Baking without sugar.

[dachshundqueen]

So I've been doing a lot of soaked grain items (rice, oat biscuits, date squares with a soaked oatmeal WWPF crust). We eliminated our processed foods, with the exclusion of salami as it is my children's beloved.

I am working on coming up with ideas to replace our deserts, which weren't plentiful to begin with, but the combination of soaked flours and no processed sugar or sugar substitutes of any kind with the exception of a maximum of 1 tablespoon of honey/molasses/maple syrup is stumping me.

I was trying to work out a way to substitute some applesauce for sugar (home canned that I made last year), but I'm just not sure of what would work. I would like to be able to offer something that doesn't obviously need to be crazy sweet but something that is a bit sweet, hence the date squares which I sweetened by using whole dates and 5 dried prunes in the middle plus 1 T honey and a drop literally a drop of molasses in the crust.

Thanks,

Liz

[serenbat]

I make a lot of baked egg custards with - pumpkin, peanut butter, coconut, almonds, etc. and sweeten afterwards with fruit, honey or molasses-some get none at all.

Also no sugar banana cookies (with-oatmeal, walnut, butter vanilla).

[Rasa]

I've also been using the dried fruits more in baking/for sweets. I also use limited amounts of palm/coconut sugar, yacon syrup or powder, very limited stevia. One thing I've noticed since going gluten free/casein free (not sure which or combination of these is helping) is that my cravings for sugar/sweets have disappeared. So I barely touch the sweeteners and am happy with the natural sweetness in fruits, etc. For example, banana breads and the like need hardly any sweetener though you will see most recipes with up to a cup of sweetener! I guess we rarely do dessert or baked goods now and so when we do, I don't worry TOO much, just enjoy a bit and am amazed that a half-recipe of cookies can last us over a week whereas before we would have struggled to keep them 2 days!

[raksmama]

I am still new the traditional foods forum but is not Agave nectar a good sweetener? That is what I usually use in baking but I don't know if according to TF it is okay.

[dachshundqueen]

Originally Posted by jalilah

I am still new the traditional foods forum but is not Agave nectar a good sweetener. That is waht I usually use in baking but I don't know if according to TF it is okay.

I personally won't touch agave with a 40 foot pole. I will only use honey, maple syrup, and molasses (good for beefing up some vits).

Liz

Info: http://www.westonaprice.org/Agave-Ne...e-Thought.html
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/foo...orn-syrup.html

[serenbat]

I NEVER heat honey- add it only after an item is baked or cooked
-per ayurvedic thought- it is said to clog the body and thought of as poison when heated.

Molasses is great heated-filled with iron!

[raksmama]

Originally Posted by dachshundqueen

I personally won't touch agave with a 40 foot pole. I will only use honey, maple syrup, and molasses (good for beefing up some vits).

Liz

Info: http://www.westonaprice.org/Agave-Ne...e-Thought.html
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/foo...orn-syrup.html

Yikes!
I did not know! Thanks for the info!
That being said, I can still say that my body does not feel bad from Agave nectar the way it does when eat sugar......But I was surprised by the way agave "nectar" is processed.
I preferred the 2nd article because it does not paint all agave nectar as 100% evil the way the Weston price article did.
That is because I am still in shock!

[Laniemama]

I use stevia and lots of cinnamon in my homemade applesauce, so good! I will also cut the sugar/honey/sweetener in recipes and use vanilla stevia drops and a small amount of the sweetener, I will also cut down the vanilla in the recipe if using the vanilla stevia drops. I love to use stevia, but usually use it in combination with a sweetener. Other than that, I only use honey, maple syrup, sucanant (rare) and date sugar (also rare).

[raksmama]

I use stevia too. In particular the vanilla and cinnamon flavours are good, but I keep wondering if I will find out some unpleasant new facts about it as well......

[dachshundqueen]

I avoid stevia too. The WAPF says it's okay in limited quantities. I am concerned by studies that there can be some potential reproductive system problems associated with its use. The FDA has approved its use, but then the FDA has also approved the use of a lot of things with questionable side effects. I'm also not thrilled with the way stevia is obtained (see methanol and ethanol in the fda letter below).

http://www.cspinet.org/new/stevia.html
http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodIngredie.../ucm154989.htm

Re: Applesauce, I add no sweeteners to mine and find it to be very sweet without them. I occasionally add cinnamon though, in the form of a cinnamon stick which I then fish out before running the sauce through the blender if the stick hasn't fully disintegrated.

Liz

[serenbat]

I avoid stevia too.

