Watch the Video(s) below (Part-2)
SWEETENERS + HELPFUL INFORMATION
This information or a variation thereof appears in my low-carb cookbooks to help people. I thought I would make a blog post with the same information and yet some, as some people don't understand when I say something like "Liquid sweetener to equal 1 cup sugar." They think sometimes that that must be an awful lot of liquid sweetener, when, in fact, depending on the size of bottle/sweetener strength I use from EZ-Sweetz, it is either 24 or 48 drops! Hope this information is helpful.
The newest sweetener on the market that low-carb and keto bloggers love these days is allulose and this is the product that has some fabulous blends for us to use. I cannot use erythritol. I have not used it for 7 years. It affects my sensitive bladder adversely. Instead, I like to use allulose or monk fruit/allulose blend. So, wherever I mention erythritol in a recipe, feel free to substitute an allulose blend of your choosing. Only reason I ever mentioned it as it is the darling of the low-carb world. However, it is horrible for me and I don't ever use it.
You may use your own preferred sweetener in most of the recipes. Using a zero-carb sweetener such as liquid sucralose or stevia, allulose and allulose/Monk fruit combinations, helps lower the carbs per serving of a recipe. Erythritol is problematic for a sensitive bladder. The little packets for sweetening coffee can be used instead of erythritol for a sweetener synergy, however, they do have carbs. Do be careful with xylitol as it can have a slight laxative effect and, more importantly, it is lethal for dogs. What is interesting is that the safety of sucralose has now been proven by scientists. They discovered sucralose in surface and ground waters and tried all their usual methods of trying to break down wastes in aerobic and anaerobic reactors for 48 hours and put sucralose through all the other methods to break down wastes as well – to no avail. Sucralose remained unchanged and the molecule does not break apart into chlorine compounds. Therefore, it is safe to say that sucralose passes safely through the body, unchanged, and that it is inert at high baking temperatures.
Liquid Sucralose (EZ-Sweetz® available from Netrition.com): Conversion table for 0.5 oz LHS / 2 oz RHS bottles (concentration varies) respectively.
SPLENDA® Granular equivalent | SPLENDA® Packets | EZ-Sweetz® Liquid Sucralose |
1 cup SPLENDA® | 24 packets | 24/48 drops |
3/4 cup SPLENDA® | 18 packets | 18/36 drops |
2/3 cup SPLENDA® | 16 packets | 16/32 drops |
1/2 cup SPLENDA® | 12 packets | 12/24 drops |
1/3 cup SPLENDA® | 8 packets | 8/16 drops |
1/4 cup SPLENDA® | 6 packets | 6/12 drops |
2 tbsp SPLENDA® | 3 packets | 3/ 6 drops |
2 tsp SPLENDA® | 1 packet | 1/ 2 drops |
Sugar equivalent | Packets | EZ-Sweetz® Liquid Stevia |
1 cup sugar | 24 packets | 96 drops (4/5 tsp) |
3/4 cup sugar | 18 packets | 72 drops (3/5 tsp) |
2/3 cup sugar | 16 packets | 64 drops (1/2 tsp) |
1/2 cup sugar | 12 packets | 48 drops (2/5 tsp) |
1/3 cup sugar | 8 packets | 32 drops (1/4 tsp) |
1/4 cup sugar | 6 packets | 24 drops (1/5 tsp) |
2 tbsp sugar | 3 packets | 12 drops |
2 tsp sugar | 1 packet | 4 drops |
Sugar equivalent | Packets | Natural Mate® Erthritol/Sucralose & Natural Mate® Erthritol/Stevia |
1 cup sugar | 24 packets | 24 scoops |
3/4 cup sugar | 18 packets | 18 scoops |
2/3 cup sugar | 16 packets | 15 scoops |
1/2 cup sugar | 12 packets | 12 scoops |
1/3 cup sugar | 8 packets | 7 1/2 scoops |
1/4 cup sugar | 6 packets | 6 scoops |
2 tbsp sugar | 3 packets | 3 scoops |
2 tsp sugar | 1 packet | 1 scoop |
You can find liquid sucralose (called EZ-Sweetz®) at Netrition, as well as a liquid Stevia/Monk Fruit blend and shortly several more EZ-Sweetz® products will be available on Amazon under the name, Natural Mate.® EZ-Sweetz has a pure liquid stevia product and are now launching Erythritol blended products on Amazon (under the brand of Natural Mate®) for baking: Powdered Sucralose/Erythritol blend and Powdered Stevia/Erythritol blend. Both products have 2x the sweetness power of sugar. The samples I have come in small bottles with a long-handled mini scoop for scooping the fine white powder. One mini scoop equals 2 tsp (10 mL) sugar, and the whole container is equivalent to 12.4 lbs of sugar (see table above). In addition, they have the granular form of erythritol/sucralose or erythritol/stevia combination which is so good in baking. 1 cup (250 mL) granular combination equals 2 cups (500 mL) sugar equivalent.
Erythritol - Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that seems to be innocuous as far as causing digestive upset unless it is in a combination product, when sometimes there can be a problem. It does have a slight cooling effect on the taste buds; however, this is minimized by using smaller amounts. Erythritol has a glycemic index of zero and has no effect on blood sugar. Erythritol often crystallizes out of solution when cooled, but can be recombined when reheated. Granular and powdered versions are available at Netrition.com. Erythritol is mostly excreted through the bladder and is problematic for people with a sensitive bladder. Recent studies have shown erythritol to be problematic and dangerous for people with CVD.
Just Like Sugar® is made from chicory root and contains calcium and vitamin C. It has none of the strong aftertastes of stevia or other artificial sweeteners. It keeps ice cream soft, makes perfect caramel sauce, makes cookies soft on the inside and chewy on the outside. It tastes great, has zero calories and can be used cup-for-cup instead of table sugar.
Monk Fruit is made using the pulp of the fruit which is fermented and that removes the sugars but leaves the sweet taste. It is 200 times sweeter than table sugar, so you need use only very tiny amounts or it could taste bitter.
Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that does not require insulin to be metabolized by the body, however, it can increase flatulence and it can have a laxative effect. Xylitol is DEADLY for dogs. It causes prolonged hypoglycemia. Don’t use it if you have dogs in your home.
Steviva Blend® and Truvia® are blends of erythritol and stevia. There may be a laxative effect for some people but if you can tolerate them, they are wonderful. Again, erythritol is now being flagged as a health hazard.
Oven temperatures can vary and that means baking and cooking times are only a guide. An oven thermometer is a good investment. It's a good idea to set the timer for 5 to 10 minutes less than a recipe suggests. Eggs used are the large size.
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