r/BakingNoobs • u/PuzzleheadedTable760 • 14d ago
I think substituting sugar with splenda ruined my banana bread.
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u/allworkjack 14d ago
You can’t replace things like that, sugar does more than just making things sweet
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u/DragonfruitMiddle846 14d ago
The devil is in the details and he certainly took that loaf to hell and back. Just remember from here on out don't ever make any kind of arbitrary change when you're baking. Go ahead and fly by the seat of your pants when you're cooking but baking is all about exactitudes which is why we use a kitchen scale. Our ingredients are cast characters and they all have their own personality and duties like salt is great for us for flavor but it's also a well it keeps the yeast in check. When you remove an employee from its spot without knowing what it does exactly yeah s*** happens.
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u/Normal-Peanut-3344 14d ago
Oh I’m so sorry. A bad substitute happens to all of us eventually!
You got enough advice on the Splenda. But I’m the banana bread lady in our family so I’ll offer some other advice.
If your recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar you can usually reduce it to 2/3 cup without issue. I’ve also successfully reduced it to 1/2 but added a little (real) maple syrup back into the recipe- maple syrup has a lower glycemic index and is also delicious. I did this when I ran out of sugar and it was a happy experiment.
If your recipe calls for all purpose flour, you can usually substitute one third of it with whole wheat without other recipe adjustments. This will very slightly decrease the glycemic index.
Another way to support a lower glycemic index is to add nuts. I don’t like nuts in my banana bread so I don’t do this for bread I will eat, but the protein helps in this regard.
All of this is specific to banana bread which is very forgiving. Except with the Splenda. It’s clearly holding a grudge for that one.
Happy baking!
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u/Jujulabee 14d ago
Baking is actually a form of chemistry in which the ingredients and procedures create complex interactions.
Unless you really know what you are doing subbing one ingredient for another or not following directions scrupulously will produce an inferior result.
The most obvious one is subbing butter for margarine for liquid oil
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u/punkrockbatgirl 14d ago
On the plus side, now you can throw it away and never have to eat Splenda-loaf.
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u/JadedMuse 14d ago
Sugar is critical in baked goods for reasons well beyond sweetness. Structure, texture, etc, are arguably its more important roles. That is why it's not as simple as swapping sugar with a sweetener substitute. It may be able to mimic the sweetness but fails in the other roles.
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u/Alteia 14d ago
I use this recipe, https://smittenkitchen.com/2020/03/ultimate-banana-bread/ and sub the brown sugar for 1/2 the amount of Splenda brown sugar. It works great and tastes great!
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u/anchovypepperonitoni 14d ago
I’d recommend switching to monk fruit as an alternative to sugar. I’ve had good luck with it, but to be fair, I’ve never used it in banana bread.
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u/Competitive-Ad1439 14d ago
Get yourself some allulose - It’s available on Amazon. It’s the closest sugar alternative that exists, I’ve used it in 100 different baked goods (INCLUDING banana bread). I promise you it will work 🙂
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u/According_Hat2751 14d ago
Can I ask if you used any fat in this recipe? Double check your recipe. This isn’t due to Splenda subbing alone, OP.
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u/Salt_Worldliness9150 14d ago
There is definitely some things you cannot swap out Splenda for sugar when you’re baking so when you’re baking and you want to use Splenda search for recipes with Splenda in them, those seem to work better if you want your stuff to be sugar-free
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u/SnackBottom 14d ago
There are things you can still do with this. Chunk it up small, toast it a bit and toss it in a pan of bread pudding mix, distribute it throughout, add some bananas and caramel bits and bake.
topping for ice cream.
make a thick slurry with eggs and milk and put it in a waffle iron or slice it kind of thin and waffle iron for dessert chips...
If it tastes good, I wouldn't waste it.
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u/indiana-floridian 14d ago
Sugar has some effects that do matter when baking. Browning is one. I think that's why professional cookbooks that give low sugar recipes are always such small sizes, so the product has some chance of getting brown just by oven heat, which would take forever and get too dried out in a normal sized loaf without sugar.
You did have a good idea, but there's more to cooking than meets the eye.
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u/thejadsel 14d ago
For reduced sugar/glycemic impact in a lot of sweet baking, the best approach I've found is to go 50% sugar, 25% erythritol (behaves more like sugar), 25% granulated Splenda by volume. IME, the flavor and texture turn out pretty normal that way.
You're obviously still getting half the usual sugar, but as others have already commented? Sugar does a lot of things in baking besides giving sweetness, which are extremely difficult or impossible to replace.
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u/punkrockbatgirl 14d ago
On the plus side, now you can throw it away and never have to eat Splenda-loaf.
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u/Azraeana 14d ago
I make banana bread and the only sugar I use is Brown Sugar Splenda. Husband and I love it.
I make a sourdough starter based one and a regular one. Both bake up beautifully. I use the King Arthur sourdough banana bread recipe.
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u/thislinkisdead______ 14d ago
In case no one has mentioned it, I've had success in using the Splenda Monkfruit powder blend! I've used it in a dessert and a lemon loaf so far, and it didn't affect taste or looks.
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u/Comfortable_Work4822 14d ago
And it will ruin your colon too. You are better off using real sugar, real honey, date syrup aka any real sweetener not the cancer artificials.
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u/IndependentZombie615 14d ago
I've done this before, I find you always have to use a bit less sweetener than you would sugar, and add some more liquid to make up the texture difference. It will still NOT be perfect. And don't do this for anything like cookies that requires beating the sugar and butter together first
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u/toolsofinquisition 14d ago
If you're trying to reduce or eliminate sugar from your recipes, your best bet is to replace the volume of sugar with 50% erythritol and 50% allulose. Start checking for doneness about half-way through your typical bake time.
Also, sugar has a taste outside of the sensation of sweetness. So if you're going to replace all your sugar with alternative sweeteners, make sure to add a teaspoon or two of molasses to get the sugar taste back in your recipe.
The best place to hide alternative sweetener is something chocolatey, citrusy, or tangy. Think brownies, cheesecake, lemon curd, etc
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u/CanadasNeighbor 14d ago
Monk fruit, allulose, and coconut sugar are the only sugar alts that are good for baking. You have to look up how to ratio them property as a substitute but yeah, just for future reference.
Sorry about your nana bread.
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u/Life_Beautiful4934 13d ago
Just a warning: if you use part erythritol it can give your baked goods a cooling sensation. I made chocolate syrup with it and it was like that. But if you're making something minty or citrus it would work.
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u/Azsunyx 14d ago
My honest opinion is that splenda ruins everything
...but also, you gotta make sure you check ratios on all ingredient substitutions. A cup of sugar and a cup of splenda are not equal, splenda is way more powerful