I would like to find a good substitute for sugar. I've tried baking with honey, molasses, agave, etc but I don't really like the results. When I want the occasional cookie I like it to be crisp and if I'm already substituting other things the consistency isn't going to work well. Anyway, I see there's a thread on coconut sugar (that isn't made from coconuts surprisingly) so I may look into that. I think I've heard of powdered agave too. And I wonder if anyones ever tried to do something like drying bananas and grinding them up to use. Thinking out loud. Hmm. Beet sugar? Is it refined? Suggestions please. Oh and I can't have stevia.

Quoted from Rachel D

And I wonder if anyones ever tried to do something like drying bananas and grinding them up to use. Thinking out loud.  

Date sugar is just chopped dates and works well in some things.

I do not use it but my roommate uses mango powder.

I do not know how you feel about Trehalose, but it is usually in a powder form.

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In general it is better to not try and recreate a food the does not work for us (sugar), and just discover alternative foods and enjoy them on their own terms.

The copy cat foods that are made to look/taste like something they are not, generally have undesirable side effects.

Beet sugar is usually refined, that is normally what I in normal sugar. you can get cane sugar that is less refined.

interesting about the mango sugar as I have a small amount of home dried mango that I could grind into a sugar if that's how it's done.

everyday a new opportunity

I use cane sugar in the occasional cookie. And it really is occasional- we bake cakes and brownies far more often, and use honey or agave when we bake those.

You can buy powdered agave from nuts.com  I find I have to lower baking temp by 25 degrees because it burns quickly.  Otherwise, it tastes great.

http://www.nuts.com/cookingbaking/sweeteners/natural-sugar-replacements/agave-powder.html

Stevia is usually sold in powdered form.  But I'm not sure whether it's Explorer-friendly.  Personally, I'd just use sugar -- it's probably not much worse for me than non-wheat flour!

Quoted from SquarePeg

Stevia is usually sold in powdered form.  But I'm not sure whether it's Explorer-friendly.  Personally, I'd just use sugar -- it's probably not much worse for me than non-wheat flour!

Stevia is a neutral for me.

But stevia doesn't hold together in baking the way sugar does. You need only a dash of stevia for the sweetness of a teaspoon of sugar, so you use way less in recipes, and there's less bulk to hold cookies together. The form of stevia that's pure and additive free is super-concentrated. I have seen stevia products that are diluted with powder to be used "like sugar" in recipes, but those usually have "avoids" in them- read labels carefully. That extra bulk is made up of something, often corn-based fiber.

Coconut sugar would work. It is probably the closest substitute texture and tastewise to cane sugar (even more so to brown sugar) It contains a decent amount of some minerals, most notably magnesium, so it a healthier alternative to the empty calories of cane sugar. Nutritional profile here: http://www.coconutpalmsugar.com/Nutritional_Information.html I guess just finding a supplier may be tricky, because it's not that common. I get mine at a vegetarian health store, and it is cheaper than sweetners like agave or maple syrup.

Coconut sugar is unrated for BTD/GTD/SWAMI. It's not something I'd ever consume regularly, but it's a decent substitute for cane sugar (an outright avoid in SWAMI) for those "once or twice a year" treats.

beet sugar in us is most likely GMO.

this is good stuff. maple sugar. more expensive as you can imagine. IMO, you shouldn't be doing too much baking anyway. not the way we were designed to eat.

http://www.amazon.com/Coombs-F.....=organic+maple+sugar

Great suggestions!  I want to try the powdered Agave!

Just wanted to say thanks for all the suggestions. PC did you ever try making the mango sugar? Someday I'd like to buy a dehydrator and try that with other fruits. I still want to look into powdered agave but I ended up buying coconut sugar because I was surprised to find it at my walmart for relatively cheap-about $4. That's better than buying the small bottle of agave for $5. I think it'll be great for making some choc chip cookies

Here's the best deal I found:

http://www.amazon.com/Nectave-.....ve+Powder%2C+1-Pound

Blues just a heads up, the ingredients for that lists corn

oh no!!! i didn't see that!!! (:

made some cookies recently with almond meal and shredded coconut, used a small amount maple syrup as sweetener - remember almonds and coconut both have sweet taste to begin with.  Plus a little rosewater and ground cardamom powder.  The oil I used was unrefined coconut oil, cookies turned out nice and crisp but need to be eaten within a day or two.  Using butter or ghee did not allow cookies to turn out nice and crisp, just right for me as were a little chewy plus crispness due to the coconut oil.  I know Dr D doesn't approve coconut oil, so best to think it over and do what is right for you and your body!
Agave has quite a bit of fructose which many people are sensitive to these days.  coconut sugar may work.

