in it for that nutty sweet flavor. (Easy Oatmeal Recipe) It's half the sugar content, right? So it's a good choice. Or so I believed until tonight. I am almost out of Splenda Brown Sugar and I was at the grocery store, so went to grab a new bag. Out of curiousity, I thought I'd compare labels with the Splenda and normal brown sugar. Surprise! Surprise! Guess what I found out?!
Splenda Brown Sugar
Serving size 1/2 tsp (2g)
Calories 10
Carbs 2g
Sugar 2g
Normal Brown Sugar
Serving size 1 tsp (4g)
Calories 17
Carbs 4g
Sugar 4g
What the heck?! How did I get fooled on something so elementary? I'm kind of pissed at myself for falling for the advertising hype. I've been paying $3.59 for 8oz of Splenda BS that I could have been getting 16oz for $1.66. Do you know how many Goodwill bargains I could have bought?! Dang!
EDITED TO ADD: Yes, I realize that Splenda Brown Sugar is suppose to be "twice as sweet" as normal brown sugar so you are not suppose to need as much for recipe. But seriously... have you ever measured out 1/2 teaspoon of Splenda Brown Sugar and added it to a bowl of oatmeal? Does 1/2 teaspoon even cover the top or is it even able to be spread evenly enough to flavor the whole bowl? No, not exactly.
I've switched to back to normal brown sugar.
~Pam
Hi!! But the Splenda brown sugar-blend is STILL a better deal for someone like me, doing low-carb, low-sugar (with 50# to lose!). You get half the carbs in the Splenda, and 1/2 tsp contains all the sweetening (or more) of the 1 tsp of brown sugar -- that's because Splenda (sucralose) is sweeter than sugar. It's still a good deal if one wants brown sugar taste but less sugar : - ) Good luck with what you're doing!
ReplyDeleteWell, there's a couple ways to interpret this finding... the point is, it's pretty-well accepted that you can make your own "proprietary blend" by mixing 1:1 Splenda with genuine brown sugar, then using 1/2 the total amount called for in the recipe.
ReplyDeleteFor regular BBQ'ers, brown sugar is an integral ingredient, and most "replacements" (i.e. Sugar Twin) don't hold up to the actual cooking like a brown suger/Splenda mix would.
Sorry, for clarification... Splenda Brown Sugar Blend DOES contain genuine brown sugar... otherwise it's nutrition info would remain 0g carbs. Ingredients are "Splenda + Brown Sugar" in a "proprietary blend" (which is very likely 1:1)
ReplyDeleteI found this post while searching for the splenda brown sugar site so I could complain. I really hate this product! Nutritional issues aside, I was so disappointed when I opened the bag and was greeted by the acrid odor of molasses. That probably works for baking, but I bought the product to use on grapefruit, cereals, oatmeal, etc. And the taste just does not work at all. They don't advertise that it is not appropriate for non-baking uses -- unless I missed something?
ReplyDeleteYou do realize that brown sugar is some form of molasses mixed with regular sugar
ReplyDeleteI just compared the labels myself and the difference is in serving size--the Splenda brown sugar serving size is 1/2 teaspoon PACKED, regular brown sugar has a 1 teaspoon serving size. The difference would be the difference between packed vs. loose, which still could mean the Splenda has 1/2 the calories of regular brown sugar.
ReplyDeletedon't know about Splenda Brown Sugar but with regular Splenda the top 2 ingredients are Dextrose (which is SUGAR)and Maltodextrin (which is SUGAR). Sucralose is the last (smallest) amount in the sweetner. The FDA allows any sweetner that has 5 calories or less per teaspoon to LEGALLY state ZERO calories!!! These sweetners are fulling everyone LEGALLY. What a joke
ReplyDeleteThe difference here is that the body can't metabolize sucralose. Resulting in 0-low calorie intake. We all know that sugar and sucralose measure lb for lb the same, but the weight change is drastically less in the sucralose. If you were not looking for a low calorie substitute then what is the point of buying splenda? What I'm getting at is, the body cannot physically absorb the sucralose in the brown sugar substitute. I came to this page seeing if brown sugar splenda even existed, I guess I layed my question to rest, thank you.
ReplyDelete@zacgrayhawk -- remember that Splenda Brown Sugar is actually 50% sugar and 50% sucralose. If you read the post carefully you'll realize that I discovered the reason they are able to put such a low calorie value for Splenda Brown Sugar is because they cut the serving size in half.
ReplyDeleteYou're right - if you're only using a teaspoon of brown sugar a day, it isn't worth your while to use Splenda Brown Sugar. The difference for one teaspoon is very small.
