Sweet Tooth Experiment-Part 1
I have been having a wicked attack of my sweet tooth lately. I have confessed in other blog entries that I am a carb addict so I would rather have a buttered bowl of pasta than a piece of cake. I know I am weird. So having this aching in my sweet tooth has driven me to experiments that I wouldn't usually undertake. As many of you know already, I had gastric by-pass surgery and do not digest sugar or dairy due to a shortened small intestine. Gross huh? I usually avoid both the sugar and most dairy. I miss donuts and ice cream but the price I have to pay to eat them is more than I am willing to pay. So with the introduction of Splenda, I have gone bonkers. I know that there are many of you who do the natural food thing, but even honey has consequences I would rather not talk about if you get my drift. I am not fond of artifical sweeteners but this one actually works for me. I started using it in my tea. That went well. Then Splenda came out with Splenda for Baking and then the Brown Sugar Blend. I was a bit skeptical so I have been doing some research.

My first experiment was with Chocolate Chip Cookies. I used the Nestle's recipe but substitued the regular Splenda not really knowing the measurement ratio to regular sugar. Nestle's calls for 3/4 cup and I think I used 1/2 a cup of Splenda. I did use regular brown sugar. I was pleasantly surprised but had some small discomfort.

While I was shopping I spotted Splenda for Baking. Cool! So the next time I baked the same recipe from Nestle's I used the Baking Splenda instead of the regular Splenda. I did use regular brown sugar again and still hae a few side effects. The next time I went shopping I finally found the last piece to the puzzle-Brown Sugar Blend Splenda. . This last time I baked I used the Splenda for Baking along with the Brown Sugar Blend Splenda using their chocolate chip recipe. It worked like a charm.

Now my observations-the cookies take much longer to bake and are not as chewy as cookies made with sugar. The real sweetness is not there as with sugar but I have to say, they ain't bad! When you have had to pass on things with sugar, you are thankful for other ways. I know this is not a natural solution to my body's problem with sugar, but the only solution for this is abstinence from any sugar in any form. I won't be going nuts and baking everyday with this stuff, but it's nice to have a treat every now and then that doesn't drive my body nuts.

I realize that there are opposing opinions and for fairness sake here are some sites that talk about the horrors of Splenda-Sucralose Toxicity Information Center, Splenda is not Splendid and Slenda is Not a Healthy Sweetener.

I want to also say that I don't smoke, I seldom drink, I don't eat very many canned goods, and I have given up ice cream, soda, mayonnaise, etc. We all have to choose our poisions and now and then Splenda in my tea and cookies will be mine.