Stevia

Our second cookbook this month is very appropriate for this time of year, a way to still have some treats while keeping those New Year's Resolutions! It's called "Stevia: Naturally Sweet Recipes for Desserts, Drinks, and More" and it's all about using the natural sweetener Stevia instead of sugar, making your sweets guilt free without losing out on taste!

Stevia is an incredibly sweet herb, contains no calories, and has a glycemic index of 0! You can use stevia in a powder, whole leaf stevia concentrate, and ground stevia leaf. Each form of stevia has different ratio of sweetness compared to sugar (200 to 300 times stronger than sugar), so watch the ingredient list in each recipe, but the greatest advantage of stevia is that it does not adversely affect blood sugar and so it can be used by people with diabetes or hypoglycemia! So, to all those who have been neglecting their sweet tooth-welcome back to the dessert table! Stevia is being heralded as the safest sweetener known to man and it comes recommended by a lot of nutritionists.

This book is actually a revision, combining the author's first two books on baking with stevia into one volume, and even added some new recipes that weren't included in either volume before! The author includes a very well done introduction on the health benefits of stevia, the history of stevia, facts about and uses for stevia, tips on growing your own stevia, and so much more! This is really the answer to all of your questions about natural sweeteners, plus includes all of the great recipes. It's great to look through the recipes and see how little stevia you have to use to sweeten with. For example, a whole quart of lemonade uses 1/3 teaspoon of powdered stevia!

There are a lot of uses for stevia; it's not just cookies and brownies. This book includes recipes in Beverages, Muffins and Breads, Cakes, Cookies and Bars, Custards, Crepes, Puddings, Pies, Fruit and Gelatin Desserts, Sauces and Toppings, and Frozen Desserts. There is little of something to satisfy every sweet tooth, and what better time of year to try to cut down on the sugar intake? For our many vegan readers-there are several recipes in this cookbook that use tofu and soymilk, and for our non-vegan readers-there are plenty of recipes that don't use ingredients you may not be familiar with like tofu too. Literally, something for everyone! I love the muffins too, I am always on the lookout for breakfast foods to send in the car with my husband on his way to work and naturally sweetened muffins fit the bill nicely! There are SO many recipes in this cookbook, over 150, and there are also lots and lots of tips, an ingredient glossary, and an equivalency chart for converting sugar amounts into stevia amounts you can use stevia in your own recipes as well!

Some of the recipes in this cookbook are: Quick Cranberry Punch, Strawberry Nog, Hot Cocoa, Cranberry Orange Muffins, Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Applesauce Gingerbread, Spice Cake, Strawberry Cream Cake, Cashew Coconut Chews (cookie), Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Pumpkin Bars, Flan, Banana Coconut Custard, Tapioca Pudding (a staple in my diet!), Blackberry Cream Pie, Baked Pears, Sparkling Gelatin, Raspberry Sherbet, Quick Berry Ice Cream, Maple Nut Ice Cream, and of course Chocolate Ice Cream complete with Chocolate Sauce! I hope that as you do your new year's baking you will indulge in a few (or more!) of these delicious and guilt free recipes to please your family, friends, and your own palate!