Any help please Very NEW to using Sweeteners in Baking

peat5961 said:

Could anyone help please Very NEW to using Sweeteners in Baking

a friend became type 2 at the start of the year I’ve helped with the things I known about I am Type 1 but she wants to start home baking again as she stopped at the time of being diagnosed.

A lot of the recipes use a sweetener like Monk Fruit Allulose Blend Sweetener which is zero carb & Cals but you cannot really get in this country (UK) as far as we can tell

But she has found this

NKDLIVING Granulated ZERO Calorie & zero Carb Sugar Replacement Diabetic friendly
But the label on the back of packet shows

Per 100g Weight

Carbohydrates = 100 (0 Net Carbs)
what does this mean is it 0 carbs per 100g or 100 carbs per 100g which means it’s no good for her
Or could anyone

Recommend a sweetener to use in Baking that is both zero carb & calorie

As a Type 1 I can just work out the carbs & have the appropriate size jab

(although 100carbs to 100g is basically the same as sugar & would be no good for me either) as a type 2 on tables as you all are aware she cannot & my skill set if I’ve got one as a type 1 is not a lot of use to her.

Again can anyone recommend a sweetener to use in Baking that is both zero carb & calorie if the NKDLIVING one is no good that you can get in the UK please

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The internet makes those things accessible but they are hard to find in supermarkets. You can buy stevia and sometimes erythritol in stores but you have to read the labels as all you see on the front is a brand name often. Also beware of these being present in tiny quantities and bulked out with glucose spiking maltodextrin or dextrose. etc.

Usually most recipes are ok with swapping one sweetener for another, with a few exceptions like caramelisation. And the quantities need checking for these substitutions as well as personal taste. I’ve added a conversion chart. Unfortunately it’s based on USA cups but it should give an idea.

These pages might help https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/sweeteners and https://www.nutritionadvance.com/types-of-sweeteners/

Oh and the 100g carbs bit doesn’t take account of the fact it has almost all non digestible carbs in the form of sugar alcohols or polyols. Some labels will identify the “of which polyols“ so you can deduct these from the carb count. Some don’t. Seeing how high up the ingredients list might give a clue then when compared to the other carbs.

The danger point here is that regardless of this some sugar alcohols still raise blood glucose and shouldn’t be deducted (imo) and others do a bit. It’s a bit subjective which ones do what and the pages I linked to above explain more.

For me and many others erythritol is safe and I deduct it all, whereas maltitol is worse than sugar and I don’t deduct any of it and actively avoid it but it’s the most commo in junk keto products. Some others I‘d deduct half.

Another useful chart

I use granulated erythritol for baking, and as I preferred cakes etc with a little less sugar before I now just use the recipe amount (otherwise increase a little although I don't find it 70% of the sweetness of sugar). Most supermarkets in the UK stock it.
For other things I use Truvia which is stevia plus erythritol - and find this sweeter than sugar so cut down the amount.

TriciaWs said:

I use granulated erythritol for baking, and as I preferred cakes etc with a little less sugar before I now just use the recipe amount (otherwise increase a little although I don't find it 70% of the sweetness of sugar). Most supermarkets in the UK stock it.
For other things I use Truvia which is stevia plus erythritol - and find this sweeter than sugar so cut down the amount.

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I cut the amounts on all recipes as even the deliberate low carb recipes are too sweet for me now.

@peat5961 also is your friend trying to use normal recipes or low carb ones? As well as the sugar they need to consider flour as a major problem in normal recipes. Theres loads of online low carb recipe site but a couple of my favourites are dietdoctor.com and ditchthecarbs.com. Otherwise search the desired recipe and add low carb to the search.

For UK recipes using UK brands I like this site. They do books too.

I'd also echo what others have said, avoid flour, be careful of laxative effects of sweeteners and put behind you any idea of previous baking skills

Where brown sugar is required I use Sukrin Gold and for maple syrup if needed Sukrin Maple Syrup.

@HSSS has given you some excellent advice.

One of the first things I did after getting my basic low carb diet sorted , was to research low carb baking. I just cook for myself so don't always work to a proper recipe... and my original low carb efforts were essentially basic conversions from my existing higher carb ones.

The most important information I discovered was that suitable low carb sweeteners were often apparently high in carbs but these carbs are NOT DIGESTIBLE, so have no (or very little) impact on our glucose levels. What you may need to check particularly with the extremely sweet stevia, is that there are no carby bulking agents added as these may well have an impact on our glucose levels.
I tend to use erythritol or erythritol/stevia combinations. Pure stevia is fine but is so sweet that you need only tiny amounts which can be difficult to judge. And some of my baking efforts are savoury so don't need and sweetness added. I've got a list of low carb muffin type recipes here:
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/low-carb-recipes.4871/page-48#post-987609

Both NKD Living and Sukrin brands are available in various forms: granulated, powdered/icing sugar, and Gold similar to demerara. These options are available from Amazon. Xylitol is also highly recommended for baking , but is dangerous and can cause killer hypos in dogs, so I won't have this in my kitchen at all.

I use various nut based flours or meal: ground almonds (coarser but cheaper than actual almond flour), hazelnut (great with cocoa for chocolate cake, muffins, shortbread)) , pecan meal, walnut or sesame meal for "bread". and I've even used green pistachio meal to make sort of pudding concoctions.

peat5961 said:

Thank you for the info very helpful.

And the recipes in/on the link look Fantastic she will have the time of her life making them the next problem will be how to keep the weight down

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Well as they are low carb half of that problem is already solved for a type 2. Obviously some moderation is still required (omg I can’t believe I just advocated moderation)