Sugar Alternatives
We all know that sugar in excess can be bad for our health, but we are not saying you shouldn’t indulge in a sweet treat once in a while or cut it out of your life all together. Did you know, the FDA estimated the average annual consumption in the US per person is about 80 lb. of added sugars (excluding lactose, milk sugar) annually, that’s about 25 teaspoons of added sugar per day. Which is nearly double the USDA recommendation.
Here are a few of our favorite white sugar alternatives:
Honey and maple syrup, both are deliciously sweet, sticky and full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. They are perfect to drizzle over pancakes, a great sweetener for some tea or a sweet touch to a pork roast or roasted vegetables.
Stevia, coconut sugar or monk fruit sugar, all of these are great alternatives for granulated cane sugar. They are sweeter than cane sugar at the same concentration, so use sparingly. Great for your morning coffee or substitutes in baking!
Sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltitol and erythritol are commonly used sugar alcohols. They are normally in granulated and are great as a graduated or powdered sugar substitute. So again, perfect for desserts and baked goods.
Sugars have many functions in cooking, they sweeten, tenderize, create volume, develop color and aroma, speed the growth of yeast, stabilize egg foams, delay coagulation of egg proteins
controls re crystallization (invert sugar/candy making) and help retains moisture in food among other things. We don’t have to give it up all together, but it’s helpful to know there are alternatives to using white sugar.