Sugar reduction in Baking

AdaptAndAchieve

AdaptAndAchieve

Regular Member
Joined
2 Mar 2025
Local time
10:19 AM
Messages
138
Location
UK
I avoid artificial sweeteners by choice, but need to reduce sugar.
I started working on sugar reduction after reading this article How to reduce sugar in cake. Because I use oil instead of butter I use the blended method, and have found I can go as low as I want to with no obvious impact on the cake (hey I want some sweetness in a 🧁).
Also for those who may not have been aware, a muffin recipe has no need of any sugar, so you can reduce sugar, or even make savoury muffins if wished Savoury Mini Muffins with Two Flavourings

EDIT - the reduce sugar in cake article has links at the bottom to reducing sugar in muffins, cookies and bars, yeast breads and pie :happy:
 
Last edited:
AdaptAndAchieve said:
I avoid artificial sweeteners by choice, but need to reduce sugar.
I started working on sugar reduction after reading this article How to reduce sugar in cake. Because I use oil instead of butter I use the blended method, and have found I can go as low as I want to with no obvious impact on the cake (hey I want some sweetness in a 🧁).
Also for those who may not have been aware, a muffin recipe has no need of any sugar, so you can reduce sugar, or even make savoury muffins if wished Savoury Mini Muffins with Two Flavourings
Click to expand...
I like honey, molasses, and less processed sugars. I also like stevia as it's from plants, but I don't love it. It's nice as a blend, though. In general I (we) don't eat a lot of desserts and I don't put jam on toast or crumpets. About 2x a month I will make pancakes with fruit, honey, and yogurt.
 
A site that may be useful to some is one often linked by members of a diabetes forum I'm also on - they like to cook low carb and low sugar.
I've not tried any recipes myself, but have seen pics of small cakes made by others, and they looked good - the site is Sugar Free Londoner - it looks like many cake recipes use almond flour (aka ground almonds).
In relation to this I've read that you can replace up to 25% (I think it was 25%) of a cakes flour with almond flour and make the cake as normal to reduce carbs for a prediabetic / diabetic person.
 
AdaptAndAchieve said:
I avoid artificial sweeteners by choice, but need to reduce sugar.
I started working on sugar reduction after reading this article How to reduce sugar in cake. Because I use oil instead of butter I use the blended method, and have found I can go as low as I want to with no obvious impact on the cake (hey I want some sweetness in a 🧁).
Also for those who may not have been aware, a muffin recipe has no need of any sugar, so you can reduce sugar, or even make savoury muffins if wished Savoury Mini Muffins with Two Flavourings

EDIT - the reduce sugar in cake article has links at the bottom to reducing sugar in muffins, cookies and bars, yeast breads and pie :happy:
Click to expand...
Join the club.

I think you'll read pretty much those very lines on most of the recipes I've written up... the original said 500g sugar, so I've halved it... but that seemed too much, so this time around I only used 150g and so on.

I also usually omit the salt, and double herbs and spices. I'm allergic to dairy protein (anaphylaxis) so often use oil based recipes instead.
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic
My mother used to use saccharin, ick, I hated the taste of that. Then when younger I read of alleged issues with aspartame, and decided it seemed more sensible to just go reduced sugar or no sugar rather than man made sweeteners. I do think it's noteworthy that even after aspartame has been around for decades, they have again raised questions over it's safety in the last year or two.
I've not tried stevia as I've just continued my original treatment of sugar. I've not done any deep research on stevia, but the relatively brief research I did do on xylitol totally put me off trying it (it seems dogs are not the only animal its poisonous for). My main issue with any newer non-sugar sweetener is ... where are the long term studies regarding it's effect? So I'll stick with what I know :happy:

SatNavSaysStraightOn Cool, I shall have to take a look at your recipes.
I also omit the salt, if you check baking powder / baking soda those have a LOT of salt, so if you add a sizeable dab of that you are adding salt by default, I see no need to add extra for myself.
I actually have a site you may like - I tripped over it while looking for recipes for oil based cakes. It's a vegan/vegetarian site, but he uses store cupboard ingredients, so the recipes need no 'special' ingredients. It's is great for the likes of me, I just do straight swaps, like using dairy milk instead of his non-dairy milk. He also posts substitutions which can be used. This is it The Plant Based School
 
AdaptAndAchieve said:
In relation to this I've read that you can replace up to 25% (I think it was 25%) of a cakes flour with almond flour and make the cake as normal to reduce carbs for a prediabetic / diabetic person.
Click to expand...
I just looked for a post from a diabetic who has been doing this - they said they are working through their own recipe collection and reducing the carbs by substituting self raising flour with 50% almond flour and extra baking powder, and that adding a bit of ground cinnamon or vanilla paste allows them to reduce the sugar without losing too much sweetness.
 
I only put a cup of sugar in my muffins to 2 cups of flour. Doesn't taste excessive to me :)
 
Reducing sugar content in baked dishes evidently is dependent on one's own sugar tolerance/medical condition. However, since baking is chemistry as well, it would be relevant to check if the sugar actually makes a difference in texture or flavour in the final reckoning.
 
My minor concern with amaranth is its extremely high oxalate content. But oxalate is all about the overall quantity consumed so in small amounts it should be dandy.
A lot of folks aren’t aware of just how toxic oxalate is. It’s like we’re all caught up in the current zeitgeist that all plant food is good for you when really some of it’s very much not.

Oxalate poisoning is usually an insipid type of poisoning, apart from causing kidney failure its ability to cause cell disruption means the symptoms can be quite variable - until it causes kidney failure.

Some poor guy in Spain was diagnosed with diabetes and in an attempt to be healthy had a bowl of sorrel soup. In-spite of making it to hospital and them correctly identifying it was oxalate poisoning he died in ITU. That’s how toxic oxalates are. The Docs wrote it up in a journal concluding they really needed to better educate the public about oxalates, and then it promptly fell by the wayside because the idea some fruit and veg is not good for you just doesn’t fit with the way we’re doing things now.
 
Amateur1 said:
Thanks SandwichShortOfAPicnic. Here is a list of foods high in oxalates. 20 Foods High in Oxalates to Limit if You Have Kidney Stones | Livestrong.com
SatNavSaysStraightOn , If any of these foods appeal, I suggest asking a medical professional. They may suggest combining with dairy or something else with high calcium.
Click to expand...

Very nice of you but I’m well versed in oxalates. Chronic kidney disease, kidney failure and stones are a common complaint.
A lot of the research into oxalate content in food is unreliable but that list seems sound enough if perhaps a little limited.

I don’t agree with the part where you don’t need to bother about oxalate content unless theres a history of kidney disease. Toxins have far ranging effects before they cause organ damage or failure.
But each to their own.

Sally Norton is the best in this field. She has a comprehensive book rating oxalate content in milligrams and how reliable the research is that provided the data. ‘Toxic superfoods’ (the first book not the oxalate listing one) is interesting and compelling if you like science based reads.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom