Not impressed with Splenda
I've been leery of Splenda for quite some time, but when I started my diet (I'm down 11.5 lbs. by the way!
), I went ahead and got some to use.
OK, isn't the big claim that "it tastes like sugar" or something like that? Well, yeah, it's sweet, I'll give them that. But so far everything I have baked with it ends up with this funky aftertaste.
Those oatmeal cookies I mentioned a while back? BIG TIME aftertaste. I made some peanut butter brownies last night, and there again - aftertaste.
Blech.
Once this bag is gone I'm done with Splenda when it comes to cooking. I'm planning to try sucanat (the real stuff, not the wanna-be sucanat). I hope it's easy to find around here!
Kimberly wrote,
I haven’t had any problems with the splenda in my recipes, but to be honest, I’ve never baked with it. I was thinking of trying stevia. Where do you get the sucanat? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in stores here.
Link | June 13th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
I’ve never tried the stuff.
I just try to limit my use of sugar. CONGRATULATIONS on the weight loss!
Link | June 13th, 2006 at 5:53 pm
Susan wrote,
DH has a sugar issue and he likes Splenda, especially now that companies are starting to use it in their products instead of Nutrasweet. He says when compared to aspartame it’s a much better taste, although it still doesn’t match sugar exactly. We haven’t baked with it although my MIL has, she made applesauce cakes with it and they tasted good. I’m not sure what her secret was.
We also keep stevia in the house and the trick to stevia is to use just a few droplets (we prefer liquid because it does so well in tea, coffee, and morning cereal). Stevia is super sweet and a few drops (like 3 or 4) will do fine for a big cup of coffee. Too much and it begins to taste bitter. My kids use it in their decafe green tea. I feel it is the healthiest of all the sugar alternatives.
Way to go on the weight loss!
Link | June 13th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
I *think* I’ve noticed that the aftertaste isn’t as strong in unbaked things. I made some coconut banana cream popsicles today, and they called for a CUP, and I could just barely taste a hint of the aftertaste. My guess is that the baking process is what brings the aftertaste out.
I’ve been trying to use stevia as well, but it’s tricky trying to get the right amount. And with baked goods, you still need to come up with something to make up for the bulk that the sugar isn’t taking up.
Link | June 13th, 2006 at 7:55 pm
Oh yeah. Kimberly, I haven’t looked yet, but I’m thinking I’ll have to get it in the health food section of this particular grocery store or in the natural food grocery store we have here. Evidently the labeling for sucanat can be sort of “loose,” so you have to be careful that it’s really evaporated sugar cane, not refined stuff with the molasses added back in (or something like that). I doubt that my regular grocery store will have it, but I’ll look. It’s NOT turbinado sugar or Sugar in the Raw.
Link | June 13th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
dollymama wrote,
Splenda is really not good for you. Have you tried Sweet Leaf Stevia? Sweet Leaf is the only brand of stevia I recommend, and actually I’m getting ready to start selling it as part of my business. It is very nice and is an actual natural product rather than some chemical sweetener junk.
(Can you tell I have feelings about artificial sweeteners?)
Sweet Leaf now even offers flavored stevias that are really really yummy and fun to use.
Link | June 14th, 2006 at 10:36 am
Yep, that’s what brand Dana Carpender uses too. I had a hard time finding it around here but finally did. I’ll probably get that brand once my current bottle of stevia is gone.
Do you use it in baking? How do you make up for the bulk that sugar adds to a recipe?
Link | June 14th, 2006 at 10:43 am
Rebecca wrote,
I like popsicles that use splenda. They are pretty good!
Bought a bag of Splenda once, was not impressed either.
Link | June 14th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
dollymama wrote,
Stevia also comes in granules so you can use that in place of sugar when the content bulk matters.
I haven’t used it in the granule form in baking yet. I just got a bunch of samples from the company to look over to see what I’m going to sell. One of these days I’m going to get this all figured out!
Link | June 14th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
Do you mean the powdered stevia? Or is it powdered stevia “plus bulk”? I have the powdered stevia, but there again you only add a teeny tiny bit to recipes, so it wouldn’t be bulky enough to take the place of the sugar.
I got some sucanat this evening, so we’ll see the next time I make something!
Link | June 14th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
dollymama wrote,
I tried out the Stevia Plus powder last night to make hot chocolate. First I made it with the substitution amount recommended, and although it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t sweet enough. We added some more, plus some liquid stevia in dark chocolate flavor. It came out really good and I am thrilled that there is now a way I can enjoy hot cocoa without sugar!
The Sweet Leaf company does have cookbooks available for desserts and so forth made with stevia. That is something I plan to start with so that we can learn how to work around the issues you mention.
Link | June 15th, 2006 at 8:41 am
papergirl2 wrote,
Hi Keer….I found that although it is expensive the ONLY sugar substitute that actually works and truly tastes like sugar (and is derived form a natural substance) is Suzanne Somers SommerSweet. You can order from her website or sometimes they have it on the Home Shopping network (HSN). It is a teeny tiny can but you only use less than a 1/4 of what you did with real sugar because it’s so sweet. Hope you try and like it. For me I can’t stand to alter the taste of my coffee so it’s either that or sugar…no other substitutes will do.
Link | July 7th, 2006 at 7:07 am
Herb wrote,
SweetLeaf stevia really is the best stevia I have ever tried and I’ve tried almost all of them. I love the steviaplus, they add fiber to this stevia powder so you get extra fiber at the same time, which everyone can use a little more of. The new liquid flavors are great you can add flavor and sweetness to plain water, coffee, tea, milk, yogurt, etc. I do a lot of baking and the trick is to add a bulking ingredient. I like to use applesauce, fruit puree, fruit juice, coconut milk, rice milk, yogurt, etc. anything that will taste good and add moisture to the recipe. For every one cup of sugar replaced with stevia 1/4-1/2 a cup of the bulk needs to be added. I use one whole extra mashed banana when I make my banana bread and this works wonderfully to keep my bread moist and fluffy.
for recipes and to see an equivalency chart that tells you how much stevia to use in a recipe visit: www.sweetleaf.com
Link | July 20th, 2006 at 1:56 pm