Added Sugars and Sweeteners for Baking

Left row- granulated white sugar, powder sugar, light brown sugar
Right row- Wholesome organic sugar, Benevita Cocosugar, Wholesome Sucanant,
                   Wholesome Natural (evaporated cane juice)

Here is the quick answer for what I choose to use for baking sweeteners. If you want to know more about my thoughts on ‘added sugars’ then read past the box.  J

1. Benevita coconut sugar- I like this as an all purpose baking sugar. It has good melting quality and a nice mild caramel flavor. I like that it is an unprocessed sugar and low on the glycemic scale. It is not as sweet as granulated sugar so a little more may be needed for desired sweetness. Wholesome Organic Coconut sugar and Madhava are other brand options. 

2. Wholesome Organic Sugar- I use this when a white granular sugar is needed, like when I am trying to bake a more delicate baked item like a vanilla cake for a birthday. Sometimes a granulated sugar is also needed for structure in baked items. 

3. Wholesome Organic Powder Sugar- if I need a powder sugar I am comfortable with this option as it is corn free. It is just their organic sugar finely ground to a powder. Tapioca powder is used instead of corn to prevent it from clumping.

4. Pure Maple Syrup- I don’t use this often for baking because of the expense but if only a small amount is needed I will use it for the flavor it has to offer. Since it is a liquid you can use less. In general if the recipe calls for 1 cup of white sugar you can substitute ¾ cup pure maple syrup. I like to scale back the sugar in recipes so I would most likely use ½ cup.

5. Black Strap Molasses- another sweetener I don't use often but works well for ginger bread. I also like it drizzled on breakfast toast or with a warm glass of almond milk.

     If you are like me, it can be daunting to sift through the vast amounts of sweeteners now available at the grocery stores. This led me to do some research to become familiar with what the different sweeteners where and I needed a reason to justify paying the higher prices. After much research I have come to my own personal conclusions for choosing the sweeteners I use now in baking. At some point a decision just had to be made on what to use for baking while the sugar debate on what are the healthiest options continues. From a nutritional view point ideally it is best to get our sugar intake from whole foods like fruits. I understand that view from the point of how our body processes sugar and the health toll excessive added sugar intake does to our body. Of course, putting only beneficial nutrients into our body is ideal. Added sugars of any kind are not beneficial nutrients but are delightful nutrient deficient empty calories. In reality I don't think most of us are that pure about what we eat. We strive to eat well but if you are one that can actually eat a diet void of any added sugar then my hat is off to you. I'm not that extremely opposed to added sugar because I don’t think sugar alone is the culprit to the spiralling down fall of the obesity epidemic and poor health in America. There are multiple issues that need to be considered, not just eliminating sugar. One thing that is clear to me is that I did not want to have refined white sugar in my diet. I don’t want to elaborate on the negatives of refined white sugar but basically there are plenty of other options available for having organically grown, fair trade and less processed sugars, which is a good thing for the environment. Not all sugar companies, but some still use animal bone char during the filtration process which does not make refined white sugar a vegan or vegetarian product.

     Although many companies sell the benefits of the alternative sweeteners as being healthier because they are less processed, which keeps fiber, vitamins and minerals more intact, this is not a fact that sells me on a reason to use these alternative sugars because many of them are still empty calories and you would have to eat an undesirable amount to really benefit from these nutrients left intact.  All sugars, natural, unrefined or refined, are converted to glucose in the body. Your body does not know that the sugar came from an apple, granulated white sugar or raw honey. They are all carbohydrates that convert to glucose in our body. Too much of even a healthier variation of sugar still overloads and stresses our immune system which results in negative health issues over time.  If you are going to have added sweeteners then having higher fiber content along with the sugar, like found in natural fruits and some minimally processed sweeteners, is more desirable. Fiber slows the absorption of glucose and helps to avoid sharp spikes in blood sugar levels, giving our body a more steady balance of glucose.

     From a health perspective I think added sugar should be used in moderation or consumed on a limited basis. Of course, if you are trying to lose weight satisfying a sweet tooth with dates or raisins would be a better choice than even a healthy baked treat. I do think there is a time and place for enjoying a baked treat and not feel guilt about eating it. On those occasions I would like my baked treat to have the ‘healthiest’ options for ingredients. Just because it is a healthier version of my older refined sugar version doesn't mean it’s a license to eat unlimited amounts. Again, eaten in moderation is important. Know what a serving is and eat just one serving. Holiday treats are fine but you also have to keep moderation in mind, especially in the fall and winter when our holiday season is three months long! One reason baked goods have gotten such a bad health rap is not just because of sugar but because many consumer items sold are also loaded with unhealthy fats, refined white flour and preservatives. This is a perspective I keep in mind and a reason I don’t feel a need to jump on the ‘avoid all sweets’ band wagon. I can choose to avoid the refined, processed sweets and choose healthier alternatives. It isn't just sugar consumption that is the issue; really total carbohydrate intake is what needs to be considered for overall health.  Here is a summary of Carbohydrate Basics - not exactly a fun read but it gives an overview of what carbohydrates are and how our body uses or stores them. Understanding carbohydrates helped me to narrow down my added sugar options as well as understand why I should limit sugar intake.

