I thoroughly enjoyed reading the posted commentary on agave - I've been so hesitant about it but it is in EVERYTHING and is difficult to avoid. Everything that is considered "raw" or vegan, anyway. I'm a vegan and do not have honey, mostly because it is too difficult to ensure it was ethically and most naturally extracted. I am a serious recovering sugar addict with a love for baking and am exploring my other sugar options and really need some guidance. I've tried stevia but it always leaves a bitter aftertaste, and I've tried mixing it with other sugar but I can still taste the bitterness. I've tried fruit concentrate but it doesn't sweeten enough and messes with the texture. I'm looking for the BEST natural sugar alternative. Is molasses a good substitute? What about raw cane sugar? Or brown rice syrup? I want something that is low-glycemic and preferably raw. I'm going to keep messing with stevia, but I really need something else for my baking as well. Any suggestions? Much appreciated.

Molasses I believe is boiled,and most of the time sulfur is added. Unsulfered is available in some places. Anything with natural sugar is probably going to be high glycemic. I have seen some people use grape sugar, and date sugar. Still those products are sugar, and you would have to look them up in a gylcemic index chart.

Of course, if you are baking, anything you started off with raw will become baked with whatever else you mixed it with. The only advantage of starting with raw would be that its been only cooked once.

Sorry darlin', this is a RAW food site, you probably won't find a ton of advice on baking here .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2011 05:18PM by coco.

Yes "darlin," I'm fully aware this is a raw site. I'm new to the raw community, but I can still "bake" raw recipes. I'm looking for the best sugar to use in those situations!

Ah, in that case I use a lot of dates sometimes including their soak water. Very sweet and without a distinctive flavour like raisins.

check out this blog for amazing recipes
[thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com] she uses some agave but I sub it out for other stuff.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2011 07:45PM by coco.

Dates, or naturally dehydrated fruit purees. Good luck.

dates. and trying to get off of the non-fruit-sugar addiction.

I agree with using dates. Nothing is going to be tasteless like table sugar if it is truly raw. But you get used to the added flavor of the dates after using it for awhile.

i use blended dates

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist