Maple syrup is essential for pancakes, but also makes a great salad dressing, glaze for bacon, or even a sweetener for whipped cream. However, if you go to your pantry in search of syrup and come up empty-handed, don’t fret — the best substitute for maple syrup is something you probably keep in the cabinet as well.

If you've used up the last bit of maple syrup, honey is the best substitute, since it has a similar texture and flavor. Despite lacking the smoky intensity that maple syrup provides, honey still tastes great drizzled over pancakes and is perfect for sweetening desserts, and you can simply use a 1 to 1 ratio to swap the two sweeteners.

Honey may be a little bit more expensive than maple syrup, but it provides additional nutrients like amino acids, vitamins, minerals, iron, zinc and antioxidants when. In baking, rather than standard cooking, you might need to mix honey with brown sugar or other ingredients to get the same sweetness and nuance as maple syrup.