stevia

[mrsdove]

Hi, I'm new here. My hubby, mr_dove, frequents the forums and since I love to bake I decided to join.

I had a friend at work recommend stevia as a sugar supplement. I researched the heck out of it and decided it was a safe, natural alternative to sugar. As a side note, I should mention that I am seriously anti splenda (sucralose), aspartame, etc. I've just read too many bad things about them.

Anyways, my question is do any of you use this in your cooking/baking or does anyone have a good ration of sugar to stevia? (i.e. 1 cup of sugar = 1 packet of stevia). If not, can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

 

[pdswife]

Welcome to the group! We are very glad to have you!

 

[jkath]

Hi Mrs. Dove!
Glad to meet you!

I've heard/researched some pretty nice stuff about Stevia. I wish it were more common in this country!

Here's a good article re: stevia http://www.moonbowmedia.com/health/stevia.htm

 

[htc]

Welcom Mrs. Dove! I haven't used Stevia in baking, but did try using it once when I needed to add a little sweetness to a savory dish. Just let me warn you, be REALLY careful of how much you use! I used WAY too much and I had to end up doubling/tripling the meat recipe in order to make it taste balanced (sweet vs. salty).

 

[IcyMist]

I am going to have to try it out as I have a glucose intolerance and right now I use splenda. Went searching and found a few recipes and link to a conversion chart that may interest you.

http://cookingwithstevia.com/stevia_conversion_chart.html


Strawberry Banana Muffins
Yields 12 muffins

Serve hot from the oven and be ready for compliments!

• 1 -1/4cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/8 teaspoon Stevia Extract Powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1/2 CUP Water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup mashed banana (1 large banana)
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries

Oil the muffin cups. In a mixing bowl stir together flour, stevia, baking powder, and cinnamon. Make a depress ion to receive the liquid ingredients. Using a separate bowl, mix together egg, water, and oil. Add to the flour mixture and stir. Add banana and strawberries -and stir just until combined.

Spoon batter into the muffin cups. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden.


Fudgy Brownies
Yields 16 brownies

Fudge type moist carob cookie bars.

• 1 cup unsweetened carob chips
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup plus I tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon Stevia Extract Powder OR 3 teaspoons Green
• Stevia Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• shake each of nutmeg and allspice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon black walnut flavoring
• 4 tablespoons plain low tat yogurt OR 3 tablespoons soymilk
• 1/2 cup roiled oats, lightly chopped in a blender.
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Oil a 9 inch square baking pan. Place chips and butter in a double boiler pan over boiling water. Turn heat to, medium low. Stir occasionally and heat to melt most of the chips.

While chips are melting, mix flour, stevia, spices, and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a second bowl, combine eggs, extracts, and yogurt. Add chopped oats and set aside 15 minutes.

Remove carob mixture from beat. Quickly stir in dry ingredients and egg mixture. Turn into the prepared pan. Sprinkle walnuts over the surface and press in lightly with a spatula.

Bake in a 325 degree preheated oven for, 16 to 19 minutes. Brownies should pull away from the sides of the pan. Do not overcook. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares.

Variation: For a drier bar, add an additional 2 tablespoons flour.


Peanut Butter Cookies
Yields about 55 cookies

This cookie is perfect for freezing.

• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter at room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons butterscotch flavoring
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons Stevia Extract Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 3/4 cups unsulphured, flaked coconut

In a medium mixing bowl beat together oil, peanut butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and butterscotch flavoring until mixed. Stir in water.

Sift or stir together flour. stevia,, and baking powder. Beat half of the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients using a mixing spoon.

Briefly chop coconut in a blender or food processor. Stir into the cookie dough; mixture will be stiff. Drop by the rounded teaspoons onto un-greased cookie sheets. Flatten with a fork.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 9 or 10 minutes. Leave cookies on baking sheet 2 minutes to cool. Remove to racks to finish cooling. Store in in airtight container.


Whipped Cream
Yields 2 cups

The real thing. Great taste, but it does have real calories!

• 1 cup liquid whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon Stevia Extract Powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip together all the ingredients in a small deep mixing bowl until soft peaks form. Do not over-beat or it will become a bowl of lumps (sweet butter, actually). Serve immediately or refrigerate. Variation: Many spices and flavorings can be used. For example, try a dash of cinnamon with pumpkin pie or a few drops of almond flavoring to serve over peach cobbler.

 

[Mr_Dove]

I am going to have to try it out as I have a glucose intolerance and right now I use splenda. Went searching and found a few recipes and link to a conversion chart that may interest you.

http://cookingwithstevia.com/stevia_conversion_chart.html


Strawberry Banana Muffins
Yields 12 muffins

Serve hot from the oven and be ready for compliments!

• 1 -1/4cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/8 teaspoon Stevia Extract Powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1/2 CUP Water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup mashed banana (1 large banana)
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries

Oil the muffin cups. In a mixing bowl stir together flour, stevia, baking powder, and cinnamon. Make a depress ion to receive the liquid ingredients. Using a separate bowl, mix together egg, water, and oil. Add to the flour mixture and stir. Add banana and strawberries -and stir just until combined.

Spoon batter into the muffin cups. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden.


Fudgy Brownies
Yields 16 brownies

Fudge type moist carob cookie bars.

