Sweet Substitutions

Delicious Sweet Substitutions

Want to satisfy your sweet tooth yet get more nutritional bang for your calorie buck? Instead of heaping tablespoons of sugar try these sweet substitutions.

Fruit Concentrates

Fructose sugar is sweeter than table sugar, and because of its more steady absorption and metabolism in the bloodstream, it doesn’t produce the roller coaster effect of refined sugars. Fruit concentrates such as pear and apple are the best sweet substitutions because fructose is the primary sugar in these fruits. While the amount of fruit concentrate you choose to use depends upon your own sweet or tart preference, as a general guide, use half as much fruit concentrate as sugar in a recipe.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a sweet spice, and a small amount goes a long way. Two teaspoons of cinnamon can change a tart apple pie to a sweet one, lessening the amount of sugar needed. As an added nutritional perk, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon contains 28 milligrams of calcium and traces of B vitamins, fiber, and iron.

Other Sweet Spices 

Spicing up a dish with distinct flavors will lesson your temptation to add sugar. Try these herbs and spices to accent the flavor in foods: mint, cloves, anise and ginger. A sprinkle of nutmeg is an additional sweet complement to cinnamon. A twist of lemon peel spruces up the look and flavor of almost any beverage, including plain water.

Fruit Topping

Use crushed pineapple, applesauce, strawberries, or blueberries as sweet substitutions for syrup on pancakes and waffles. Sprinkle on some cinnamon or nutmeg to bring out the fruit’s natural sweetness.

Plain Yogurt Flavored with Fresh Fruit

The result is less sweet and contains better sugars than the yogurt with the added syrupy fruit preserves.

Unsweetened, Canned, or Frozen Fruit

Make sure they are packed in water or their own juices and check the label and avoid those to which syrups have been added.

Reducing the Sugar in Recipes by at Least Half

For sweet substitutions in baking recipes add some cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla or fruit concentrate to perk up the sweetness. (This may not work well in traditional recipes for cookies and cakes. You may have to experiment to discover how low you can go and still produce results you find acceptable.) If you substitute honey or molasses, use half or less of the recommended amount for sugar. If the recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, try using ¼ cup to ½ cup of honey.

Swirl a Cinnamon Stick in Coffee or Tea

The swirling is fun and gives you something to do with your hands. Many people find the cinnamon stick helpful after a meal for breaking not only the sugar habit but also the smoking habit.