PALM SUGAR

This natural sweetener is made by boiling the sap collected from palm flowers until it is reduced to sugar crystals. It is referred to as an unrefined sugar because it undergoes minimal processing and no chemicals are involved. The sugar can be made from a variety of palm trees, including palmyra, date, toddy, nipa, sugar, and coconut palms.

The process by which it is made is very similar to the process of making maple syrup; it's labor-intensive and time-consuming, too. As a result, palm sugar is typically more expensive for most North American consumers than run-of-the-mill granulated and brown sugars.