Splenda question

[jillybean]

I had the best breakfast today: 2 Optimum Flax waffles topped with plain yogurt (sour cream works too), strawberries, and brown sugar. I was wondering, however, if anyone knows of a Splenda (or other brand of calorie free) brown sugar substitute? I looked in the organic section and they didn't have anything. Another question: Has anyone ever tried to cook with 'fruit essence' or with Splenda? I have been making a lot of sweet breads lately for gatherings, work meetings, DH and me, etc., but I just hate seeing that whole cup of sugar go into the mixture. Thanks!

 

[KayM]

Hi jillybean. I'm answering your second question first - My husband does not eat any normal processed sugar in his diet. We frequently use granulated fructose (fructose, if you didn't know, is natural sugar from fruit). You can substitute it directly for sugar (usually you'll want to use just a little bit less fructose, like 3/4 c fructose for 1 c sugar), and I use it to bake pies, muffins, you name it!

If you're interested in fructose, you can probably find it at a local health food store. We get it for $.99 per lb but that's pretty cheap I think.

On brown sugar, there was a brown sugar replacement I found, but the catch was that you could not substitute it in normal recipes - you had to use recipes that had been created specifically for the substitute. I can ask my husband what the brand name was, if you're interested.

 

[jillybean]

Thanks for responding! I think I will try the fructose. I generally don't like man-made products, so if the brown sugar was chemically produced, I might pass. But if it's not and your husband remembers, great.