Simple syrup with Splenda can be a way to have your save Sunday morning pancakes when they are threatened by the low-sugar, reducing diet you recently adopted. Sugar has been linked to a number of adverse conditions including diabetes and obesity. But we humans do love our sweet flavors, and if you’ve been missing that special taste, then Splenda might offer a solution to your dilemma.
Pancakes, Waffles, and French Toast
Pancakes, waffles and French toast can be three big names in yummy breakfast menus. Traditionally, all three are served with a sweet syrup. Without the syrup, they are mostly just pieces of fried bread. Good fried bread, to be sure, but still not the tasty treat you have come to associate with breakfast.
You can create a simple syrup using Splenda instead of sugar. That allows you to have your special treat without going too far off the dietary bandwagon. So, with no more ado, here is the recipe.
Splenda Simple Syrup Recipe
Recipe #1: The simplest Splenda simple syrup recipe is to dissolve 1 cup sucralose (Splenda or some other brand) in one cup of water. The result is rather thin but will achieve a liquid that is respectably sweet to add to your morning baked goods.
Recipe #2: An alternative syrup recipe that is a little thicker and a little lighter on the sweetener calls for 2 cups water, 1 cup Splenda, ¼ cup gelatin and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Combine the ingredients in a medium saucepan and simmer on low heat for one hour to thicken. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Either of these two recipes will produce a sugar free simple syrup Splenda product that should work well on your waffles, pancakes or even over ice cream. You can congratulate yourself on having a no sugar syrup.
Substituting Splenda to Sugar Ratio
There is no sugar in Splenda. It is a brand name for a man-made sweetener called Sucralose, which is derived from sugar. It tastes sweeter than sugar and can be substituted in recipes that call for sugar to produce sugar-free baked goods and other recipes. The Splenda to sugar ratio is 1 packet Splenda equals 1 teaspoon sugar. Because Splenda tastes sweeter than sugar, it is possible to use less of it.
Sometimes Unexpected Results
While substituting Splenda syrup on your breakfast pancakes or in those chocolate brownies that you’ve been tasting in your mind for a week will cut back on the calories in both dishes, you do need to keep some things in mine. Sugar-free substitutions do not necessarily lead to weight loss and their use doesn’t always satisfy cravings for sweet treats.
Here is the problem with most sugar substitutes: your taste buds signal your brain with the message, “Hey! Tasting something sweet!” Your brain, says, “Aha! Something sweet coming my way!” and it anticipates the rush of energy that goes with a rise in blood sugar levels. But with an artificial sweetener, that sugar rush never arrives. Frustrated, your brain sends back the signal, “That fuel didn’t make it up here. Eat some more of that sweet stuff.”
Sugar-free treats aren’t necessarily carbohydrate or fat-free.
As you eat the pancakes with the Splenda syrup or the brownies made with sucralose, your body begs for more because it isn’t gaining the satiety levels it would gain from real sugar. Without that satiety, you might wind up eating more carbs and fats than you would if you ate an ordinary brownie or pancakes with a moderate serving of real syrup.
With that said, sugar substitutes can fulfill some niches in your diet, especially if you are dealing with diabetes. But you still need to be careful of the amount of food that you are consuming and maintain an awareness of the calories and the nutrition in the other foods you are eating.
Alternatives to Splenda
Stevia, the plant – One completely natural alternative to Splenda is stevia. Although the granulated stevia that you can purchase in the supermarket is highly refined, you could simply grow the plant. It is a medium height, weedy looking herb that can be grown in your garden or in a pot.
One or two leaves will do an amazingly good job of sweetening your tea, and it will even work in coffee. You can also purchase the dried leaves from your local whole foods store or order them online. The Japanese have been using stevia for quite some time now, but it has been approved only recently as a food additive, rather than as a sweetener, in the United States.
Using Whole Fruit or Juice as a Sweetener – Even sour fruit, such as lemons and limes, have a natural sweetness to them. Apples, applesauce and bananas are excellent foods that can be substituted for ingredients in baked goods. For example, applesauce can be substituted for sugar, eggs or shortening in a baked recipe. It probably wouldn’t go well to use it to substitute for all three items. To use applesauce as a sugar substitute, use 1 cup of applesauce instead of one cup of sugar. If the recipe calls for added moisture, reduce it by about half since sugar is a dry measure, not wet.
Advantages of Using Splenda
Even though it is not perfect and there are some questions about its beneficence, Splenda has a lot going for it as a sugar substitute. Here are a few of the ways that sucralose, and therefore Splenda, beats out the competition and helps you be able to eat the foods you love.
Splenda is made from sugar, and it tastes like sugar. It just doesn’t have the calories. Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar, so you will only need a tiny bit of it to sweeten your drinks or food.- Easy to use. It works well for sweetening drinks and even for baking. It retains its sweetness when even in high heat, making it a good substitute for cane sugar, or high fructose corn syrup.
- According to the FDA, it is safe for everyone of all ages to use, including pregnant and nursing mothers and small children. It has no impact on blood sugar levels and is approved by many dental associations as being less likely to cause cavities.
- It is the perfect sweetener for diabetics because it has no impact on blood sugar levels. Both type I & type II diabetics can safely use sucralose to sweeten drinks and foods. With that said, it is not useful for raising blood sugar levels in someone who is hypoglycemic or a diabetic who is having a hypoglycemic episode.
- It has a long shelf life. Unlike fruits or fruit juices that have a short shelf life, Splenda can be stored in your pantry for several months, especially if sealed in individual packets. It is remarkably stable in liquids, such as sodas, so those items can be used or consumed as they might normally be used.
- Sucralose, the primary ingredient in Splenda has been extensively tested and has been approved by the FDA as safe to use as a tabletop sweetener. The studies of sucralose found no indication that it might cause cancer or build to toxic levels in human or animal systems. More than 100 studies were conducted, and it has been on the market since 1998.
- Cost of using sucralose compares favorably to other sweeteners. While it is more expensive than neotame, saccharine, cyclamate or aspartame, it is less expensive than stevia, Luo Han Guo or cane sugar.
So, as you can see, sucralose might not be 100% perfect or completely effective for weight loss, but there are distinct advantages to using Splenda rather than sugar.
Saving Your Pancakes: Sweets and Carbs to Jumpstart Your Day
Without getting into the argument of whether breakfast is the most important meal of the day if you are going to eat something that is loaded with carbs and highly sweetened, having it before you engage in your daily activities is a good idea.
For some people, even eating your sweetened carbs early in the day won’t take the curse off consuming sugar, so that is why Splenda Simple Syrup can make a difference for your day. You can have the sweet flavor associated with sugar and the slow release carbs that make up a breakfast of pancakes and simple syrup made with Splenda.
Add a real fruit topping, and you can have something truly special. You can even sweeten your tea or coffee or have a carbonated beverage with your meal if that suits your fancy without the worry that you are consuming excessing amounts of empty calories.
Using Splenda doesn’t take the place of planning sensible meals that include vegetables, fruits, and protein, but it can help you to prepare palatable meals that look and taste like those eaten by people who are not limiting their sugar intake.
