Ask the Nutritionist

A while ago I did some research for oatmeal recipes. This was when I would eat instant oatmeal instead of plain oatmeal. (I thought plain oatmeal was icky. Well, maybe I just thought I thought plain oatmeal was icky.) I had had almost a full canister of Quaker Oats Quick from my MIL and they were just sitting in the cupboard, so I thought I'd try oatmeal raisin cookies. Anyway, I wound up eating the oatmeal for breakfast. I wanted oatmeal and I didn't have any instant, so I tried it.

Anyway, I found a recipe for sugar free cookies, sweetened with apple sauce and concentrated apple juice. ( http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/kitchen/recipes/recipeoutput.cfm?recipeID=50&Tab=Search )

That triggered a memory of reading/hearing somewhere that applesauce could be used in lieu of sugar. I would like to know the exchanges-- X amount of apple sauce for X amount of sugar. Not only would I think it would make the rare baking I do for us better, but I would like to take in some sugar free stuff for church dinners as well. Ahwile ago, Threekidzmom gave me a recipe for eggless, milkless chocolate cake. Although it calls for regular sugar, I thought about using the substitution.

I posted this on another board where Im a regular. Unfortunatley, I didn't receive any answers to this, although I got a couple of responses saying that they used applesauce in lieu of fat, which is also worth knowing.

I just thought to do a Yahoo! Search for "diabetic cooking", but it's 11:15 p.m. and I'd like to go to bed, so that will have to wait until tommorrow.

Any help would be appreciative.

Laura

I've been substituting applesauce for half the fat in dessert recipes with great results.  It works for brownies and quick breads, but not for recipes where butter and sugar are creamed together.

As for it replacing sugar, I find that quick breads and brownies turn out too sweet if I don't cut back the sugar in the recipe, but I've never replaced all the sugar with applesauce.

I hope Sue can give you more expert advice!

Thanks!

My mother always told me to cut the sugar in recipes by a half, especially with things like chocolate chip cookies. It seems as though I once made banana bread with the full amount of sugar and it was too sweet. Oops.

I think I have a bit of time now. (My husband is coming home late this evening and he'll call me before he leaves so I can be ready to leave for the grocery store and maybe a late dinner/snack out. Big fun Friday night for the married couple LOL Although, I don't miss dating....). Anyway, I'll do a "diabetic cooking" search on Yahoo! again and actually look at the sites.

Thanks again,
Laura

I'm certainly not a nutritionist, so hopefully Sue can clear this up, but I'm wondering if using applesauce and concentrated apple juice (especially the apple juice) instead of sugar wouldn't just be replacing one form of sugar with another. I know that fruit juices, in general, are high in sugar content (even if there's no added sugar, the natural sugars from the fruit are still there). And I know that all sugar, regardless of the form, behaves the same way once it's in your body. So I'm curious to hear whether replacing the sugar with applesauce/juice would make it safe for a diabetic to eat. (Although it might make it lower in total calories, which is certainly a bonus.)

Anyway, I'm interested to hear what Sue says, and if you do find out anything else while doing your internet search, let us know!