Vegan Honey (with apple juice & clover)🍯 This recipe for a sweet & delicious vegan honey substitute is made with just 4 simple ingredients: Apple juice, sugar, lemon, and clover tea. Enjoy this yummy bee-free alternative with toast, tea, baked goods, marinades, dressings or anything you love with honey.
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Honey is one of those basic staples in most kitchens that many of us take for granted. Who doesn't like a spoonful in a cup of tea or drizzled on top of a stack of pancakes or waffles? I know I did, that is, until I became vegan.
Can vegans eat honey? 🐝
It may be surprising to learn that honey is not a vegan-friendly food. While some people who follow plant-based diets choose to consume it, most vegans do not. Veganism as defined by The Vegan Society, is a philosophy based on the belief that animals (including bees) are not ours to harm or exploit.
Honey is probably the product most frequently mistaken as vegan-friendly. There is a common misconception that honey bees make their honey especially for us, but this couldn’t be much further from the truth. Honey is made by bees for bees, and their health can be sacrificed when it is harvested by humans.
The Vegan Society - The Honey Industry
This informative article from healthline.com discusses the honey industry's negative impact on the health and well-being of bees.
Does vegan honey taste different? 🐝
Personally, I think it tastes better. This recipe is prepared with apple juice, which imparts a very light, subtle undertone of apple. The infusion of clover tea adds just the right notes of floral fragrance & flavor you expect. A squeeze of lemon juice balances the sugary sweetness with a touch of tart citrus. Everyone I have served it to can't believe it's not made by bees.
For those of us who love the taste but don't love the idea of causing harm to bees, this recipe made with apple juice is the perfect way to enjoy all the goodness of this gorgeous, gooey, golden syrup while protecting nature's precious pollinators - honey bees. 🐝
Jump to:
Why you will love this recipe
- It looks and tastes like honey!
- 100% bee-free
- Only 4 simple ingredients
- Very easy to prepare
- Use it in sweet & savory dishes
🍯 Ingredients
Just a few ingredients are all you need!
- Apple juice - fresh or bottled. We use fresh unfiltered organic apple juice.
- Sugar - raw, organic, or regular white granulated.
- Lemon juice - fresh or bottled. We use fresh.
- Clover Tea - bags or loose tea in an infuser. We use organic red clover herbal tea.
🍯 Instructions
See the recipe card below for quantities & complete details.
- Pour apple juice, sugar, and lemon juice into a 2 quart saucepan.
- Drop in one teabag, hanging string tag over lip of pan.
- Place pan over high heat and bring the liquid to a boil, stirring frequently.
- Once liquid comes to a rolling boil, reduce heat to medium-high and allow liquid to simmer at a low boil for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- At 10 minutes, remove teabag.
- Continue to let liquid simmer for about 20 minutes while stirring.
- When the liquid starts to form small foamy bubbles, and reduces in volume by about 50%, the syrup (honey) is close to being done.
- Test for doneness by slowly stirring the syrup. It will still be runny, but with a thicker viscosity. Dip a spoon or spatula in it and watch for stringy dripping. The syrup will thicken as it cools down. Don't over-cook it or it will caramelize.
- Remove from heat and pour into a clean glass mason jar or bottle.
- Allow the syrup to cool down before using so it can thicken.
- Store at room temperature or refrigerated (it will get even thicker).
🍯 Honey hints
The trick to making vegan honey is temperature, timing & stirring. This isn't a recipe that you can walk away from while it's cooking. If you have a barstool or chair in your kitchen, I suggest you plan on making yourself comfortable by the stove for 30 minutes. It's important to keep a close watch on the syrup while it's cooking and stir frequently so it doesn't over-boil, caramelize, or scorch.
If it isn't as thick as you would like (after it has cooled), simply pour it back into a saucepan and bring it to a boil again, reduce heat to a simmer and stir it for about 10 minutes (don't let it caramelize). Remove from heat and pour into a clean jar.
The addition of the clover tea adds a hint of clover blossom taste to the honey. You can have fun creating varieties of honey, by infusing it with other flavors by using different types of tea. Orange blossom, chamomile, peach, lavender or any aromatic floral tea are good choices. I suggest using only type of tea and just one tea bag.
🍯 Equipment
- 2 quart saucepan
- a long wooden spoon or silicone spatula
- measuring cup
- measuring spoon
- a honey jar or honey pot or clean mason jar with lid
🍯 Serving suggestions
Enjoy as you would with bee-made honey!
- On toast, bagels and biscuits.
- As a sweetener for hot or iced tea.
- On nut butter sandwiches.
- As a topping on pancakes, waffles, or scones.
- Drizzle some into a smoothie.
