Sugar-Free Cooking With Stevia
Low-Carb Cooking with Stevia
By Tanya and James Kirkland
Published by Crystal Health Publishing, Arlington, Texas 76003-1683

“This book is written for informational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or prescribe for any medical condition nor to replace common sense and reasonable caution in consuming stevia products. This book should not be used as a substitute for your physician’s advice.”

James Kirkland is not, and does not claim to be a medical professional, and the information in these books comes from his own experiences and research. The Kirklands teach sugar-free cooking classes, give radio and television interviews.

This is an altogether new and interesting subject to me. So, what is stevia? Stevia (pronounced steh-via) is a leafy green plant of the Asteraceae family. Stevia is related to lettuce, marigold and chicory. Other names include Sweet Leaf, Caa-he-E, or Erva Doce. The Guarani Indians in South America had been using the leaves of the plant for centuries to sweeten bitter teas and as a sweet treat.

I called my friend Karen at Nature’s Own to see if she knew about Stevia. Karen told me that Stevia can be purchased there and that packets are available on the tables in the 195 Restaurant, along with Turbinado sugar and Sweet `N Low.

Both of these cookbooks contain conversion charts, names and addresses of the suppliers of Stevia products. You may want to visit for updates on this product.

With Stevia available locally, you might want to try one of the following recipes.

Pancakes

1 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 ¼ teaspoon stevia blend

or ¼ teaspoon steviside

or 4 ½ packets of stevia

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs, beaten

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 ¼ cups milk

Sift the flour with the salt, stevia, and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; add the eggs, melted butter, and milk. Stir until the batter is almost smooth and let stand at least 1 to 2 hours before cooking.

Lightly grease a frying pan with oil or butter. Pour batter onto hot skillet to make round cakes. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the underneath is brown. Turn pancake and brown other side. Serve hot.

Variations: Try ½ cup whole-wheat flour and ½ cup buckwheat flour for the all-purpose flour.

Fold ½ cup finely chopped nuts into the batter.

Prepare as above, substituting buttermilk for milk. If needed, add additional buttermilk to thin the batter.

Apricot Rum Sauce

This is excellent for waffles, pancakes, or ice cream.

Note: the fruit must be very ripe or the sauce will be tart.

4 each ripe apricots, pealed and pitted

2 tablespoons rum flavoring

½ cup water

1 each lemon juice

1 ½ teaspoon stevia blend

or 3/16 teaspoon stevioside

or 3 packets of stevia

Combine apricots, water, stevia, and lemon juice in a heavy saucepan and heat over medium heat stirring frequently until apricots soften; bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the rum flavoring; allow to cool. In a blender or food processor, puree sauce till thick and creamy. Refrigerate; serve cold.

Variations: Plums or peaches can be substituted for the apricots.