Organic Sweeteners

[Kelly1730]

I'm making the switch from granulated sugar to a more natural sweetener. From what I've read, sucanat or rapadura is the way to go. Opinions on what is better for baking and where to purchase it for the best price? My husband is afraid this "real food" stuff is going to kill our budget:) Thanks so much!

[Peela]

Well, "organic" is kind of different to "natural". You can get organic refined white icing sugar but thats kind of a long way from, say, evaporated cane juice.

 

I use difference sweeteners for different things. For baking, if I need a lot of sugar, I just use raw sugar because of the price. But I rarely bake stuff that needs a lot of sugar.

 

For stuff like porridge, I use honey or coconut palm sugar. Maple syrup is too expensive here.

Rapadura is good too.

Just go for the least processing you can- whatever it is. So if its honey, raw honey is best. If its sugar, rapadura is just sugar without all the minerals taken out. I like coconut palm sugar- its pretty slow to raise blood sugar, so lower GI than others. For tea, you can use stevia- a plant that tastes sweet with no calories. Some people like xylitol, another very low calorie sweetener- I think its a bit processed but I have used it at times.

 

We like agave syrup- a good quality dark one. And we like apple juice concentrate.

 

I would experiment with them and try different ones- I like to vary our sweeteners. But if you need 2 cups of it for a recipe- it gets a bit expensive.

[songbirdie]

Sucanat/rapadura is more "natural" than sugar, so if that's your goal then it works great. I use 1:1 substitution for sugar in baking, but I've read online that some people like to use less and some use more. You may have to start with a direct substitution and see what you own family likes best. I love to use agave nectar in place of sugar. It has a low glycemic index, is all natural, and does not give you the spike in blood sugar that other sugars do. The private selection brand at kroger is far cheaper than any other brand I've found.

[LaxMom]

Sucanat and rapadura are essentially the same thing, just proprietary names. (Wholesome Sweeteners and Rapunzel, respectively)

 

I use either interchangeably in recipes calling for granulated sugar. Sucanat is usually what we have because I buy it through a UNFI buying club in my area and it comes in bulk (read: cheaper, less packaging).

 

My husband switched from Equal to stevia in his coffee/tea. I use xylitol for things like mouthwash but it's a sugar alcohol and if you use it in any quantity it will cause diarrhea.

 

A word of warning regarding organic confectioners sugar, if you're a cake baker: it is not white. Buttercream turns a weird "ecru" color. Which is fine for coloring, not for white. :-)

 

If you haven't already looked, I would do a web or yahoo group search for buying clubs in your area. The savings is substantial over grocery stores' "specialty" pricing on the same items.

Edited July 16, 2011 by MyCrazyHouse

[Holly IN]

Peela:

Can you do cup for cup for sucanat/rasperdo vs. Sugar? Sort of confused on that. (Sorry for hijacking here)

 

For ex my mom's vinegar based dressing uses 2 cups of regular sugar. :eek: Talk about WOWSER!! Can I use 2 cups sucanat and that would be fine?? I told her she really needs to cut the sugar back to one cup. She said no.

 

I am going to try a mayo/vinegar based dresssing today with honey (1 TBSP )only as my friend said use eithr Agave nectur or honey but only 1 TBSP because it is super concentrated.

 

Where do you buy the coconut palm sugar? I can't find this in my local health store.

 

For OP: Organic is much more expensive than natural based food. For ex: organic raw honey is more money than regular raw honey. If you can find a honey bee keeper in your area the better it is for you due to it being based on where you live. You get much better health benefit if you get honey LOCAL vs. another state. It has something to do with pollination of the flowers where the bees uses them in your area. Raw honey is better though. It is hard to find though esp. if your local beekeeper do not do raw honey.

 

I question the use of maple syrup in baking as I do not believe it is lower GI. I do use it for pancakes and such (using coconut flour).

[angela in ohio]

We use the organic dehydrated cane juice for baking (except bread) and our local raw honey (not organic) for everything else. Our local grocery store has a store brand of the cane juice (it must be getting popular!) that is cheaper than Whole Foods, so I buy it there. We don't use enough to buy it through our food co-op.

