How do you sweeten?

 
I never paid much attention to sweeteners because I never really baked much until a few months ago. We always had a sack of white sugar in our pantry that would last eons. (And I prefer my morning coffee strong and black, thankyouverymuch.) But now that I'm baking more I find that I'm drawn to recipes that call for sweeteners like honey, maple syrup and unsweetened applesauce. The less processed the better! Plus my tastebuds have become more sensitive to super-sweet treats. I prefer a mellower brand of sweet. And I've stopped buying white sugar in favor of the less-refined natural sugar cane crystals. (These crystals also give homemade hummingbird nectar a lovely golden hue.) I'm not sure there's a taste difference between the two, I just like the idea of less-refined foods in general.

But there are all of these other types of 'natural' sweeteners out there like agave, stevia, brown rice syrup and xylitol that I'm just not sure how to use or why I'd use them in the first place. I always look at them when I'm browsing the Azure Standard database but haven't felt motivated to try them.

Do you prefer different types of sweeteners beyond white sugar for baking or day-to-day uses? What about some of those mysterious (to me) types I mentioned above? Thanks for sharing! (And if you really want to share, feel free to drop by with some muffins. I'm kinda hungry.)