If you’re headed to the grocery store to stock up on some extra sugar to bake Thanksgiving desserts and holiday cookies, take comfort in the fact that there will be plenty on the shelf to choose from.

Sugarbeet harvest has just wrapped up, and harvest numbers were up across the board, thanks to a little cooperation from Mother Nature.  Sugarcane harvest is well underway, too, and all signs point to a bumper crop.

That means surpluses of sweet stuff, so pick up an extra bag or two if you’d like.

In fact, according to final U.S. Department of Agriculture figures for the crop year just ended, there was enough excess sugar left over to give two five-pound sacks of surplus sugar to nearly every man, woman, and child in the United States.

Forecasts didn’t always look so peachy.  The USDA was predicting a tight market with few surpluses more than a year ago, but today, surpluses are five times higher than originally projected leaving more than 1.5 million tons of sugar in storage.

This upward climb was remarkable considering supply shortages in other parts of the world.  Even more remarkable is the fact that a five-pound bag of homegrown sugar won’t cost you much more than a couple of candy bars.

Of course, no one associates the holidays with candy bars.  Baking delicious pies and cookies to accompany the family feast is half the fun.

So, to help your family get a jumpstart on the baking this year, we’ve included links to some of our favorite recipes below.  Happy holidays.

Classic Southern Pecan Pie
Old Fashioned Bread Pudding With Brandy Hard Sauce
Sweet Potato Layer Cake with Coconut Pecan Sweet Potato Frosting
Santa’s Whiskers