Healthy Baking: Sugar Substitutes

Baking to Better Health

Stirring a packet of sweetener into your cup of coffee is one thing. Baking with sugar substitutes is quite another. If you've tried it, you've probably experienced some ups and downs. Sugar substitutes often can't stand up to the prolonged heat of the oven, causing baked goods to lose volume, taste less sweet, show tunneling, or appear crumbly and lighter in color than goods baked with sugar. On the other hand, sweeteners sometimes offer significant savings in calories and carbs, which can be a welcome option for fitting baked treats into your meal plan.

With the help of the baking experts and dietitians in the Better Homes and Gardens® Test Kitchen, we performed test after test to bring you our best recommendations for achieving great taste and appearance when baking with sugar substitutes. We note the brands that gave us the sweetest results.