Baking with Splenda
I'm a real suger kind of girl who loves to bake,but a good friend of mine is diabetic and is at my house often and I'm starting to feel guilty. So my question is, has anyone had much success baking with Splenda?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
22 Comments:
It has been my experience that success with Splenda varies with the recipe. They do have a good site with recipes that do work. The problem is that when you start baking for a diabetic you are still in most cases using flour and that is a no-no. If you can also adjust your recipe to include whole wheat flour that makes it better, but creates a new list of problems making the recipe work. I tried directly substituting whole wheat flour in a foccacia recipe and it sucked! What does work, is the recipe for a Philadelphia cream cheese and layered pumpkin cheesecake. That was fabulous! See their web site or I'll send it to you. I have yet to experiment with chocolate as in a flourless chocolate cake. Good Luck!
thegoch at 3:07PM on 01/10/09
I made the Paula Deen cookies. We have a relative and one of my friend's kids who are super careful and I did not want them to feel left out. I tasted the final product. It was good.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/magical-peanut-butter-cookies-recipe/index.html
To hide splenda pick strong flavors.
The sub is one to one 1cup sugar=1cup of splenda
I would try making brownies and using the brown sugar form of splenda and add some espresso to the mix to march right over the after taste that splenda can have.
JerzeeTomato at 3:34PM on 01/10/09
i'm a diabetic. we can have flour. wheat is better. the thing is everything in moderation. if you are getting your carbs from one source than the rest of the meal/snack/dessert needs to be planned around that. the sugars have to be kept as low as possible also. the splenda recipes i have tried from splenda.com are good. if you use chocolate then use dark chocolate. experiment. have fun.
dearrie at 3:43PM on 01/10/09
I use Brown Sugar Splenda blend in baking all the time. You have to be careful though, it does contain sugar (I always do a sugar breakdown with my OH when I bake something and make sure he Ok's it), but you also use only a half (if not less) of the required sugar amount when you use brown sugar Splenda blend. You do need to check with your friend, because not all diabetics are the same - I know that my OH can (and actually needs to) have some sugar (which shouldn't necessarily come from pure sugar, but from things like white flour/bread, etc).
I've adapted pretty much every recipe I have (he's also lactose intolerant, so I make them dairy free, too), and so far, I haven't had a flop yet. I've made various muffins (blueberry and spiced butternut squash ones were especially successful, and I use about half all purpose, half whole wheat flour in these), cakes, even chocolate ganache and lemon meringue pie. I certainly prefer brown sugar Splenda blend to white Splenda, but Jerzee is right, white (1:1 ratio) Splenda works, too.
brooke29 at 3:57PM on 01/10/09
I've made cheesecakes using Splenda instead of sugar, pineapple in its own juice, and a crust made of crumbs of multigrain bread instead of graham cracker or cookie crumbs. It was delicious.
lemons at 4:13PM on 01/10/09
Thanks everyone! I think I'm going to try the brown sugar blend in my favorite choc chip cookie recipe( I make them weekly). And I really want to make that fabulous looking jam cake on the home page. Hopefully it will turn out delish even with Splenda. If so I'll let you all know.
marchesa at 4:54PM on 01/10/09
@lemons~do share.
dearrie at 5:07PM on 01/10/09
Ideally most diabetics should be counting their carbs in "choices" and they get a certain number per meal/snack per day. It may me helpful to make stuff where numbers are provided with the recipes (total grams of carb per serving).
If you want to use your own recipes, I'd just try some substitutions where you only change 1/2, and I'd only change one ingredient at a time- maybe 1/2 sugar & 1/2 splenda the first time and if it's good/works maybe try 1/2 regular & 1/2 whole wheat flour the next time. You can also try the white whole wheat flour that King Arthur makes (regular whole wheat is red wheat). The white kind has a lighter taste. Good luck - you're a good friend.
MaresyDotes at 6:02PM on 01/10/09
Hot off a text from my brother (he makes these all the time):
Splenda PB Cookies
2 Cups chunky peanut butter
2 Eggs
2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
2 cups baking Splenda
Mix all of the above together and drop by heaping tablespoons onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Bake in preheated 350 oven for 20 minutes or until they are golden color. Let them cool completely before moving them.
You'll notice there is no flour in the recipe - he usually makes these when he's low-carbing.
therealchiffonade at 6:52PM on 01/10/09
Just a note about cookies and Splenda, you will get less than a "normal" recipe yields because of the lower amount of Splenda used (I'm talking about the baking brown sugar kind). And you'll probably have some extra add ins, like chocolate chips and nuts, if you use them, in the bottom of the bowl that won't make cookies because there isn't enough dough left. The dough may also seem drier, but it should bake up fine. If I were to use Splenda again, I'd probably remove 1/4 cup of my add-ins to account for less dough.
