How to Start Cooking with Stevia

Stevia is a natural sweetener that some healthy cooks use in place of sugar in their recipes. In many ways, it is the perfect substitute -- it is sweet, potent and completely calorie-free, and it ranks a zero on the glycemic index. However, it does pose some challenges for the enterprising baker or chef who wants to replace sugar with it entirely. Used in large quantities, stevia has a bitter quality, and it does not caramelize like sugar does. Cooks who are just starting to work with stevia should experiment and work it into their recipes gradually. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Instructions

1

Sample several different brands and varieties of stevia to see which one's taste you like the best. Decide whether you prefer stevia packets, powder, extract, liquid or dark liquid.

2

Acquire a sugar/stevia conversion chart, and look up the measurements for the type of stevia you have chosen. Substitute the sugar in your recipes with slightly less than the suggested amount of stevia. Taste-test the results to learn whether they are sweet enough and whether you can taste stevia's bitter component.

3

Replace some of the stevia you used with honey or maple syrup the next time you try the recipe if it was too bitter or not sweet enough. Gradually lessen the amount of honey or syrup and raise the amount of stevia again as you become accustomed to its taste.

4

Add apple sauce or apple butter to recipes in place of some of the stevia to help soften batter. Sugar has this softening effect, but stevia does not. Taste-test until you find the right proportions.