I’m trying to suck up to my fiance’s family. They’re impossible to buy for, but I’m a good cook and baker - only thing is, his mom has problems with her blood sugar. Ordinarily I’d make a pumpkin bread or something, but I want to make sure she can eat whatever I make.
PLEASE DON’T TELL ME TO JUST USE SPLENDA. That stuff is nasty and it lingers on my tongue and I hate it. I’d much prefer to make something that’s either sugar free or low sugar naturally on its own merits.
Suggestions?
Be careful and don’t fall into the trap of “natural sweetening.” For a Diabetic, the body doesn’t really give a damn about where the sugar came from.
Check out Glycemic Index of foods. You want to work with foods that are as minimally processed as possible. Whole wheat flour is the ticket. Pumpkin bread is great, because pumpkin is relatively low Glycemic Index. Adding bran or ground flax seed is brilliant.
Try a test recipe to begin with. I’d recommend doubling the spices, and then use half as much sugar as the recipe calls for. Using dried currants instead of raisins, and then half as much currants as the recipe calls for raisins. (Besides, currants are CUTE!)
I’d be more than willing to sample your test efforts…
~VOW
Also, you might consider STEVIA. Beware, though, too much and the stuff is incredibly bitter. Again, test batches might be prudent. As a for instance, if the recipe calls for one cup of sugar, you might try a half cup of brown sugar and the equivalent of a quarter cup STEVIA.
And don’t forget those cute little currants!
~VOW
Make a delicious fruit tray with a yogurt (full fat, plain) & cream cheese fruit dip. Melons and berries are very low glycemic. I’d recommend Splenda in the dip…it’s for your future MIL and not for you anyway. You can eat the fruit without the dip.
“Sugar free baked goods”… what is the point? To make it as easy on the body as possible you’re going to want to use less starch too not just less sugar. It’s just not worth it.
Well, instead of “sugar free” say “less sugar”. You can’t really wrap up a fruit tray, plus it takes up fridge space and all.
If you don’t want to use sugar, and you don’t want to use artificial sweeteners, and you don’t want to do something like a fruit tray, I suggest you find another plan. Pumpkin bread is already about as low-carb/low glycemic as you can get in traditional baked goods. if she can’t eat that, there’s probably nothing worthwhile you can make in your home kitchen. It takes real science to make low carbohydrate baked goods. As you are probably aware, cooking is an art, but baking is chemistry.
The flour is just as much of a problem as the sugar. I made this pumpkin bread and took it to work and people liked it very much. It uses half whole wheat flour (fiber is a good thing for diabetics) and a cup of sugar in a big loaf of bread isn’t so bad. Personally though, I’d rather have one piece of really good chocolate than a big hunk of pumpkin bread. YMMV.
Are you cooking for you or them?
Just popped in to make the standard disclaimer that if the blood sugar issue is because of diabetes, just cutting the sugar doesn’t necessarily make the stuff edible for diabetics. Diabetics have to watch all carbs, not just sugar. Fruit, flour, sugar, grains, all of 'em.
Pet peeve : “Gift” is a noun, not a verb. That is all.
For them, but I don’t give shitty gifts, see. As it’s got my name on it and all.
Diabetics are allowed to have SOME carbs. Paying attention to the Glycemic Index of foods can mitigate the typical rapid peak of blood glucose levels (and following crash). Whole wheat flour is preferable to white flour. Pumpkin is relatively low on the GI scale. Flax seed meal adds fiber, which can lower the total Glycemic Index for the entire dish. The oil in the recipe, as well as the egg, also lower the total GI.
You consider the big picture. The school of thought now is not to deprive the Diabetic of foods, just to learn moderation and making healthier choices. One slice of pumpkin bread at a meal (especially with a smear of non-transfat margarine) is perfectly acceptable.
~VOW
Spaans Spiced Windmill Cookies are sugar free and quite tasty.
They are available at some grocery stores, but not on a consistant basis.