wondering about baking with stevia

[mamarudi]

Hi there. I'm still a newbie and have mostly been reading through posts so far. My almost 3 year old was diagnosed less then 2 weeks ago and I've spent alot of time trying to make his food life as enjoyable and 'normal' as always. That being said I haven't done any baking yet- nasty for carbs no matter how you slice it- but I bought a big tub of stevia in preparation for it. Do any of you have any experience with this? I really don't want to use a bunch of Splenda because of the potential nastiness. I'm doing research but thought if any of you had some hints it would save me some web time :)

Thanks all...r

[wiseguy]

Personally, I believe Splenda to be very safe. That being said, there are Stevia recipes to be found at Steviva Brands, Inc. Stevia Recipe Site (http://www.steviva.com/recipes) . For low carb baking, look into flax seed meal and Carbquik as alternatives to flour.

[mamarudi]

Thanks wiseguy. My kids really don't like flax seed meal but I sneak it in when I can. I admit its got a fishy sort of taste and its not my favourite either. Never heard of Carbquik but I'll look into it.

[xMenace]

I don't worry too much about sweeteners. I focus on a healthy diet, and when I induldge, I use sugar which I tend to but not always cut back on. I think the challenge is to find an enjoyable yet healthy diet: whole grains, fresh fruit.Mixed with a healthy diet, sugar is not that noticeable.

You do need to test his 2hr post-prandials though. No guesswork ;)

[susique333]

Baking with Splenda works pretty good, it does not have the "bulk" of real sugar but it comes pretty close. Im going to get motivated soon and post some of my favorite recipes but this one is short enough to post here and its wonderful.

1 cup peanut butter chunky or smooth
1 cup splenda
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
mix all above

roll about a heaping tsp of dough place on sprayed cookie sheet & use fork to make criss cross.

bake 350 10- 12 minutes. Watch carefully Yummy!

[mamarudi]

UGH!!! There's so much for me to learn and I feel pretty overwhelmed right now. We're fully in 'honeymoon phase' and getting dosage guidance from the endo every night. When I understand more and have more control (I'm counting on that happening down the road, right?) then I'll feel more confident about playing with dosages to handle a cookie or two. We always eat well in terms of meals- lots of veggies, whole grains and not much refined anything- so its only the treats I really worry about. All the kids get wrangy with sugar so if stevia will help the lot of them that's just a bonus. Good to hear everyone's thoughts on it all, though.

[susique333]

Heres another recipe if your little one likes brownies. These are actually very healthy, and no, they dont cause gas at all!

Black Bean Brownies

1 15oz can of black beans drained and rinsed (40 carbs, 16 grams protein per can)
4 lg. eggs (approx 24 grams protein)
1 c. splenda (24 carbs)
3 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
2 FULL T. of oil (Olive works well)
1 FULL T. vanilla
1/4 cup cream cheese.
Nuts optional

350 degree oven. Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend to death. Pour into 8x8 pan sprayed with PAM. Bake 30-40 minutes. I didnt totally figure the carb count but its low, & much better than a 'real' brownie.

[LoDeSp]

Personally, I believe Splenda to be very safe. That being said, there are Stevia recipes to be found at Steviva Brands, Inc. Stevia Recipe Site (http://www.steviva.com/recipes) . For low carb baking, look into flax seed meal and Carbquik as alternatives to flour.

The flax seed meal I just got says its a replacement for the oil/shortening in recipes, not for the flour. But my wife has good luck replacing half of the flour with almond meal. It makes the cookies lighter and fluffier (though they're higher in calories).