most recent 30 from http://paleohacks.com 2013-05-23T16:26:50Z http://paleohacks.com/feeds/question/16610 http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/rdf http://paleohacks.com/questions/16610/baking-substitutions Michele 2010-12-19T20:21:48Z 2010-12-22T07:56:26Z

<p>I have a delicious peanut butter cookie recipe that I want to try to convert to paleo. It contains peanut butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. I figure almond butter would be a suitable replacement for the peanut butter and eggs are okay. Where does vanilla extract fall? What can I use for the sugar? Applesauce? a friend said pure maple syrup is okay but I am skeptical. </p>

http://paleohacks.com/questions/16610/baking-substitutions/16611#16611 mari 2010-12-19T20:29:22Z 2010-12-19T20:29:22Z

<p>I would try stevia or erythritol for the sugar. Or xylitol. Maybe a touch of molasses for the brown sugar flavor, I would skip it though. vanilla extract is fine.</p>

http://paleohacks.com/questions/16610/baking-substitutions/16614#16614 Stancel 2010-12-19T20:48:54Z 2010-12-19T22:46:21Z

<p>Stevia is the most natural choice for no calorie sweeteners. Although there are still even health concerns about that. But it is less artificial than Splenda (sucralose) or Equal (aspartame).</p> <p>The only reason I see to use no calorie sweeteners is if you are worried about calories. If not I would use honey or coconut nectar or coconut crystals. </p> <p><a href="http://www.coconutsecret.com/products2.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.coconutsecret.com/products2.html</a></p>

http://paleohacks.com/questions/16610/baking-substitutions/16618#16618 Omid Khalili 2010-12-19T21:14:12Z 2010-12-19T21:14:12Z

<p>I had gone through something similar a while back when working on a paleo banana bread recipe. At first I used about a 1/3rd of a cup of honey. It added sweetness, but the thing I didn't like about the honey was it added it's own flavor that took away from the banana. I thought of using molasses or maple syrup, but those also have their own added flavors. At one point I even considered using raw sugar or sugar cane juice, but on a recommendation from a friend, I tried using dates instead and that was a huge win! Since I'm using a mix of coconut flour and almond meal, the dates also add a nice texture, in addition to the sweetness.</p> <p>My recipe now calls for a little over a [tightly packed] cup of dates. Instead of chopping them up, I drop them into a blender/magic bullet with my other wet ingredients (coconut oil, eggs, vanilla extra (<em>not</em> vanilla "flavoring"), etc.) and blend it down to a fine paste. Otherwise, the sweetness isn't spread out well enough and you sort of bite into dates, again taking away from the bread. </p> <p>I should also note that it took me many iterations over a few months to put together something that my paleo friends at the gym love, and my non-paleo friends can enjoy. If you're making this for a holiday party, make a couple test batches first!</p>

http://paleohacks.com/questions/16610/baking-substitutions/16632#16632 ScottMGS 2010-12-19T23:22:13Z 2010-12-19T23:22:13Z

<p>Vanilla extract falls <em>into</em> my food. Regularly.</p>

http://paleohacks.com/questions/16610/baking-substitutions/16635#16635 sherpamelissa 2010-12-20T01:15:00Z 2010-12-20T01:15:00Z

<p>peanut butter = almond butter</p> <p>brown sugar/white sugar = I would halve the amount and use honey</p> <p>vanilla extract = make sure you use a PURE vanilla extract and not cheap flavoring</p> <p>Or try this recipe:</p> <p><a href="http://paleozone.posterous.com/almond-butter-cookies" rel="nofollow">http://paleozone.posterous.com/almond-butter-cookies</a></p> <p>No matter what, expect to make a test batch first. </p>

http://paleohacks.com/questions/16610/baking-substitutions/16652#16652 Eva 2010-12-20T03:39:45Z 2010-12-20T03:39:45Z

<p>Is the goal paleo or is it lower carb? Watch out for the artificial sweetners as some are stronger than sugar and some are weaker. I had luck in a recent recipe replacing sugar with 1/4 Truvia (artificial sweetner) and 3/4 vanilla whey protein powder. If you use all Truvia, it will be WAY WAY WAY too sweet! And in place of white flour, I used finely ground almond flour. Texture was different in the cookie but still ok and taste was good. </p> <p>If I were you, depending on your goals, I'd try to sub out for the sugar and flour but leave the peanut butter and vanilla extract alone. A bit of peanut butter ain't going to kill ya. If you switch out the peanut butter, the taste will be totally different. It will be a whole different cookie. If you are Ok with that, might be worth a shot though. If you go with the honey, IMO, metabolically it's just not that diff from using regular sugar. Sure TECHNICALLY it's paleo, but so what. May as well just use the sugar as normal and make the cookie as normal. </p> <p>As for maple, I'd think it's borderline. Sure, it comes straight out of the tree but there is a somewhat complicated boiling and processing procedure to making it. HOwever, as far as I know, they don't use any toxic chemicals in the really good stuff and it's a fairly old processing technique, so it's probably not as bad as other things. But again, IMO, metabolically, it's similar to sugar. Might have a bit more nutrients, but I am assuming you realize that no matter how you make these cookes, they are not going to be a powerhouse of nutrition either way. If you take out all the sugar and then replace it with slightly more natural sugar and you take out one nut butter and replace it with a somewhat healthier nut butter, you may end up improving the nutrition a bit, but it's not going to make these cookies into a healthy staple food so IMO, it may not be worth bothering with. Just don't eat a lot of them and you will be fine! </p>

http://paleohacks.com/questions/16610/baking-substitutions/16858#16858 Scott 2010-12-22T07:56:26Z 2010-12-22T07:56:26Z

<p><a href="http://readgrice.wordpress.com/2010/12/19/fall-off-the-wagon-gracefully/" rel="nofollow">http://readgrice.wordpress.com/2010/12/19/fall-off-the-wagon-gracefully/</a></p> <p>You might try these.</p>