Baking with Splenda and Stevia
I thought I could make some low-carb biscotti using Splenda, then I came across this fairly recent information:
http://www.treehugger.com/health/baking-and-cooking-splenda-releases-carcinogens-food.html
Everything causes cancer these days.
So off to the store for some Stevia in the Raw (not cheap). I added 16 packets to the dough. The stevia didn't make it all that sweet, just a little bit. The almond extract definitely helps. They turned out just OK, not great. Considering the expense of the stevia, I'm not impressed. It really needs to be a bit sweeter. Here is the full recipe:
BISCOTTI
NO SUGAR ADDED
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
1 1/2 C flour
16+ packets Stevia in the Raw
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter
1 tsp cream of tartar, 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract
Combine dry ingredients
Mix wet ingredients in mixer, spoon in dry ingredients
Bake 25 minutes, cool, cut to cookie-size
Reduce oven temp to 275 F, bake again for 20 minutes
I used stevia granulated (not the raw stevia) in spelt sultana and choc chip cookies which are normally delicious. I substituted only half the specified sugar and worked out the equivalent amount of stevia as I was too scared to do a full substitution. The cookies were edible but the texture etc was all wrong. Baking is all about "chemistry" between the ingredients and it just didnt work. I also tried to use it in a cake and the crumb was likewise very different from usual. And yes, it is very expensive so I dont bother with it any more even though it might be a more healthy option. I think you have to modify recipes quite a bit to use it.
Would you make the biscotti this way again?
Strange but true, its actually a Dextrose product with a little Stevia extract added so they can market it as "Stevia". My family have been Stevia users for 25 years and are so dismayed at how our food industry takes a perfectly healthy plant like Stevia and butchers it in the laboratory.
Tip #1: Buy the real thing:
The only Stevia we have used for something like 20 years is Stevia by Kal (Nutraceutical is their parent company), because its ingredient list contains just one item: Stevia.
Tip #2: Use much less
I've read somewhere that Stevia is 100 times sweeter than sugar. That seems to make sense to me because we use microscopic amounts of it and it fully sweetens everything that we make with it. The micro spoon that comes inside the Kal Stevia bottle is important, that little guy can sweeten a large mug of pure hot chocolate by itself. If you find that ts getting bitter or any other odd taste, then you have used far too much, this is the biggest problem I've seen my family and friends run into. An actual teaspoon of Stevia probably could sweeten a 55 gallon drum of bitter chocolate (an exaggeration I'm sure, but you get the point). Keep in mind that Stevia is a plant leaf and like most leafs if you just chew on the raw leaf it tastes bitter to us.
Tip #3: Textures
If you bake with anything that requires sugar as a structural element then Stevia just isn't going to do that for you. I've used a combination of high quality organic cane sugar plus Stevia, which has worked for me but I'm not an experienced enough baker yet to know how much sugar I can eliminate.
Kal Stevia's ingredient's are just Stevia.
The Kal Stevia microspoon (that comes inside the bottle) placed on top of an actual teaspoon, the size difference is enormous, more than this picture can illustrate because there is also a huge difference in depth.
I've lost a lot of enthusiasm for my sugar-free biscotti project and no, I wouldn't make them that way again.
You are absolutely right about the texture. My biscotti are not crispy in the yummy-cookie way, but rather they just seem kind of stale and they are less than one day old. I would not want to serve them to people.
I think I'm done with stevia, Splenda, etc. One thing to try might be to grind up some dark-chocolate morsels into a meal and let them sweeten the biscotti, and maybe add some flaked almonds, but still the texture remains a concern.
I tried Splenda for baking didn't work for me. I know everything they say causes cancer but my hubby has type 2 diabetes and when I bake I use Maltitol, which is expensive but works for my baking. I just bought Xylitol which I haven't used yet, and it states good for baking but need to keep away from pets. I never tried Stevia so can't help you with that. We use Splenda in our coffee that's about it.
Thanks for the tip on Maltitol. How do you like the texture of things baked with Maltitol?
Even if I get the sweetness up with an artificial sweetener, the texture is disappointing.
I have considered using a blend of artificial sweetener and sugar. As sugar is 100% carbohydrate, 100 g sugar = 100 g carbohydrate. 1/16 C of sugar = 12.5 g carbohydrate.
Well, it appears that Maltitol can produce all sorts of gastric distress, so I think I'll pass on it.
http://www.amazon.com/Prescribed-For-Life-Maltitol-Sweetener/product-reviews/B0072II3K2/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints...
maltitol, sorbitol, etc. cause cause someone or other in my family significant gastric distress. Even when its just used in chewing gum one of us is in discomfort. We've been avoiding ot for years and are much happier for it.
They can be crushed and sprinkled into the dough. I have yet to use them.
some magical fairy keeps planting them every year (I suspect its my wife) so I do pluck the leaves and soak them in hot water for tea or hot chocolate, the row the leaves out before drinking. I have not tried crushing them and sprinkling into my doughs because a friend tried that and it came out bitter, so I haven't taken the time to experiment to figure out how much to use, but this just might be the ticket for some sweet rolls, or cinnamon rolls, or ...
hot water... then sweeten the recipe water!
Wives and elves and garden fairies. They're everywhere! :)