ReplyDeleteI, on the other hand, am a sugar fiend. =) I have a beloved recipe for pumpkin muffins which makes 36 muffins, and the recipe calls for 4 cups of brown sugar. (They're less than a gram of fat per muffin, using unsweetened applesauce in place of oil/butter so the only fat comes from eggs, but yeah, helllloooo sugar.) For just the sugar in the recipe, 4 cups is 192 teaspoons = 3264 calories using regular brown sugar. If I use Splenda Brown Sugar instead (2 cups, because it's way sweeter than reg. brown sugar), it's 960 calories. It's a much bigger difference than when you're just comparing 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp. Regular brown sugar would give me 90 calories per muffin, where Splenda Brown Sugar would give me 26 calories per muffin.
I added the calories together for *all the ingredients* in my recipe and divided it by the 36 servings (most of the other calories come from the flour). Total calories for each muffin with regular brown sugar is 173. Total calories for each muffin with Splenda Brown Sugar is 109. Using the Splenda variety would save me 1/3 of the calories.
I've tried simply cutting the amount of regular brown sugar in the recipe by a third (at my husband's request), and I didn't like the muffins as much. (I told you I was a sugar fiend.) Costco carries the Splenda Brown Sugar so I'll have to give it a try and see if I like it in my muffins. I hope I like it, because I'll eat 3-4 of these muffins a day, easy.
Sweet biscuits and gravy. My math is TERRIBLE. See? This is why no one should attempt math after having major dental surgery, I think my head is still in the clouds. My apologies. I'll explain below:
ReplyDeleteI computed Splenda Brown Sugar's calories by using 10 calories *per teaspoon*. Which it isn't, it's 10 calories per HALF teaspoon. So those 2 cups of SBS adds 1920 calories to the whole recipe, which would be 52 calories per muffin for the SBS alone. With all ingredients, each muffin has 135 calories using SBS. Saves me *almost* 40 calories per muffin over using regular brown sugar. I'm not seriously counting calories in my diet so I'm getting in that grey zone of "is the extra price worth it?" for me, but my husband is very mindful of calories (because of his dad's heart disease, hubby is trying not to go down that road) so I'll give the SBS a whirl for his sake.
@SpecialK -- thanks so much for sharing your math on the recipe. Have you considered a no-calorie option that will give you the same or similar flavor like Torani flavored syrup. I often use the syrups for flavoring and sweetness instead of sugar or Splenda (which can get pricey with large batches of recipes).
ReplyDeleteWe use Torani's sugar free Brown Sugar Cinnamon flavor syrup in lattes/frappes and really like it (we also have a few of the DaVinci sugar free syrups, really good), but I hadn't considered using it in baked goods. Sugar affects the texture by adding moisture and tenderness to baked goods, but using a sugar free liquid syrup, maybe it would work in sugar's place. I should try a small batch and give it a go... worst case, even if it doesn't turn out to my expectations, my husband will still eat them. =)
ReplyDeleteSWITCH TO STEVIA BROWN SUGAR MIX--5 CALORES PER HALF TEASPOON.
ReplyDeleteWhen this was originally written in 2009, stevia brown sugar wasn't a thing. Plus... I don't like the taste of Stevia.
DeleteIs it better than Stevia?
DeleteAll the post taken together was very informative
ReplyDeleteThanks All!!!
You can make a light brown sugar substitute by adding 1 1/2 tbs of molasses to 1 cup of regular sugar or 3 tbs for dark brown. Don't know if you add molasses to Splenda if it would make good substitute or not.
ReplyDeleteFYI - you get white sugar in the factory by extracting the natural molasses from sugar beets or sugar cane. So yes, that makes sense to add it back in to create brown sugar. HOWEVER - remember that 1 tbs of molasses has 11g of sugar content. So it's not a suger-free or calorie-free option.
Deletesome people are diabetics an cant have real sugar of any kind its not about waistline with them but life and death just saying i love goodwill too
ReplyDeleteYes, I absolutely agree! Which is why I advocate reading the food labels before you purchase something new. I battle Reactive Hypoglycemia, so I need to limit my sugar intake or else I end up with a dangerous blood sugar crash. I think the more we educate each other on various products, the better off we'll all be. Thanks for your comment. (I love Goodwill too!)
DeleteRegular brown sugar is white sugar with molasses added back into it. It contains 12 grams of carbohydrate per tablespoon, or 4 per teaspoon, and comes in at 64 on the glycemic index. By using Splenda Brown sugar I can cut the carbs in half. I will not be using more than a teaspoon or two at a time and it shouldn't have too bad an effect on my blood sugar. If you are diabetic, like me, you will have to test and see what effect it has. I haven't tried it yet but I will be getting some, along with regular Splenda.
ReplyDelete