     In evaluating which sweetener I would choose to replace refined white sugar I had several criteria’s that needed to be fulfilled. I went out and bought about six different sugars based on the fact that they where labeled organic, fair-trade, had words like raw and natural on the labels and a few were low glycemic. This turned out to be an expensive learning process since now I know that three of those sugars were the same kind of sugar just ‘worded’ differently on the labels! Once trying them out I began to narrow down my favorites. I learned that one sweetener alone could not simply replace refined white sugar. Each sugar or sweetener has different melting points and will react differently in baking so I needed to feel I had sufficient substitutions for replacing refined white sugar before I completely abolished it from my kitchen. So my criteria in choosing a sugar or sweetener are: it should be organic, fair trade, no GMO’s and have the right melting point for the item I am baking.

     All sweetener’s come from natural plant based sources. Ooooh natural, that must be a good thing! Okay, I got excited with the word natural but just because it has the word natural does not automatically mean it is a better choice. Manufactures want to sell products and they sure know the buzz words we want to hear. Knowing what some of the terms used helps decipher through the options. Let me try and review some of them.

Organic- generally refers to growing plants without pesticides or using organically accepted pesticides and no chemical fertilizers. The standards for organic certification vary from country to country. In the United States a USDA organic label on a product means that food is 95-100% organic.

Fair trade- products with the fair trade logo means they come from farms and workers who are justly compensated. This is important for sugar since sugar is a global crop. This helps developing countries participate in a free market and build sustainable crops.

GMO- genetically modified organisms or GE (genetically engineered) foods are plants or animals whose DNA has been altered.

Refined- refining is the means to remove by a purification process, to extract and remove impurities, removing many of the nutrients that were first in the plant. Sugar refining is the process of extracting sucrose from the plant source (sugar cane or sugar beets), then removing the unwanted materials like stalk fiber, soil, insects, mold and bacteria. These processes included washing, boiling, centrifuging, filtering and drying. To achieve the uniformed white granules of white sugar, bleaching and chemicals are used. Refined white sugar has all the nutrients removed and is pure sucrose in the end.  Raw or natural sugar is processed less than refined white sugar retaining some of the molasses content. Raw sugar goes through a steaming process to sterilize it.

Unprocessed- concentrated sweet juices that are boiled and dried resulting in granules. There are no other processes involved. Date sugar, coconut sugar, palm sugar, maple syrup are examples of unprocessed sugars.

Raw or whole cane- these are not a lot different from refined white sugar. They have been marketed to consumers as being healthier options because they are processed less than white sugar and some of the molasses is kept in tack. It is not truly a raw or whole cane sugar since it is extracted from the sugar cane and undergoes some processing.

Natural- the word natural on a package does not necessarily mean organic or even healthy. This is an unregulated term. Generally it means that the food has been minimally processed and that it is free of things like artificial flavors, preservatives, or any other artificial ingredients.

Evaporated cane juice- a marketing disguise to make products sound more natural and healthy. Evaporated cane juice is just sugar from sugar cane. The only difference between evaporated cane juice and granulated white sugar is that it is processed less and still retains some of the molasses. In the photo at the top, Wholesome Natural Cane Sugar is an example of this. Sugar in the Raw is another brand that stretches the truth and exploits being natural for the sake of profit. That being said, this larger granular sugar makes a nice topping sugar for muffins and cookies.

Here is a chart of various sugars that I wanted to research for comparision: SUGARS

Of course there are others but I think this covers the main ones. I divide them in two categories: Cane sugars and Natural Plant based Sweeteners. I did not include sugar alcohols since I don’t use them. 

Although date sugar is a nutritionally a better choice than coconut sugar, it does not melt like sugar and would not produce the desired baking results I want.

Raw honey has health benefits as a sweetener but those benefits are destroyed with heat so I do not choose this for baking. Pasteurized honey is heated in processing so pretty much the health benefits are destroyed. 

Blue Agave Syrup is low on the glycemic index but nutritionally it is higher in fructose than high fructose corn syrup and a few more calories than white sugar. It is an alternative to honey used by vegans. I would use this sweetener sparingly and not for baking. For the cost, it is nearly equivalent to pure maple sugar in my grocery store.

Stevia- I can’t say anything about Stevia since I haven’t used it. The cost has kept me from buying it as a baking sweetener. I read some people love it and others don’t care for the after taste it leaves in their mouth.

     For some recipes I will cut down on the added sweeter and incorporate puréed fruits when possible. The type of sugar chosen for baking will effect the end result. Sugar serves different purposes in baking. For example, in yeast bread it provides the food for yeast to grow. When sugar is creamed with a fat, air bubbles are created which provide structure. This allows baked items to rise in the oven and creates a light texture. You need medium granular sugar to do this. A super fine sugar would dissolve to quickly and not allow enough air to incorporate. Different sugars hold different amount of moisture. Brown sugar, molasses, and maple syrup add moisture in the batter but also continue to pull moisture from the atmosphere after baking. These are good to use when you want a soft, chewy cookie. White sugar melts during baking helping cookies to spread then recrystallize when cool providing crispness. Different sugars also effect how a baked item browns.  

     As you can see, there is a lot to think about when choosing a sweetener! Hope this helps you in some way or at least understand why I choose to use certain sweeteners in baking.