ANOTHER-NO WAY!

processes processed processed

I really use raw sugar the most, I cut way back and lots of things don't require any sweetness at all. If you learn to eat certain things without from a young age, you do get use to it.

[snowbunny]

Liz -
You can make a killer custard with egg yolks, cream and about 3 - 4 tablespoons molasses. You can even use less molasses by mixing in pumpkin puree. Also I make an apple souffle that only contains about 2 T molasses.

[boater]

I'm very new to TF. I usually use brown rice syrup, barley malt syrup, dried fruit, blackstrap molasses or maple syrup when I bake. Does anyone know what the TF perspective on brown rice/ barley malt syrup is? I have a feeling it may be highly processed but I haven't read anything one way or the other.

[dachshundqueen]

Originally Posted by snowbunny

Liz -
You can make a killer custard with egg yolks, cream and about 3 - 4 tablespoons molasses. You can even use less molasses by mixing in pumpkin puree. Also I make an apple souffle that only contains about 2 T molasses.

Thanks Jenny. I still cannot tolerate too much in the way of dairy, but a really great custard (sounds like that is similar to creme brulee) would really be a hit with the short people and DH. Pumpkin sounds especially fabulous (DH mowed my pumpkin plants last year so I'll have to try and track some down.)

Liz

[jrose_lee]

Sometimes it is just fun to bake, but I really find that I prefer raw desserts to anything baked sugar free or low sugar. So easy too! usually I just stick one cup of nuts (usually walnuts) and one cup of dried fruit (raisins, dates, pineapple, papaya) and just food process it until it is sticky and clumpy. Form into balls or press into a pan for a brownie like thing. I also like to add 1/4 cup cocoa and some raw honey for a great brownie! There are tons of actually raw dessert recipes online too and some good books with raw desserts. If you have a sweet tooth, I find these raw recipes much more satisfying than sugar-free baked goods.

[FairyRae]

You all might find this thread interesting: Grain and Sugar Free Baking Challenge!

Also, dachshundqueen, I've found coconut milk can often be subbed for the dairy in some custard like desserts. Here is a banana, egg, coconut milk custard recipe that is free of added sugars: http://www.sonofgrok.com/2009/06/caveman-custard/

HTH!

[organicmidwestmama]

Originally Posted by snowbunny

Liz -
You can make a killer custard with egg yolks, cream and about 3 - 4 tablespoons molasses. You can even use less molasses by mixing in pumpkin puree. Also I make an apple souffle that only contains about 2 T molasses.

this. i make the yummiest creme brulee and use only 1 tsp sweetener per 4oz serving.

[colsxjack]

I make a killer vegan zucchini bread without any added sugar.
Everyone I have ever made this for has loved it and wanted the recipe.

Instead of sugar or eggs I use pureed raisins. Soak 1 1/2 cups of raisins in boiled water until soft and then puree. This also replaces much of the oil. For two loaves there is only 1/4 cup of oil in it.

Pureed raisins can be used in many deserts for a sweetner.
If you wanted something less sweet then you could use applesauce or mashed very ripe bananas. (all of these also replace eggs).

[organicmidwestmama]

Originally Posted by colsxjack

I make a killer vegan zucchini bread without any added sugar.
Everyone I have ever made this for has loved it and wanted the recipe.

Instead of sugar or eggs I use pureed raisins. Soak 1 1/2 cups of raisins in boiled water until soft and then puree. This also replaces much of the oil. For two loaves there is only 1/4 cup of oil in it.

Pureed raisins can be used in many deserts for a sweetner.
If you wanted something less sweet then you could use applesauce or mashed very ripe bananas. (all of these also replace eggs).

this sounds so yummy... but...

on the subject of replacing sugar with dried fruit, i understand sugar is seen as "un-natural" but dried fruit like raisins have 114-140 grams of sugar per cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raisin and http://caloriecount.about.com/calori...s-i9298?size=2).

so in the recipe above there are approximately 200 grams of sugar which is equal to 50 teaspoons of regular white sugar. there are 48 tsp per cup so these raisins are the equivilant of 1 cup plus of sugar so to speak.

yes, i know, there are a few nutrients in dried fruit that arent in white sugar but i just find it so interesting, as i used to use dried fruit and eat it as a snack but we have dental issues so we no longer do so.

[JMJ]

I like fruit pies. My crust is just butter, flour a pinch of salt, a bit of water and kefir for soaking. My inner is just fruit! Berries work really well. Apples, I add a bit a cinnamon. Pretty much any fruit could work, and natural sweeteners could be used if desired. If the inner is too runny, thicken it up with more flour.

My mom also has a cook book called "Sweet and Sugar Free" that uses a lot of banana and pear as sweeteners.