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Cooking with Sugar Substitutes
An easy way to cut back on calories without feeling deprived is to cook or bake with artificial sweeteners.
You can shave 360 calories from a cake recipe that calls for 1 cup of sugar by using an artificial sweetener in place of half of it. You can’t replace all the sugar with a substitute. Start by replacing half, and if the food doesn’t brown correctly or is too heavy in texture, increase the sugar-to-sweetener ratio. Not all substitutes will do for baking.
Refer to the information below.
SWEET ONE (Acesulfame-K)
4 calories per packet: 12 packets = 1 cup sugar: 1 packet = 2 teaspoons sugar
Can be used in cooking and baking without losing sweetness.
EQUAL (Aspartame)
4 calories per packet: 24 packets = 1 cup sugar: 1 packet = 2 teaspoons sugar
Loses sweetness when heated to high temperatures for long periods of time. Can be used spoon for spoon in place of sugar in same foods as Equal. Equal has developed some baked recipes to use the sweetener with no breakdown. Visit website for recipes.
EQUAL SPOONFUL (Aspartame)
2 calories per teaspoon: 1 cup = 1 cup sugar: 1 teaspoon = 1 teaspoon sugar
Loses sweetness when heated to high temperatures for long periods of time. Can be used spoon for spoon in place of sugar in same foods as Equal. Equal has developed some baked recipes to use the sweetener with no breakdown. Visit website for recipes.
SPLENDA (Sucralose)
0 (zero) calories: 1 cup = 1 cup sugar: 1 teaspoon = 1 teaspoon sugar
May not work well in recipes such as certain cakes that rely upon sugar for structure. Finished recipes may require refrigeration. See website for further details.
SWEET ‘N LOW (Saccharin)
4 calories per packet: 12 packets = 1 cup sugar: 1 packet = 2 teaspoons sugar
Can be used in cooking and baking without losing sweetness.
BROWN SWEET ‘N LOW (Saccharin)
20 calories per teaspoon: 4 teaspoons = 1 cup brown sugar: 1 teaspoon = ¼ cup brown sugar
Can be used in cooking or baking without losing sweetness. Note that measurements differ from packet sweeteners.
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