sugar free baking worries

[Megan200]

Hi everyone,
I've been lc'ing for 1 1/2 years and have been trying unsucessfully to encourage my dh and daughter to lay off the high sugar treats.

A while ago I posted here, & some of you suggested making baked goods with artificial sweetener. I have tried this & have also tried to recreate "healthier" alphaghetti by making it from scratch. Dd notices when it's unsweetened, so I tried a bit of splenda in it.

My question is, what kinds of artifical sweeteners do you use & have you had any problems with them?

I tried out some recipes from the "Lo Carb Comfort Book", and found that my cravings would come rushing back whenever I made food with splenda. I then did some looking around on the web & found some information that showed the stuff that keeps artificial sweetners in powder form is maltose (i.e. sugar) & apparently it's significantly higher on the glycemic index than regular white sugar. From what I saw, there's some debate about this though.

I was curious if any of you parents had had similar experiences with artificial sweetners. If I can just get my family past the cravings stage, I think I could get them eating in a much healthier way.

Are there any artifical sweetners that you feel comfortable with? I stay away from them myself (since I no longer desire sweets), but I worry whether it's just safer to let my family have sugar in moderation rather than use them.

Megan

[tofi]

Yes, the maltodextrin is used as the bulking agent in Splenda and powdered Sugar Twin (white & brown.)

If a treat doesn't need the bulk of sugar, I use liquid Sugar Twin. You can also get a better sweetening effect using several kinds of sweetener in the same recipe. Try crushing sweetener tablets for fewer carbs too.

If you can get the 'unflavoured syrup' sweetened with sucralose, there would be fillers in it. (I just read about this recently - do a net search for those words to see who is selling it.)

[LadyBelle]

Are you baking for yourself, or the kids?

If you are baking goodies for the kids and just want a healthier alternative to sugar, why not look into using unsweetened apple sauce as a sweetner. While it is still fructose, a form of sugar, it is much better then refined white sugar.

You can also look into stevia. It can be difficult to work with, but once you get the hang of it, the taste is great. I like using the powdered extract. You can also buy stevia in liquid extract form, with FOS (A healthy fiber) added, or with the same fillers as other artificial sweetners (these add carbs).

Stevia is a natural herb that has been used in Japan for centuries. Just 1/3 tsp of the powdered extract = 1 cup of sugar. If you use to much though it can take on a very bitter taste. That is what can make it harder to work with. For something small as coffee, you would only use a few grains.

If you are worried about texture there is a product in the Thicken and Thin line which mimics the texture of sugar, without imparting any sweetness so you can use your choice of sweetners. If you are worried about the bulking agents in granular splenda, this could be worth looking into.