I went through a stint with Splenda a couple years ago when my body wasn't tolerating sugar. Everything I made turned out fine, beware some people taste an aftertaste, I never did, and would use it again if I had the same issues. Good luck.
bobcatsteph3 at 8:45PM on 01/10/09
@chiff - these sound really good, and my OH absolutely loves PB - I'm certainly going to give them a try! Thanks!
brooke29 at 9:02PM on 01/10/09
I've had nothing but success when using Splenda, never a problem. I'm like bobcatsteph3, in that I don't have any aftertaste issues. I use brown sugar Splenda in my oatmeal in the morning and it's fine in that too.
dmcavanagh at 9:23PM on 01/10/09
Thank you all again. I'm excited to try it all. I'm also looking forward to enjoying watching my friend eat all the treats I so lovingly make,without the guilt. I'll probably lose a few pounds in the process and what girl doesn't love that,LOL.
marchesa at 10:05PM on 01/10/09
I've made Emeril's flourless chocolate cake with splenda and I cant tell the difference, but most things you make with splenda (or just about any sugar sub) just dont taste as good. I would try to find ways around serving baked goods all together. maybe some high fiber fruit like apples and pears. Diabetes is a real bore when it comes to eating sometimes, but like everything else moderation is better than anything else at controling it. And please understand too, some diabetics react just as strongly to splenda and other subs as they do to sugar. I have one friend that can handle sugar but not subs at all.
huneybumper at 10:04AM on 01/11/09
Here's the link to our blog, St. Louis Eats, with the recipe. I just subbed the fluffy kind of Splenda that's a cup-for-cup equivalent of white sugar, and in the crust, I made bread crumbs in the food processor, dried them in the oven, and re-crushed them in the processor before I made the crust. I believe I completely omitted the sugar/Splenda in the crust, as I recall.
http://stlouiseats.typepad.com/st_louis_eats_and_drinks_/2008/06/pina-colada-che.html
Enjoy.
lemons at 10:25AM on 01/11/09
I have had pretty good luck baking banana bread with Splenda. Some bread and cakes have a different texture or don't rise the same as with sugar. I think a clue into how diabetic friendly a dessert made with Spleda is the serving size. They can be tiny. I just looked at a brownie recipe from the Spenda site which is made in a 9" x 13" pan and it makes 48 servings! Who wants a tiny brownie? A nice fresh fruit salad with Slenda would be more satisfying.
vickiee at 2:04PM on 01/11/09
See also: http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2008/07/anyone-cookingbaking-with-splenda.html
Adam Kuban at 3:45PM on 01/11/09
Try using Agave Nectar also...it works really well with whole grain flours, like buckwheat, because it adds the moisture that they need...I use agave in lots of desserts tho, and I think it's just great.
KateRuby at 6:22PM on 01/11/09
My fave Splenda-not-sugar recipe is Pumpkin Pie. I started making the recipe off the canned-pumpkin (NOT "Pumpkin Pie Mix") w/Splenda & 1/2 the milk it calls for about 5yrs ago. DH was on "Atkins", but I was not having Thanksgiving w/o pumpkin pie. Granny cried out in horror, so I promised to make 1 "real" pie & 1 Splenda. Been making 2 pies w/Splenda every year since & Granny swears she can tell the difference, G-d bless her. ;) {Evil chef laugh:...Mwaahahahaha...!}
BTW, I have also made cheesecakes w/Splenda successfully. For those & the pie, I use just a tad more Splenda than the recipe calls for sugar.
KitchenHawk at 10:18PM on 01/12/09
@brooke - my brother swears by those cookies - whips them up all the time as a "guilt free snack" - if your sins originate as carbs :D.
therealchiffonade at 10:34PM on 01/12/09
I'm diabetic myself, and I heart Splenda for most baking purposes. It won't make meringue or syrup because it doesn't thicken like sugar does. I don't notice any aftertaste with Splenda.
Flour is OK, but people have to be careful to remember the OTHER CARBS in their sugar-free desserts; not only the flour but the milk. I generally abide by the rule that a piece of sugar-free cake is the same as a slice of bread.
For syrup, I would substitute xylitol – quite expensive, but you only need a little if you're making a glaze to go over a cake. It makes quite workable syrup.
gentlyferal at 10:19PM on 01/17/09
Let me share my site on Splenda Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes. All the recipes posted have been tried and tested in my kitchen, and the taste testers were quite happy! Enjoy!
http://www.splendidbaker.com/
splendidbaker at 4:47PM on 01/18/09