Hi AGAIN...

I got my polyd. I went to make traditional brownies (of course subbing carbalose for the regular flour and replacing sweeteners). I melted the chocolate and butter added 1/2 C splenda and 1/2 C polyd (recipe called for 1C sugar). I ended up with a hard clump of goo. It didn't get better when I added the eggs or flour. I have a feeling I did something majorly wrong...
including the fact that it won't be sweet enough.

Please tell me how to bake with polyd - or cook with it in general.

Thanks...again!
Robin

Well..... iit depends on what your making as to how you use the PolyD.

First off--PolyD is not a substitute for sweetener. Even the PolyD Plus. PolyD acts as a texturizer for baked things and is used for texture in things like candy for it's crystalization effect (help me out here--Scott/Kevin/Island )

Second--if you are baking with it. You will get your best results if you mix the PolyD with the other dry ingredients well and then add the liquid.

Third--if you are using it in a wet application, you will get best results if you heat it with the wet ingredients and it it gets melted. Otherwise you get a chunk/glob of glue

Fourth--there is some reaction with Splenda and chocolate. Splenda + chocolate = bitter and nasty. You will have much better luck if you learn how to mix sweeteners--splenda/sweetfree, sweetone/ace-K, erythritol, xylitol, etc
it takes some experimenting with which one and how much.

Fifth--there are many threads on this board regarding the application of PolyD and sugar substitutes--usually found in the kitchen topic.

I am by no means the PolyD and sweetener expert--I'll leave that to Islandgirl, Scott123 and Kevinpa. They will be around sooner or later and they can give you more precise intructions.

Good luck!! Keep Cooking!!

Lisa

I appreciate the tips. So my question now has to be...

Well, how on earth do you know how much to use?

(let's just go with the brownie idea right now)

And, yes, the brownies turned out nasty. Parts were sticky and shiny and other parts were dry and matte looking. The sweetness wasn't TOO far off though. Maybe that comes from not eating sugar for almost 3 months! They didn't seem bitter, but I did detect the salty flavor that people talk about with the carbquik/carbalose flour. I would use unsalted butter next time.


I've tried to search for posts about polyd and don't ever seem to find anything other than recipes that use it. Not finding any tips on usage. (probably just me...LOL)


Since we're discussing the brownies in particular, here's the recipe I used
(Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book - Fudge Brownies)

1/2 C butter
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 C sugar (here's where I did 1/2 C splenda and 1/2 C polyd)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 C all purpose flour (used Carbalose - not carbquik)

In a medium saucepan melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat lightly by hand just till combined. Stir in flour. Spread batter into a greased 8x8x2 baking pan. Bake in a 350* oven 30 minutes (lowered the temp 25* and added 5 minutes to the baking time per the suggestion printed on the polyd bag)


I have Splenda, Stevia Plus and now Polyd. I don't have the other items that were recommended.

A couple of questions Robin?

When you bought your polyD, was it PolyD or PolyD plus?

Other than Splenda, do you have any other low carb sweeteners?

PolyD does not count as a sweetener unless it is the plus.

Hi Kevin - Regular PolyD. And I also have Stevia Plus. No other sweeteners. I take that back, I just remembered that I have some diabetisweet brown sugar substitue.

I posted the recipe I was using/trying to modify in my last post

OK, I am going to post a recipe for you to try robin. It is version of a recipe by Jackieba but tweaked for the ingredients that you have. Give me a couple of minutes to put it together.

Brownies (Jackieba) tweaked

1 cup POLYD
1/4 CUP diabetisweet
3/4 cup granular splenda
1/2 cup Carbalose flour

2 SQUARES UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE
1 STICK BUTTER
1 TSP VANILLA
2 EGGS
½ CUP CHOPPED PECANS

PREHEAT OVEN TO 325 DEGREES

MIX DRY INGREDIENTS.
MELT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE
ADD VANILLA TO BUTTER/CHOC MIX
LET COOL A BIT THEN ADD EGGS TO BUTTER/CHOC
SLOWLY ADD WET INGRED TO DRY WHISKING/STIRRING VIGOROUSLY
ADD NUTS

BAKE IN FOIL LINES/SPRAYED 8" SQUARE PAN

BAKE 30-35 MINUTES

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with foil/parchment (by far, the easiest for removal later)

This recipe cut into 9 brownies will be about 5 carbs each.

These can be made better with different sweeteners but this will give you a good brownie.

Hope it turns out well for you.

Thanks Kevin! I'll give them a try!

I assume it's not a problem to omit the nuts, right? (DH doesn't like nuts in his brownies - go figure! LOL)

Is high altitude an issue? (I'm in Denver - over 5000 feet)

I don't know....I never lived in Denver.

With brownies and high altitude I'd recomend doing the knife test and seeing if they are done, and if not cooking them just a tad longer. I don't think you have to make any other adjustments.

I'm in Laramie, so right north of you.

There is one error in the recipe directions-- it should say "add the dry ingredients to the wet"--not vice versa. Polyd blends much better if you mix all dry ingredients first then slowly add to the wet ingredients stirring well as you go. This recipe was originally from me (jackieba is my username from another forum) and I just made a mistake typing it up. This makes a fudgey brownie so your knife won't come out completely clean when doing the doneness test.

Jackie

Thanks for the recipe Kevin - and Thanks to Jackie for the original he adapted for me! I need to get more chocolate - then I'll try again.

So, is it *usually* a 1 to 1 ratio? (same amount of polyd as "sugar"?)

And what it's doing is actually adding the bulk/moisture that the artificial sweeteners lack? In which case, it wouldn't be necessary/beneficial in, say, a pizza crust, right?

DH misses pizza so we're trying a pizza with carbalose flour tonight. Hope I can find a recipe that doesn't need yeast...

LadyBelle - Greeting to my neighbor from the north! Thanks for speaking up. Sounds like I don't need to alter the recipe any, I hope.

That right.



In this case that is true but as far as I am concerned that ratio is too high for other things....other may disagree.

Bottom line Robin you will have to find what works best for you and your tastes.

I am one of those people if I use too much polyD I get terrible gas....so I only use as much as I need to for texture.

Btw if you click my recipe index 2 below I have 2 pizza recipes there your husband may like.

Robin,
I don't have any tummy troubles from polyd but everyone is different. I normally use 2/3 cup polyd for 1 cup sugar. You're right--you don't need it for something like pizza crust (or any type of bread). I just it for sweets.

My husband has been wanting me to try a real pizza crust with Carbalose but I haven't yet. I never made my own pizza crust before (we always bought our pizzas) so it would be a challenge and it would need to be a yeast crust to satisfy him. I do make yeast rolls with it though (but I add other stuff besides just Carbalose). The problem will be getting a good crust that is low enough in carbs for OWL. He'll want more than one piece.

I can vouch for the "deep dish pizza quiche" recipe. I made it before I ever heard of Carbalose. It sounds weird but it's really good especially if you use the suggestion of crisping pepperoni and using that as the bottom layer. I don't normally like "mock" stuff and I'm a big pizza lover but this one surprised me. We could pick it up and eat it just like regular pizza and if you didn't know better, you'd think it had a real crust because it looks and feels like it does. There's no eggy taste at all either.

Pizza crust isn't difficult. I used to make it all the time. Especially easy if you have a kitchen aid or cuisinart you can "kneed" the dough with.