifuged once. But granulated sugar and caster sugar are processed twice. Golden syrup is the syrup made for the spent green syrup used in the sugar refining process. Golden syrup is a combination of molasses from the raw sugar from the centrifuge and the green syrup they make for the centrifuge process. Then from what I understand, that spent refiner’s syrup is processed further to be made into golden syrup. My guess is they heat and mix it so it is at a specific brix and invert level. Without know the brix and invert level it is hard to market to commercial bakers and breweries.

Finding golden syrup in the US is very difficult. But get this, ARS (American Sugar Refining) an American company based out of Florida, now owns Tate + Lyle, so they produce Lyle’s Golden Syrup, But Americans still have to search high and low for Lyle’s Golden Syrup. I just ordered 4 bottles from a small e-commerce grocer that deals mostly in Italian food products. It’s a sad day when an American company owns great British company...even sadder when Americans have to buy that great British product online from an Italian grocer. The only saving grace is ARS owns all the big cane sugar companies so Tate + Lyle is less likely to go under.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

My grandad made us Tate and lyle golden syrup sandwiches when we were kids in the UK.
Its a very good invert sugar.
Theres a factory not far from me near the canadien border. Funny thing is I never see the syrup for sale locally.

Lucky you to have a granddad to make such a sweet sandwhich!! I have to hunt down Lyle’s Golden Syrup every time I want to purchase it. I used to be some what easy to find in the high end markets, albeit, expensive. It was in their baker’s bottles and sells for about $8 - $9! But worth it to me. Then the stores stopped stocking it when Amazon bought Wholes Foods. Now I have to drive two counties over to find it in a store. And it’s in tins, not the baker’s bottles. I prefer the bottle as it’s less messy

 

[Cahoot]

Surprisingly, Bren and Kristin really liked the peanut butter cookies. I thought it was going to be too sweet for them. Kristin said she thought I could sell the cookie for $5. But I think that’s an over-estimataion. But it’s a pretty good cookie. I think I could sell it for about $4; they area is very pricey. I’m still going to make a couple of changes to it though.

That DIY recipe for golden syrup is NOT golden syrup. All she is making is a simple syrup. Golden syrup is refiner’s syrup, the by-product syrup from removing the molasses in the sugar refining process. When they refine sugar, the cane is crushed and the juice is filtered to remove the fiber, and the juice is heated to evaporate the water and start the crystallization. They add sugar crystals to seed crytalization. It’s then centrifuged to remove any remained liquid and to remove molasses from the crystals. In the centrifuge process they want to make sure they get all the molasses off the sugar, so they use a “green” syrup made of white sugar and water that will stick to the molasses on the raw sugar crystal to help wash it off during centrifugation. Some sugars like organic cane sugar and raw sugar are only crystallized and centrifuged once. But granulated sugar and caster sugar are processed twice. Golden syrup is the syrup made for the spent green syrup used in the sugar refining process. Golden syrup is a combination of molasses from the raw sugar from the centrifuge and the green syrup they make for the centrifuge process. Then from what I understand, that spent refiner’s syrup is processed further to be made into golden syrup. My guess is they heat and mix it so it is at a specific brix and invert level. Without know the brix and invert level it is hard to market to commercial bakers and breweries.

Finding golden syrup in the US is very difficult. But get this, ARS (American Sugar Refining) an American company based out of Florida, now owns Tate + Lyle, so they produce Lyle’s Golden Syrup, But Americans still have to search high and low for Lyle’s Golden Syrup. I just ordered 4 bottles from a small e-commerce grocer that deals mostly in Italian food products. It’s a sad day when an American company owns great British company...even sadder when Americans have to buy that great British product online from an Italian grocer. The only saving grace is ARS owns all the big cane sugar companies so Tate + Lyle is less likely to go under.

I had my doubts about the homemade golden syrup recipe, so not surprised to see that it's not that simple to make yourself.

It's such as a shame that Lyle's Golden Syrup is so hard to find on this side of the Atlantic. I've never even had it myself, but I don't doubt it's absolutely delicious and is great in recipes. What other uses do you use golden syrup for? Treacle pie is something I've always wanted to try ever since I was a little kid, reading about it in Harry Potter. I've never heard of golden syrup sandwiches before @retired baker mentioned them, but those sound great. Kinda like what I used to do as a kid, PB + bananas + honey sandwiches...

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I had my doubts about the homemade golden syrup recipe, so not surprised to see that it's not that simple to make yourself.

It's such as a shame that Lyle's Golden Syrup is so hard to find on this side of the Atlantic. I've never even had it myself, but I don't doubt it's absolutely delicious and is great in recipes. What other uses do you use golden syrup for? Treacle pie is something I've always wanted to try ever since I was a little kid, reading about it in Harry Potter. I've never heard of golden syrup sandwiches before @retired baker mentioned them, but those sound great. Kinda like what I used to do as a kid, PB + bananas + honey sandwiches...

Lyle’s is my go to for any thing that calls for corn syrup. It’s the secret to better tasting caramel and toffee. My sweet potato and pumpkin pies get some Lyles. Caramel corn and parlines. I use it on my gluten free waffles and pancakes.

Where corn syrup is just overwhelmingly sweet, Lyle’s has a deep caramel flavor. It’s like of like brown sugar and caramel notes in a syrup. If that makes sense.

 

[Cahoot]

I was at a grocery store I don't normally go to since it's not in my area, but saw that it had a surprisingly well-stocked international aisle. Immediately started checking out the British section to see if I could find some Lyle's golden syrup, and guess what? It looks like they carry it, but it was out of stock! Will have to revisit some day... the cheapest option on Amazon is over double the price here.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I was at a grocery store I don't normally go to since it's not in my area, but saw that it had a surprisingly well-stocked international aisle. Immediately started checking out the British section to see if I could find some Lyle's golden syrup, and guess what? It looks like they carry it, but it was out of stock! Will have to revisit some day... the cheapest option on Amazon is over double the price here.

View attachment 3317

That’s such a good price too!! I pay nearly $8 USD!!! I hope they have it in stock next time you stop by.