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Stevia is one of a family of plants that are native to South America and have been used for centuries to sweeten drinks and foods. Stevia leaves are said o date, no harmful side effects have come to light, making stevia one of the most promising sugar alternatives available. Stevosito be from 30 to 300 times sweeter than sugar though the amount of sweetness varies from leaf to leaf and plant to plant.
Stevia has been in wide use in South America for centuries, and in Japan since the government banned the use of artificial sweeteners.
Parts Used
Leaves
Typical Preparations
As a tea, in food and beverages as a sweetener and sometimes in capsule or extract form.
Precautions
Stevia has no reported side effects.
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Macadamia Nut Butter Cookies
The most fun part of this recipe is forming the balls of dough to make the cookies. My hands become quite gooey! Then, I get to lick them off. Yummmmmm...
1/4 cut macadamia nut butter (approximately 2 1/2 ounces macadamia nuts, whole)
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon SteviaPlus®
4 packets sucralose
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup soy protein (NOT soy flour!)
1/2 cup ground almonds
To make the nut butter: Place the nuts into food processor with chopping blade and process until they are creamy, about 2 to 4 minutes. At first, the nuts will form a meal, then the oil will begin to separate out of them. That is when the nut butter is formed.
In a small mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the macadamia nut butter, butter, SteviaPlus® and sucralose for 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and egg, continuing to mix for 1 more minute. In a small bowl, mix the baking soda, soy protein and ground almonds. On low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, until thoroughly combined. The dough will be STICKY! Dust your fingers with soy protein and form the dough into balls about the size of golf balls. Place them 2" apart on a baking sheet, (lined with parchment paper, if desired, for easier clean-up), and bake at 375 F for 6 minutes. They should appear under-done. Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for one to two minutes. Place cookies on a cooling rack to cool Makes 9.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1/2 cup raisins (packed)
5 ounces apple juice
1/3 cup raw cashews or walnuts (coarsely ground)
1/4 cup soy flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine (softened)
3/4 tsp. stevia extract
1/2 tsp. maple flavoring
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Oil a cookie sheet.
Yield: 18 (3 inch) cookies.
Place the raisins and apple juice in a small pan and sinner over low heat for 15 minutes.
Coarsely grind cashews or walnuts in a blender. In a mixing bowl, cream the cashew or walnut meal and soy flour into the softened butter (or margarine). Stir in the stevia, maple flavoring, vanilla, and slightly beaten egg.
Cream 1/3 of the stewed raisins and all of the juice in a blender. Set the rest of the raisins aside. Stir the creamed raisins into the butter mixture. Add the milk and oats.
Sift together the wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir the flour into the other ingredients. Add the rest of the raisins. Don't over mix.
Drop onto oiled cookie sheet and flatten with the palm of the hand.
Bake 13-15 minutes.
NOTE: Soft margarine may also be used.
For reduced-fat cookies: substitute the 1/2 cup of butter in the recipe for 1/3 cup butter and 1/4 cup apple butter.
If you don't want to add the nuts increase the flour by 1/4 cup.
Pumpkin Pie
Single 9-inch crust
1.4 tsp. salt
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 Tbsp soy flour
4 Tbsp soft soy or canola margarine
3 Tbsp cold water
Mix the salt into the flour. Cut the margarine into the flour with a pastry blender or fork until well distributed and looks like a coarse meal. Sprinkle the water in gradually while misxing the flour.
Form into a ball and roll out between two pieces of wax paper. Remove top sheet of paper and flip crust over into a pie pan. Remove the other paper. Trim and flute edges.
Filling
10 to 12 ounces soft or silken tofu
1/3 cup oil
2 cups fresh cooked pumpkin (packed) OR
1 15-ounce can of plain pumpkin
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp Fruitsource or date sugar
1/2 tsp maple flavoring
1/2 tsp stevia extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Blend all the ingredients for the filling until smooth and creamy in a blender or food processor. If using a blender, start with some of the tofu and oil. Gradually add the rest of the ingredients. USe the pulse button; stirring in between pulses.
Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake for 1 hour. Chill and serve.
The saga of American interest in stevia began around the turn of the
Twentieth Century when researchers in Brazil started hearing about "a
plant with leaves so sweet that a part of one would sweeten a whole
gourd full of mate." The plant had been described in 1899 by
Dr. M. S. Bertoni. In 1921 the American Trade Commissioner to Paraguay commented in a letter "Although known to science for thirty years and used by the Indians for a much longer period nothing has been done commercially with the plant. This has been due to a lack of interest on the part of capital and to the difficulty of cultivation."
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