Creating new recipes, playing around with ingredients and working on healthy habits are always top of mind in January. Swapping out refined sugar for a natural sugar alternative is a great place to start, and monk fruit has a spot in my pantry this year. Monk fruit sweetener has gained some fans over the last few years, and it’s making its way into desserts to create delicious recipes for the health-conscious. Swapping out refined sugar for alternative sweeteners sounds pretty simple. But in baking, sugar is not only a sweetening agent, it also affects the moisture level and leavening of a recipe. Honey, molasses, coconut sugar and agave are a few natural sweeteners that are tested and proven, and now we are experimenting with monk fruit.