Wow, do all sweeteners begin with an “s?” With my desire to cutback on sugar-intake in the house, I’ve been curious about other sweeteners available. If I could find a way to keep baking (I think I would die without it—from anxiety, that is!)
Sugar, of course, is all natural–therefore, in my book, the best!
Splenda seems to have good qualities, as the body doesn’t recognize it as a sugar, so it is not processed as such. The downfall, of course, is that it is chemically-altered, which means I have an overwhelming desire to run away from it!
Stevia…this is intriguing to me, as it is derived from an herb plant from South America, therefore all natural. It’s an extremely sweet herb leaf, allowing you to use very minimal amounts to sweeten anything. It has zero calories, nor does your body recognize it as a sugar, so there are not effects from a “sugar-high.”
So, this is where I’m at…trying to decide how to curb the sugar intake in our house, but stick to something all-natural. Of course, I’m typing this as I’m pulling out some Snickerdoodles from the oven. It’s research–I promise! ;) I made this batch with real sugar, and now I plan to make comparable batches with stevia and splenda, to see how the family rates it. Stay tuned!
you might try WheyLow. A dairy-based sweetner. Comes in granulated, brown, powdered, & a maple syrup base.
I’m not affiliated, just a happy customer.
I use stevia in my coffee. Looking forward to trying a recipe for jam using stevia.
I’ve also been looking to cut back on sugar because I come from a family of diabetics.
I fear splenda and won’t use it.
I also find stevia intriguing but have yet to give it a go.
I find a lot of times you can just cut back on the amount of sugar in a recipe and not even notice the difference… or “reinvent” the recipe so it’s similar to the old stand-by but a little healthier (I recently did this with strawberry shortcake).
If you do try the stevia, please let me know how it goes!
i’ve thought to do an experiment like that many times, but never have. i can’t wait to hear the results.
i also fear the splenda, but i’ve heard good things about stevia.
I use Stevia in my coffee. It’s not exactly like sugar but is sweet and quite tasty. I’ve never tried baking with it. Let us know how it goes.