- As a topping for non-dairy ice cream.
- In honey mustard, dressings, marinades, barbecue sauce, and sweet & sour sauce.
- Baked goods - muffins, cakes and quick breads.
- As a glaze for roasted veggies or tofu.
- Perfect for dipping apples!
How about making some honey for your honey on Valentine's Day! Be sure to include a jar or pot with a dipper. ❤️ How sweet!
🍯Honey FAQ's
Clover honey is one of the most common varieties found in stores. It is harvested from the hives of honey bees that collect nectar from nearby clover blossoms. There are approximately 300 species of clover plants. For this vegan clover honey recipe, we use organic red clover blossom tea to infuse the syrup while it is simmering.
Vegan honey contains sugar, which acts as a natural preservative. It can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few weeks and longer if refrigerated. Refrigeration will make the honey thicker. Honey pots and jars are great for serving, but if you want it to last (and keep ants or dust from getting inside) I suggest keeping a tight lid on it.
In addition to this recipe for vegan honey with apple juice & clover, there are lots of options for sweet syrups that can be used as condiments and in cooking. Here are a few:
Agave nectar - Is a very sweet liquid made from the juice of the agave plant (the source of tequila). It is subtle in flavor with a slightly thinner viscosity.
Barley malt syrup - A dark, thick and sticky sweetener made from sprouted barley, with a strong distinctive malty flavor.
Brown rice syrup - Is a liquid sugar made from brown rice and is sometimes used as an alternative to corn syrup.
Date syrup - A thick caramel-colored sweetener made from dates.
Maple syrup - The sweet, golden sap from maple trees with a light distinctive flavor that is suitable for many sweet and savory dishes.
Molasses - A syrup made from sugar cane or sugar beet juice that has been boiled to remove sugar crystals. Regular or light molasses is the result of two boilings. Blackstrap molasses is boiled three times, resulting in a strong & rather bitter flavor.
bee 🐝 kind
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, please rate it in the comments below. Sharing your experience helps others decide if they should give it a try too. Thanks a bunch!🥕
Recipe
Vegan Honey (with apple juice & clover)
Equipment
- 1 2 quart saucepan
- 1 a long wooden spoon or silicone spatula
- 1 a honey jar, honey pot or clean mason jar with lid
Ingredients
- 2 cups apple juice fresh or bottled
- 1 cup sugar raw, organic, or regular white granulated
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teabag clover tea
Instructions
- Pour apple juice, sugar, and lemon juice into a 2 quart saucepan.
- Drop in one teabag, hanging string tag over lip of pan.
- Place pan over high heat and bring liquid to a boil, stirring frequently.
- Once liquid comes to a rolling boil, reduce heat to medium-high and allow liquid to simmer at a low boil for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- At 10 minutes, remove teabag.
- Continue to let liquid simmer for about 20 minutes while stirring.
- When the liquid starts to form small foamy bubbles, and reduces in volume by about 50%, the syrup (honey) is close to being done.
- Test for doneness by slowly stirring the honey. It will still be runny, but with a thicker viscosity. Dip a spoon or spatula in it and watch for stringy drips. The honey will thicken as it cools down. Don’t over-cook it or it will caramelize.
- Remove from heat and pour into a clean glass mason jar or bottle.
- Allow the honey to cool down before using so it can thicken. Store at room temperature or refrigerated (it will get even thicker).
Notes
- On toast, bagels and biscuits.
- As a sweetener for hot or iced tea.
- On nut butter sandwiches.
- As a topping on pancakes, waffles, or scones.
- Drizzle some into a smoothie.
- As a topping for non-dairy ice cream.
- In dressings, marinades, barbecue sauce, and sweet & sour sauce.
- Baked goods – muffins, cakes and quick breads.
- As a glaze for roasted veggies or tofu.
- Perfect for dipping apples!
Nutrition
These are estimated values generated from a nutritional database using unbranded products. Please do your own research with the products you're using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.
Food Safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Don’t leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
Sushree
Amazing ! Can you suggest alternative if white sugar.
Connie Edwards McGaughy
Hi Sushree, I use organic raw sugar, but I have heard of people using coconut sugar, agave nectar, maple syrup or date paste. Since I haven't tested any of those alternatives myself, I have no idea how the honey would turn out. I would love to know if you decide to give it a try!
Jeannie
I havent eaten honey in a long time now and never thought making my own, glad to see this recipe. Thanks for sharing
Shilpa
Wow! This looks just like real honey. Amazing recipe.
nancy
amazing recipe and love the lemon hint in this too!
Connie Edwards McGaughy
Vegans rejoice! Welcome to the best honey ever. It looks, pours & tastes like honey & best of all, no bees are harmed in the process!