By Annie Berthold-Bond and Nava Atlas, author of The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet
The array of products in the sweetener aisle of your health food store might seem rather mystifying to the natural foods novice, but with a little help, sweeteners like rice syrup, barley malt syrup, and date sugar, among others, can be used with great effect in baked goods of all kinds.
While the detrimental effects of refined sweeteners such as white sugar and corn syrup are still being debated, there is little doubt that Americans consume far too much of it. While natural sweeteners are not nutritional bell ringers, they are generally considered to produce less of a shock to blood sugar level because among the nutrients found in whole food, sugars are necessary minerals that help with sugar metabolism.
From a culinary standpoint, natural sweeteners offer bolder, more complex flavors than sugar, adding delectably different dimensions to baked goods and other treats.
While the detrimental effects of refined sweeteners such as white sugar and corn syrup are still being debated, there is little doubt that Americans consume far too much of it. While natural sweeteners are not nutritional bell ringers, they are generally considered to produce less of a shock to blood sugar level because among the nutrients found in whole food, sugars are necessary minerals that help with sugar metabolism.
From a culinary standpoint, natural sweeteners offer bolder, more complex flavors than sugar, adding delectably different dimensions to baked goods and other treats.
A list of less refined sweeteners, including a chart of equivalents:
These sweeteners can be used like white sugar in baking and cooking and in hot and cold beverages, in general. Note: Sweeteners containing maltose are less destructive to the body’s mineral balance. Recommended for infant formulas.
Agave Nectar: Extracted from the agave plant. It comes in three grades: light, medium and amber. Light agave has a sweet neutral taste; the flavor of the darker shades is more intense and earthy. Low on the glycemic index.
Amasake: fermented rice; 40% maltose
Barley Malt: Dark, sticky and boldly flavored; 50% maltose, a complex sugar that enters the bloodstream slowly. This sweetener offers trace amounts of eight vitamins and several minerals. It is a wonderful addition to squash and pumpkin breads, bran muffins, and hearty rye or pumpernickel breads. Use it to glaze sweet potatoes and to make winter malts combined with bananas and soy milk.
Date Sugar: Ground from dehydrated dates; high in fiber and rich in vitamins and minerals. Use in cakes, muffins and quick breads. Make crumb toppings for pies and fruit crisps. Cannot use to sweeten beverages, as the tiny pieces will not dissolve.
Fruit Juice Concentrates: Fruit juice that has been reduced about one quarter by slow cooking. Note: Some commercial fruit juice concentrates have been stripped of flavor and nutritional value.
Fruit Source: Made from a natural blend of grape and rice carbohydrates (contains fat and sugars). Add 1¼ cups Fruit source to 1 cup of sugar and reduce fat by 50 percent. Optimal oven temperature-- 325 degrees.
Granular Fruit Sweeteners: White grape juice and grain sweeteners that have been dehydrated and granulated.
Honey: nectar from flowers processed in the stomach of bees.
Maltose: Sprouted grains and cooked rice, heated and fermented until starch turns to sugar. Available in Chinese markets.
Maple Syrup: Boiled-down sap of maple trees; has twice as much calcium as milk. Note: Not all maple syrup is pure; some contains traces of formaldehyde, a carcinogen, so it is best to buy organic maple syrup.
Maple Sugar: Left-over dregs from maple syrup; has a wonderful, maple and earthy flavor.
Molasses: Unsulphured molasses is made from the juice of sun-ripened cane and is a byproduct of refined sugar. Blackstrap molasses is the residue of the cane syrup after the sugar crystals have been separated--very nutritious, with high levels of calcium, iron and potassium.
Natural and Organic Sugar: Such as certified organically grown from Florida Crystals, these sweeteners are minimally processed sugar cane.
Rice Syrup: A traditional Asian sweetener; made from rice starch converted into maltose (50%), a complex sugar. Rice syrup is the mildest-flavored of the liquid sweeteners and contains trace amounts of B vitamins and minerals. Use in cereals, cooking and baking, to sweeten hot or cold beverages and cereals, or as a spread for fresh breads.
Sorghum Syrup: Sorghum cane juice, boiled to a syrup. Sorghum cane tends to need few pesticides due to natural insect resistance.
