Sugar free options?

goatgurl

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if you like hot tea you can just put a stevia leaf or two in with the tea leaves and voilà, sweetened tea. mine grows well here too FEM. and i have had it come up the following year too.
 

Britesea

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You can just grind the dried leaves to a fine powder for most baked goods. I would love to grow it, but it's not frost resistant at all- I would have to grow it in a heated greenhouse up here. I had one plant once, but when I harvested the leaves I got at the end of the summer, it was only about a teaspoon of ground powder- enough for a few batches of brownies but not enough to keep myself in sweetened tea.
 

goatgurl

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@Britesea you just need a bigger flower pot. it isn't frost resistant here either but i cut and pick it all summer long to get enough. and i usually have more than one plant.
 

creativetwinszoo

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Stevia sounds awesome!
Wonder how well it would convert for canning, as it is much sweeter than regular sugar?
 

Britesea

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You can use it for canning fruit very easily- but I think you would have to taste the syrup to get the sweetness you want. I haven't seen any charts giving amounts, and if you are growing your own - different plants provide different levels of sweetness.
 

Fae

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I actually just tried making some raspberry jam with splenda instead of sugar... sucralose, to be exact. Used slightly underripe berries so they'd have a bit more pectin to help it thicken up a bit. I'll update with the morning if it set or not.
 

sumi

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Welcome on board @Fae :frow Please do let us know how that turned out.
 

MoonShadows

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Hi Fae and :welcome. We're happy to have you with us.

I have never tried to make it with Splenda. We usually use concentrated grape juice for a "no sugar added" jam...comes out to about 1/2 the calories, 1/2 the carbs and 1/2 the sugar of a regular jam. Let us know how yours turned out.
 

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