Coconut sugar has not been evaluated for BTD or SWAMI. Coconut is, I think, an avoid for all blood types and genotypes- although it may be OK for a few individuals on SWAMI.

Coconut OIL, on the other hand, is actually OK for a lot of people. According to BTD, it's neutral for O nonnies but an avoid for everybody else. He did a lot more research on coconut oil between working on the BTD and working on the  GTD. Probably about half the genotypes get coconut oil as neutral or better, and a great many people can have coconut oil on their individual SWAMIs. It's beneficial for me personally.

It's certainly up to you how compliant you want to be, especially when talking about baking cookies for special occasions. But if you want to be more compliant, it would be wise to use up the coconut flakes and not buy more, and use only  compliant nuts for future baking.

Thankyou for your comments, I definitely intend to keep using coconut oil.  As for coconut, probably mostly during summer months.  I like to cut down on tropical items when autumn(fall) starts in accordance with macrobiotic standards/philosophy. Coconut is cooling in nature during warm weather and of course it has the antifungal properties for the intestines.  The other baked good I made recently was the pecan/date cake made with ground almonds/almond meal; the only issue I had was the inclusion of honey.  Next time I may increase dates and eliminate honey; ayurvedic doctors don't recommend heating/cooking honey, and I respect ayurveda as well as Dr D.
Does anyone make cakes with quinoa flour?

????Has anyone tried plain Trehaslose as a sugar substitute?which the body does not recognize as a sugar - no insuline spiking-. Or D-Ribose which seems to be a sugar good for us also?  (both items are in Trehalose Complex at NAP   ????.

Quoted from Goldie

????Has anyone tried plain Trehaslose as a sugar substitute?which the body does not recognize as a sugar - no insuline spiking-. Or D-Ribose which seems to be a sugar good for us also?  (both items are in Trehalose Complex at NAP   ????.

I have used D-Ribose as a supplement.  I have never used it as a cooking ingredient.  It was great to increase my cellular energy after I spent too long carb. deficient while attempting to control candida.  I finally realized that I needed to detox heavy metals and other chemicals prior to being able to control the candida, but that time, the body wasn't clearing toxins at a cellular level, hence the need to supplement...  

I now use the Trehalose Complex to get a balance of the two sugars (Trehalose and D-Ribose) plus the modified citrus pectin.

Goldie, I was just wondering about that the other day while looking through the supplements. I wonder if cooking with it would be ok or if the heat would be bad for it.

Also hearing xylitol is great for teeth and thought about using it for baking but are there any brands that aren't corn based?

This has got me thinking of how substitutions can make things healthier. Imagine cookies with trehelose, ghee, good eggs or flax, whole grain flours, beneficial nuts or fruit, dark chocolate, berries, carob..a healthy snack!

I have pure trehalose for baking. Easy to cook with, but I am not convinced it is doing great things for me health wise. I do not know what the trehalose was derived from (corn, tapioca...). It was purchased from Swanson's.


My body seems to react much better to the trehalose complex than to the pure trehalose.

Quoted from C_sharp

I do not know what the trehalose was derived from (corn, tapioca...). It was purchased from Swanson's.

C sharp, I called Swanson's about the source of their trehalose and they said it was from mushrooms. I actually called them twice about it because the first time they didn't seem real sure about it. The second time I called the wording they used was that mushrooms were the only source they knew of.

Quoted from karen

C sharp, I called Swanson's about the source of their trehalose and they said it was from mushrooms. I actually called them twice about it because the first time they didn't seem real sure about it. The second time I called the wording they used was that mushrooms were the only source they knew of.

It is quite a bargain if that is correct. Normally the price of Trehalose from Mushrooms is higher than $10 per pound.


The vast majority of commercial trehalose is derived from other things since it is significantly cheaper to derive trehalose from other things.