Stevia: Derived from an herb native to Paraguay. It is controversial as a sweetener, but the FDA has approved it as a dietary supplement. Available in a greenish powder or as an extract. Stevia imparts a powerful sweetness with an herbal undertone. It is expensive and extremely sweet, but a little goes a very long way.
Sugar is a major life force and our bodies need it as fuel to feed the ongoing fire of life’s process. The sugars in whole food are balanced with the proper minerals. The energy obtained from breaking and assimilating these sugrs is of a constant and enduring nature.
Natural sweeteners such as fructose, raw sugar, turinado and sucanat
NOTE: Aspartame (brands Nutrasweet or Equal), and saccharin, are artificial sweeteners. A significant body of evidence suggests that artificial sweeteners can cause health problems. Many doctors now warm pregnant women to avoid any products containing Aspartame.
Sweetener Equivalents for 1/2 Cup of Sugar
Agave: ¼ cup
Barley Malt: 1½ cup
Date Sugar: ½ cup
Fruit Juice Concentrate: equal to sugar
Granular Fruit Sweeteners: equal to sugar
Honey: 1/3 cup
Maltose (from sprouted grains): 1¼ cup
Maple Syrup: equal to sugar
Maple Sugar: ¼ cup
Molasses: 1/3 cup
Rice Syrup: 1¼ cup
Sorghum Syrup: 1/3 cup
Sucanat: Same as sugar
Organic sugar: Same as sugar
Tips for the Tradeoff
When a recipe does not call for liquid, such as for cookies, choose a dry, granular sweetener such as date sugar, or the cookies will be too bread-like. When you substitute liquid sweeteners for dry, you will need to reduce or eliminate the liquid content of the recipe, and increase the flour. For breads and pies, fruit juice concentrates, barley malt and rice syrup work well. For cakes and cupcakes, choose sweeteners such as sorghum syrup or Sucanat.
How to Make Concentrated Liquid Sweeteners
Adapted from Naturally Sweet Desserts: The Sugar-free Dessert Cookbook, by Marcea Weber.
Fruit Juices: Boil eight cups organic juice until reduced to two cups. Cool and freeze. To use, warm a knife under hot water and cut out the amount of frozen juice needed, and return the remaining to the freezer.
Brown Rice: Cook two cups organic brown rice in five cups of water for 45 minutes. Place in a glass bowl until mixture has cooled to 140 degrees. Add one tablespoon of sprouts made from grain, such as wheat. Cover and place in a warm oven (120-140 degrees) for six hours.
These sweeteners can be used like white sugar in baking and cooking and in hot and cold beverages, in general. Note: Sweeteners containing maltose are less destructive to the body’s mineral balance. Recommended for infant formulas.
Agave Nectar: Extracted from the agave plant. It comes in three grades: light, medium and amber. Light agave has a sweet neutral taste; the flavor of the darker shades is more intense and earthy. Low on the glycemic index.
Amasake: fermented rice; 40% maltose
Barley Malt: Dark, sticky and boldly flavored; 50% maltose, a complex sugar that enters the bloodstream slowly. This sweetener offers trace amounts of eight vitamins and several minerals. It is a wonderful addition to squash and pumpkin breads, bran muffins, and hearty rye or pumpernickel breads. Use it to glaze sweet potatoes and to make winter malts combined with bananas and soy milk.
Date Sugar: Ground from dehydrated dates; high in fiber and rich in vitamins and minerals. Use in cakes, muffins and quick breads. Make crumb toppings for pies and fruit crisps. Cannot use to sweeten beverages, as the tiny pieces will not dissolve.
Fruit Juice Concentrates: Fruit juice that has been reduced about one quarter by slow cooking. Note: Some commercial fruit juice concentrates have been stripped of flavor and nutritional value.
Fruit Source: Made from a natural blend of grape and rice carbohydrates (contains fat and sugars). Add 1¼ cups Fruit source to 1 cup of sugar and reduce fat by 50 percent. Optimal oven temperature-- 325 degrees.
Granular Fruit Sweeteners: White grape juice and grain sweeteners that have been dehydrated and granulated.
Honey: nectar from flowers processed in the stomach of bees.
Maltose: Sprouted grains and cooked rice, heated and fermented until starch turns to sugar. Available in Chinese markets.
Maple Syrup: Boiled-down sap of maple trees; has twice as much calcium as milk. Note: Not all maple syrup is pure; some contains traces of formaldehyde, a carcinogen, so it is best to buy organic maple syrup.
