Apple Pie - almost sugar free - help needed
My brother has asked me to make him a mostly sugar free apple pie with crumb topping... I have my normal go to recipe, well, ok, it's one i kind of wing, but always comes out great... but I guess my question is... how do it substitute Splenda into the recipe without it having that annoying fake sugar taste to it?
Should I use Splenda and brown sugar? no regular white sugar?
I'm new at this whole sugar free/almost sugar free thing. so figuring out ratios for me is different....
any ideas or recipes would be much appreciated. Thanks!
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8 Comments:
hmmmm... sweet apples tend to cook down to apple sauce...how 'bout using no sugar, 3/4 Granny Smith with a sweet apple (Red Delicous, Gala) on top, under the crumb topping. Maybe a bit of brown suger in the crumb topping?
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goodcooker at 5:02PM on 07/21/09
I like my apple pies a little tart, so there's not much sugar in the filling.
Crumb topping relies on sugar for the texture, though. If you don't like the flavor of Splenda (and neither do I) you might have to get creative with the crunchy crumbs. I'm thinking maybe crush some graham crackers and use half of that and half of your regular crumb recipe. Although I don't know what the sugar content is in graham crackers, so maybe I'm off-base with that suggestion.
Maybe sub some choppped nuts for part of the crumb topping? While also cutting back on the percentage of sugar?
No matter what you do, it's not going to be exactly the same. Might as well come up with a new and improved recipe.
dbcurrie at 5:10PM on 07/21/09
could you maybe try agave nectar instead of the sugar??
How about that new trevia?? I have not used it, but sounds intriguing...
MadelynRodriguez at 6:25PM on 07/21/09
i dont use much sugar in my filling, and when i make apple sauce i dont use any sugar at all... so i would try to just leave it out. maybe use a little extra flour or cornstarch to help thicken the juices, and use sweet apples.
as for the topping, i usually make mine with a graham cracker bottom crust, and top it with crushed graham crackers mixed with honey. do they sell sugar free graham crackers or could you make some? take those, make them into fine crumbs and mix them maybe with agave (lower glycemic index than sugar, or something like that... depends why he wants sugar free...).
nalega at 8:08PM on 07/21/09
What about stevia? I've heard you can buy it in powder form. It's an all natural herb that supposedly doesn't have a bitter aftertaste.
Also, I wonder about using dates. Maybe the sugar is metabolized differently than refined sugars. You could use it in place of sugar in the apple part and reserve the "almost sugar free" for the crumb topping?
yayfood at 11:10PM on 07/21/09
i have made apple pie with sweet varieties of apples, apple sauce, and spices, and it turns out great! you really dont NEED much sugar for fruit pies (my opinion anyways)
Deeberry at 12:37AM on 07/22/09
Thank you everyone... great ideas!
I think i might go with the mixture of sweet and tart apples and use some agave nectar if it needs some sweetening...
I think i'll save the little sugar for the crumb topping part...
I appreciate all the ideas.
Alm25 at 9:01AM on 07/22/09
You could also do a double-crust or a lattice top instead of a crumb topping to avoid sugar completely.
emgroff at 1:50PM on 07/22/09