• 1 cup unsweetened carob chips
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup plus I tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon Stevia Extract Powder OR 3 teaspoons Green
• Stevia Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• shake each of nutmeg and allspice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon black walnut flavoring
• 4 tablespoons plain low tat yogurt OR 3 tablespoons soymilk
• 1/2 cup roiled oats, lightly chopped in a blender.
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Oil a 9 inch square baking pan. Place chips and butter in a double boiler pan over boiling water. Turn heat to, medium low. Stir occasionally and heat to melt most of the chips.

While chips are melting, mix flour, stevia, spices, and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a second bowl, combine eggs, extracts, and yogurt. Add chopped oats and set aside 15 minutes.

Remove carob mixture from beat. Quickly stir in dry ingredients and egg mixture. Turn into the prepared pan. Sprinkle walnuts over the surface and press in lightly with a spatula.

Bake in a 325 degree preheated oven for, 16 to 19 minutes. Brownies should pull away from the sides of the pan. Do not overcook. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares.

Variation: For a drier bar, add an additional 2 tablespoons flour.


Peanut Butter Cookies
Yields about 55 cookies

This cookie is perfect for freezing.

• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter at room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons butterscotch flavoring
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons Stevia Extract Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 3/4 cups unsulphured, flaked coconut

In a medium mixing bowl beat together oil, peanut butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and butterscotch flavoring until mixed. Stir in water.

Sift or stir together flour. stevia,, and baking powder. Beat half of the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients using a mixing spoon.

Briefly chop coconut in a blender or food processor. Stir into the cookie dough; mixture will be stiff. Drop by the rounded teaspoons onto un-greased cookie sheets. Flatten with a fork.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 9 or 10 minutes. Leave cookies on baking sheet 2 minutes to cool. Remove to racks to finish cooling. Store in in airtight container.


Whipped Cream
Yields 2 cups

The real thing. Great taste, but it does have real calories!

• 1 cup liquid whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon Stevia Extract Powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip together all the ingredients in a small deep mixing bowl until soft peaks form. Do not over-beat or it will become a bowl of lumps (sweet butter, actually). Serve immediately or refrigerate. Variation: Many spices and flavorings can be used. For example, try a dash of cinnamon with pumpkin pie or a few drops of almond flavoring to serve over peach cobbler.

Those recipes sounds mouthwatering!

Thanks so far everyone!

 

[Andy M.]

Here's the other side of the story...


How Sweet It Is
Stevia (STEE-vee-uh) is a South American shrub whose leaves have been used for centuries by native peoples in Paraguay and Brazil to sweeten their yerba mate and other stimulant beverages.


Stevioside, the main ingredient in stevia (the two terms are often used interchangeably), is virtually calorie-free and hundreds of times sweeter than table sugar. “So it appeals to many people as a natural alternative to artificial sweeteners,” says Mark Blumenthal of the pro-herb American Botanical Council in Austin, Texas.

While Japanese manufacturers have used stevia since the early 1970s to sweeten pickles and other foods, the FDA has turned down three industry requests to use stevia in foods in the U.S.

That’s why you don’t see stevia on supermarket shelves next to the Sweet’N Low or Equal. But you can buy it in health food stores as a dietary supplement. The FDA has little control over supplements.

Why hasn’t the FDA approved stevia? “We don’t have enough data to conclude that the use [in food] would be safe,” the agency stated in 1994.

The U.S. isn’t alone. Canada doesn’t allow food companies to add stevia to their products. Nor does the European Union.

Last year, the scientific panel that reviews the safety of food ingredients for the EU concluded that stevioside is “not acceptable” as a sweetener because of unresolved concerns about its toxicity. In 1998, a United Nations expert panel came to essentially the same conclusion.


NOTE:
This is just a portion of the article. Check out the full discusion, which raises issues with cancer and reproductive problems, on the following link.

http://www.cspinet.org/nah/4_00/stevia.html


What I make of all this is that, there probably isn't enough REAL evidence to decide whether or not this is a safe product. I would take a wait and see attitude. Your opinions may differ.

 

[jkath]

That's just weird, since the other article had this to say:

In contrast, Canada, South America, Japan and China use Stevia extensively as a sweetener in everything from soft drinks to candy, to desserts. The Coca-Cola company manufactures Diet Coke in Canada and Japan sweetened with Stevia and not aspartame/NutraSweet like its American Diet Coke counterpart.

Maybe I'll ask Alix (in Canada)to check her Diet Coke next time she's at the store!

 

[mrsdove]

Thanks Andy M. I had read another article that said the FDA wouldn't approve it because of some "tests" it had done, but the tests are starting to be disproved and the FDA is still waging a war against it.

I have so many issues with the FDA...

 

[HanArt]

Wasn't there a recent thread on aspartame with a link to some guy's site? I can't find it it a search. Thought it was started by jkath or crewsk.

 

[Constance]

I bought a Stevia plant for my herb garden one year...it's leaves were indeed, very sweet, and one in a glass of iced tea sweetened it very nicely.
From what I understand, the FDA does not actually do it's own testing, but depends on data from researchers. The artificial sweetener industry may not want the competition.

Here is a mail order source:

http://www.frontiercoop.com/dspCmnPrd.php

 

[TexCin]

I went to hear a nutritionist speak. She recommend using Stevia for a sweetner if you need it. In baking too. I haven't tried it in baking, but I use it in coffee, cereal, salad dressings, almost anything that needs a little sweetness for me. It's VERY sweet, so use sparingly. I think the packets of dried Stevia aren't as powerful as the liquid.