Maple Sugar: Left-over dregs from maple syrup; has a wonderful, maple and earthy flavor.
Molasses: Unsulphured molasses is made from the juice of sun-ripened cane and is a byproduct of refined sugar. Blackstrap molasses is the residue of the cane syrup after the sugar crystals have been separated--very nutritious, with high levels of calcium, iron and potassium.
Natural and Organic Sugar: Such as certified organically grown from Florida Crystals, these sweeteners are minimally processed sugar cane.
Rice Syrup: A traditional Asian sweetener; made from rice starch converted into maltose (50%), a complex sugar. Rice syrup is the mildest-flavored of the liquid sweeteners and contains trace amounts of B vitamins and minerals. Use in cereals, cooking and baking, to sweeten hot or cold beverages and cereals, or as a spread for fresh breads.
Sorghum Syrup: Sorghum cane juice, boiled to a syrup. Sorghum cane tends to need few pesticides due to natural insect resistance.
Stevia: Derived from an herb native to Paraguay. It is controversial as a sweetener, but the FDA has approved it as a dietary supplement. Available in a greenish powder or as an extract. Stevia imparts a powerful sweetness with an herbal undertone. It is expensive and extremely sweet, but a little goes a very long way.
Sugar is a major life force and our bodies need it as fuel to feed the ongoing fire of life’s process. The sugars in whole food are balanced with the proper minerals. The energy obtained from breaking and assimilating these sugrs is of a constant and enduring nature.
Natural sweeteners such as fructose, raw sugar, turinado and sucanat
NOTE: Aspartame (brands Nutrasweet or Equal), and saccharin, are artificial sweeteners. A significant body of evidence suggests that artificial sweeteners can cause health problems. Many doctors now warm pregnant women to avoid any products containing Aspartame.
Sweetener Equivalents for 1/2 Cup of Sugar
Agave: ¼ cup
Barley Malt: 1½ cup
Date Sugar: ½ cup
Fruit Juice Concentrate: equal to sugar
Granular Fruit Sweeteners: equal to sugar
Honey: 1/3 cup
Maltose (from sprouted grains): 1¼ cup
Maple Syrup: equal to sugar
Maple Sugar: ¼ cup
Molasses: 1/3 cup
Rice Syrup: 1¼ cup
Sorghum Syrup: 1/3 cup
Sucanat: Same as sugar
Organic sugar: Same as sugar
Tips for the Tradeoff
When a recipe does not call for liquid, such as for cookies, choose a dry, granular sweetener such as date sugar, or the cookies will be too bread-like. When you substitute liquid sweeteners for dry, you will need to reduce or eliminate the liquid content of the recipe, and increase the flour. For breads and pies, fruit juice concentrates, barley malt and rice syrup work well. For cakes and cupcakes, choose sweeteners such as sorghum syrup or Sucanat.
How to Make Concentrated Liquid Sweeteners
Adapted from Naturally Sweet Desserts: The Sugar-free Dessert Cookbook, by Marcea Weber.
Fruit Juices: Boil eight cups organic juice until reduced to two cups. Cool and freeze. To use, warm a knife under hot water and cut out the amount of frozen juice needed, and return the remaining to the freezer.
Brown Rice: Cook two cups organic brown rice in five cups of water for 45 minutes. Place in a glass bowl until mixture has cooled to 140 degrees. Add one tablespoon of sprouts made from grain, such as wheat. Cover and place in a warm oven (120-140 degrees) for six hours.
Nutritional Analysis of Sucanat for 150g (one cup)
water……………………………………2.7g
calories……………………………….570g
carbohydrate………………………1.05g
fat……………………………………………0g
sodium……………………………….0.5mg
potassium………………………1,125mg
vitamin A…………………………..1600IU
thiamin (B1)……………………..0.21mg
riboflavin (B2)…………………..0.21mg
niacin……………………………….20mg
calcium…………………………….165mg
iron……………………………………6.5mg
vitamin B6………………………..0.60mg
magnesium……………………..127mg
zinc…………………………………..2.3mg
copper………………………………0.3mg
pantothenic acid……………….1.8mg
chromium…………………………40mcg
phosphorus……………………….48mg
Source: USDA Handbook of Nutrient Content of Foods
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