I am excited that stevia is now allowed into food products as a sweetener, as it has been in Japan for decades. This recently changed with the FDA lifting the ban on stevia used as an ingredient in products made and sold in the United States in early 2009. (Click here to read my stevia-FDA paper in an earlier post.) Products made with stevia are indeed beginning to pop up here and there, and I think this trend is going to increase. I am rarely one for prepared packaged foods, but over the years I have worked on creating a good stevia brownie recipe without much success. Perhaps now that there are stevia baking products that more closely mimic the texture and baking abilities of sugar, there might be hope.
I recently ordered this fudge brownie mix to try it out, and see if I can glean some inspiration for a homemade version. All that is needed is 1/3 c. water and 2 TBS vegetable oil (I always use canola) to mix into the dry mix which consists of enriched flour, sorbitol, maltodextrin, cocoa lecithin, nonfat milk, sodium bicarbonate, calcium phosphate, "natural flavor", and stevia extract.
It is the closest I've experienced to a reasonable-tasting chocolate fudge brownie. The sweet and chocolate ratio seems to be right. As with most stevia baked goods, the texture is a bit different than the traditional sweet-fatty brownies, but this is to be expected. Overall, not too bad. I definitely felt full, too, after one.
Seems like a decent substitute until I come up with the primo-, preservative-free, stevia brownie. :-)
Approved!
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