 

It costs more, but we use so little sugar now that we eat real food that it doesn't really hurt us.

[songbirdie]

Yes, you can do an equal substitution of sucanat for sugar, but because of the darker, molasses type of flavor, I have read that some people like to use less of the sucanat than the recipe requires for sugar. I personally use an equal amount.

[Kelly1730]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I realize that my terminology was wrong, organic and natural are not necessarily the same thing. I was looking around online but maybe I can check out the local grocery stores first to see what they carry. I'm at the end of my sugar supply so I need to re-stock ASAP.

[Firefly]

I've been using sucanat for years and love it. I buy it in bulk from our food co-op which helps with the cost. I also keep agave on hand (DH prefers this because it dissolves better into his coffee :)).

[kokotg]

My understanding is that agave nectar doesn't spike your blood sugar because it's mostly fructose...fructose does have a smaller effect on blood sugar than glucose, but it has its own issues that aren't really any better (think high fructose corn syrup). When I was pregnant with my third and worrying in advance about my glucose tolerance test (I've always failed the one hour test; passed the 3 hour two out of three times), I did an experiment involving Dr. Pepper. I carefully measured it out so that it would have the same amount of sugar as the one hour test, then tested my blood sugar an hour later...and it was great--not even close to the cut-off point for the one hour test! I was thrilled...until I flunked the one hour test pretty solidly a week later. It was years before I figured out that this was because the Dr. Pepper was mostly fructose instead of glucose. Anyway. I digress.

 

I mostly use a combo of erythritol (doesn't upset your stomach like xylitol), stevia, and a little bit of honey. I haven't been able to find anyone saying anything bad about erythritol yet, but that may be because it's fairly new and people haven't had a chance. At any rate, I can personally vouch for its non-effect on blood sugar, and I'm pretty convinced that it's better for me than sugar. I have sucanat and use it occasionally when I bake for the kids...but it's really just sugar...it's unprocessed, but I feel like the processing is the least of your worries when it comes to sugar. Or at least it's the least of MY worries, with my strong family history of diabetes.

 

I've just started reading about coconut sugar....I'm a little unclear on WHY it would be lower on the glycemic index, since the chemical composition appears to be pretty close to regular old cane sugar. I might have to do a personal test :)

[JudyJudyJudy]

I often hear people who try to eat naturally recommend agave, but agave is actually highly processed. Also, I know a lot of people, including me, who suffered from inflammation when consuming agave (that's why I started researching it).

[JudyJudyJudy]

I mostly use a combo of erythritol (doesn't upset your stomach like xylitol), stevia, and a little bit of honey. I haven't been able to find anyone saying anything bad about erythritol yet, but that may be because it's fairly new and people haven't had a chance.

I've never heard of erythritol, but I had a pretty serious allergic reaction to stevia. It turns out that it's a close relative of ragweed, and it's actually quite allergenic. Having said that, as far as I know, the only problems with stevia occur in people who are allergic to it.

[LauraGB]

For OP: Organic is much more expensive than natural based food. For ex: organic raw honey is more money than regular raw honey. If you can find a honey bee keeper in your area the better it is for you due to it being based on where you live. You get much better health benefit if you get honey LOCAL vs. another state. It has something to do with pollination of the flowers where the bees uses them in your area. Raw honey is better though. It is hard to find though esp. if your local beekeeper do not do raw honey.

 

 

 

:iagree:

 

Local raw honey and local maple syrup are nearly the only sweeteners I use. If I absolutely need sugar, I'll get raw cane or date sugar, organic powdered sugar, or organic brown sugar (but I use so little of those that they'll sit in my cupboard for many months before I use them up). I have no idea at all where they fall on the GI, though.

[JudyJudyJudy]

In reality, there is no such thing as "organic honey." Beekeepers can avoid chemicals in their hives and only use natural substances, but they can't control where their bees go to forage for their food. Bees often travel miles to get nectar and pollen. (Dh and I are beekeepers. We do not use any chemicals, but we do not advertise our honey as organic because doing so can be deceiving.)

