Experimenting with Stevia today

I have been using Splenda for several years now. But in the back of my mind has always been a nagging uneasiness. I know that the FDA says it is fine and I haven't completely taken it out of my cabinet...nor will I. But I want to try Stevia because I know it is natural and my body and more specifically my liver should be able to metabolize it more naturally. Splenda, although a remarkable product is and will always be a biochemically engineered product that had its beginnings in the search for a better pesticide.

The trick in my house is to wean my husband away from Splenda. He uses in his coffee daily after I had already weaned him away from the nearly Tablespoon of table sugar he used to use. So I picked up some Truvia from my local grocery.

"ONE PACKET" I told him, "just ONE packet." He tried it yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised! Mr. Picky actually said it tasted BETTER than the tablespoon of Splenda he had been using. "Whew!" That went better than expected.

So I went to Whole Food Market and went ahead and purchased a small jar each of their storebrand version of Stevia Extract in both the dry and liquid version to begin testing in different recipes.

Obviously when you cook with sugar and consider replacing it, you have to somehow account for the missing "bulk" that sugar adds to a recipe. Everything I read suggests adding vegetable or fruit fiber to compensate. For instance, grind up an apple or a zucchini in the food processor to mush. Remove excess moisture and add to your recipe in the same amount that sugar would be, add your Stevia and procede with your recipe.

The other consideration that I was always worried about when cooking/baking with sugar substitutes was that "heat" factor. Substitutes tend to lose their sweetness or have a bitter aftertaste when heated. Stevia does not breakdown in heating, because it is a natural herbal extract.

So I will be experimenting with Stevia today. Wish me luck. I will post my results here. This should be fun!

I'd love to hear how you manage with stevia.  I grew the herb one year and used a few leaves in my tea, and dried them for the winter, but it's a green herb, not like sugar, so you can't use it in baking etc.

I use stevia every day! My favorite type is by Sweet Leaf - they have liquid stevias that taste AMAZING in coffee and other beverages - Nunaturals has the best powdered stevia because a little goes a long way! 

Im glad your switching over from Splenda because it's a lot more healthy for you! 

splenda is the devil, it gives me really bad tummy cramps.

I have been using stevia for about a year now and will never go back.  I buy it at trader joes.  I use it in coffee, yogurt, and oatmeal all the time its great.

I tried Stevia and found it left just as bad an aftertaste as Splenda. Also, I understand you cannot cook with Stevia as it loses its sweetness with prolonged exposure to high temperatures (it's okay in hot drinks).

I have gone back to Aspartame for cold uses and 1/2 Splenda/1/2 sugar  for cooking as they are comparatively less expensive and available in bulk at my regular grocer.  My results are excellent.

Well I have to say that I am rather disappointed with my first attempt at chocolate cookies with Stevia. But I am not giving up. I am going to make a few adjustments. Cookies only bake at a high heat for 8 to 10 minutes and should not have too much problem, but I think I did not have the right conversion for the brand I was using. So I am going to try another recipe.