Cooking With Low-Calorie Sweeteners

With the increased focus on reducing carbs and calories in our diets, low-calorie sweeteners are at the forefront. This is especially the case for persons with diabetes. There are many reduced-calorie or low-calorie sweeteners currently available on the market. If you choose to cook with these sweeteners, keep these key things in mind: * some low-calorie sweeteners lose their sweetness when cooked at high temperatures, or for long period of time * the sweetness equivalency to sugar varies between low-cal sweeteners * foods made with low-cal sweeteners don't brown like those made with sugar * low-cal sweeteners work best in recipes where they only provide a sweet taste, rather than bulk or texture * results can vary from sweetener to sweetener, to check out the individual product prior to including it in your baking When replacing sugar with a low-cal sweetener, the exchange is as follows: Sweet One – 12 packets = 1 cup sugar Equal – 24 packets = 1 cup sugar Splenda – 1 cup = 1 cup sugar Sweet N Low – 12 packets = 1 cup sugar Brown Sweet N Low – 4 tsps = 1 cup brown sugar Remember that this exchange is for the level of sweetness, not to replace bulk or add texture that you would normally get with sugar. Talk to your nutritionist or registered dietitian about using low-calorie sweeteners for cooking.