[jentancalann]

I purchase organic sucanat at my farmer's market for 2.29/lb. I use it just as I would use white sugar, and the end result seems to be a little more mild. I would think you'd need to use more if you want the baked good just as sweet. I can't use honey. Though the honey is sweet by the spoonful, it doesn't seem to sweeten up food very well. I'm not a fan (unless it's poured over cornbread or biscuits-yum!)

[kolamum]

The list of organic sweeteners is pretty extensive:

 

Honey

Maple Syrup

Date Sugar

Maple Sugar

Stevia

Brown Rice Syrup

Agave

Coconut Sugar

Date Puree

Fruit Juice concentrate

rapadura

raw sugar

Xylitol

 

 

There's a few more that are escaping me right now. In our home we mainly use honey, stevia, maple, and a specific brand of coconut sugar. I often have the disagreement with people that coconut and palm sugar aren't the same. They are harvested differently and two of us in our home have blood sugar issues. We are effected by palm sugar, but not by the coconut sugar.

 

Prices will vary depending on what you use, where you obtain it from, and how much you need. I save the coconut sugar for bikkies/cookies. I use honey in cakes, crumbles, & ice creams where it won't effect texture {it'll make bikkies/cookies soft}. Maple syrup & honey can be used alongside a good quality {i only use one brand} Stevia {1/2 t stevia 2 T honey or maple} to sweeten many things from hot cocoa to cheesecake. A little goes a long away with these items.

 

I also use coconut sugar run through the blender for a considerable amount of time to make icing sugar/confectioner's sugar for cake icing/topping. Xylitol is more iffy and can work in many things from Turkish Delight to meringue, but I'm picky about this and only use it rarely and mostly in meringues. It keeps them white and allows them to crisp up making a beautiful pavlova compared to other sweeteners.

 

Stevia will not work in meringue. Once added the meringue looses it's stiffness. Coconut sugar works but once cooked it makes the meringue soft and gooey vs stiff and firm. It can be about trial and error. That said, I'm also speaking of natural sweeteners and not just organic. :lol: This is a topic I could get far too carried away about so I'll just leave it at that. :D

[LaxMom]

I purchase organic sucanat at my farmer's market for 2.29/lb. I use it just as I would use white sugar, and the end result seems to be a little more mild. I would think you'd need to use more if you want the baked good just as sweet. I can't use honey. Though the honey is sweet by the spoonful, it doesn't seem to sweeten up food very well. I'm not a fan (unless it's poured over cornbread or biscuits-yum!)

 

I've found that, too. I think it's mostly because it's a larger granule, sort of like kosher salt vs table salt.

 

I also have trouble liking honey in baked goods. Even in my chewy granola bars, I tend to cut the honey with half brown rice syrup. They turn out less sweet that way.

[Rosie_0801]

Where do you buy the coconut palm sugar? I can't find this in my local health store.

 

An Asian grocer should sell it.

 

Rosie

[Peela]

Peela:

Can you do cup for cup for sucanat/rasperdo vs. Sugar? Sort of confused on that. (Sorry for hijacking here)

 

For ex my mom's vinegar based dressing uses 2 cups of regular sugar. :eek: Talk about WOWSER!! Can I use 2 cups sucanat and that would be fine?? I told her she really needs to cut the sugar back to one cup. She said no.

 

I am going to try a mayo/vinegar based dresssing today with honey (1 TBSP )only as my friend said use eithr Agave nectur or honey but only 1 TBSP because it is super concentrated.

 

Where do you buy the coconut palm sugar? I can't find this in my local health store.

 

.

 

With something like a dressing I just cant see it mattering but I am pretty loose when it comes to quantities with those sorts of things.

So yes, you can do cup for cup- but if the flavours are subtle you might really notice the difference- which might be good, but your mum mightn't like it. I would halve the sugar myself- if it was for me or my family- but use the original recipe when mum was around if that was a traditional family recipe.

 

I buy coconut palm sugar at our organic store. The stuff Rosie is talking about often comes in blocks in Indian or Asian food stores, although sometimes it is granulated. It is probably the same stuff but not necessarily organic- pretty cheap though.

 

Just play with them- you will be an expert in no time.