Fit Fare

My husband has decided that this year is the year he is going to work on his baking skills. Baking is really all about chemistry, and, unfortunately, the results can be a little unpredictable when attempting to replace sugary ingredients with lower glycemic substitutes. For example, if you are baking bread and the recipe calls for a tablespoon of sugar, a sugar substitute might not work very well. The yeast in the bread needs something sugary to activate. You can, however, replace the sugar with Agave Nectar.

When replacing white flour with whole wheat flour, you will probably find that you need just a bit less flour. I always reduce the initial flour content by about 1/8 of a cup initially and then see if the mixture looks a bit too wet.

Here are a few do’s and don’t’s for replacing high glycemic ingredients with low glycemic ingredients.

Do

- Do experiment. I recommend replacing half of the sugar in a recipe with Splenda or some other sugar substitute. If the recipe is a success, then try replacing all of the sugar.

- Do utilize the Internet. If you want to replace honey with Agave nectar or a sweet potato puree (yes, it really can work in some instances), look for advice from other bakers. Often their experiences can help you understand other changes you need to make to your recipe.

Don’t

- Don’t replace a dry ingredient with a wet one without making some other modifications to the recipe. In other words, you can often replace the sugar in a recipe with Agave nectar, but you’ll need to reduce the other liquids in the recipe as well.

- Don’t eliminate all of the sugar in a recipe that needs to caramelize or produce something akin to candy. Even though Splenda is made from sugar (sort of), it does not behave like sugar. It doesn’t caramelize or crystallize like sugar does.

Now, a recipe for Ricotta Pancakes that I made on Christmas morning for my family.

Ricotta Pancakes
6 servings

1 3/4 cups low fat ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup Splenda
Zest from one orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
Butter

Combine all ingredients except butter in a bowl. Mix lightly, being careful not to overmix. The batter will be thick.

Melt the butter on a griddle over medium heat. Add a generous teaspoon of batter for each pancake. Cook until golden brown (about 4 minutes per side).

Serve with a small amount of sugar-free jam or sugar-free maple syrup.