Has anyone tried cooking or baking with stevia? I was talking to a friend who doesn't eat sugar or gluten, and she was all excited about trying stevia, mainly with baking. She said that it really messes with the texture, as you use so little and the stevia is more like powdered sugar than granulated. We were speculating as to whether puddings or fudge might be better in the results. Anyone have any good stevia recipes?
I wish I'd have some recipes! I've been wanting to try Stevia since it first became popular and I still haven't bought any. I *did* look in my grocery store a few weeks ago and they don't carry it. I *think* when it first came out, it was confined to sales at nutrition places... is that still the case, or so some supermarkets carry it now?
I've seen Stevia in the regular stores now; I've even seen that they had little packets of it, like SweetnLow. My husband likes it mainly in coffee and on cereals. He says it doesn't have the chemical burn other sweeteners have, so I think it would be good in baked goods. Unfortunately, I haven't found a recipe to try yet.
I'll definitely have to look for that... thanks. Cereal is a great idea. I try to eat most without sugar, but there are some kinds that I'd just prefer sweeter... Cheerios comes to mind and Stevia instead of sugar on it would be so much better for me.
I haven't tried baking with it yet, but I have tried Stevia/Truvia in coffee and cereal. The only time I can taste its sweetness is if I lick the granules from my bare finger. It's not nearly as sweet as all the hype would have us believe, IMHO.
That's good to know for when I finally find some. I have a huge sweet tooth, but there's a certain level of artificial sweetness that I just can't tolerate.
I find Stevia disappointing as well. I've only used it in coffee, but think I will stick with Splenda.
I actually like cereals like Cheerios and shredded wheat unsweetened, so I don't use any sweetener there; I drink my tea with milk and use no sweetener, so I haven't really gotten to try it. Thanks for letting me know what you think.
Substituting Stevia for just about any sugar works well, as long as there is something else in the recipe that is also naturally sweet. Have you tried looking at Stevia.com?
Is that because of an aftertaste, SageMother... or because of the level of sweetness? Or something else?
I think my brain interprets the sweetness of processed Stevia the same way it processes that "fishy" taste found in cheap tuna. Some people will find it sweet and I just don't.
Ah, that makes sense, yes. I have a feeling that it would be the same for me. I've tried some of the artificial sweeteners and always came to the same conclusion... that "real" sugar is better for me in the long run... I just cut the amount down that I would have used (that's for coffee and tea, etc. not for baking :-D )
