Adventures in sugar-free cooking.

[errantember]

So one of the most painful things I'm supposed to be avoiding now is anything with cane sugar.

Take a deep breath.

Ok.

So I decided to try making the shortbread from The New Best Recipe with xylitol instead of sugar.
Xylitol is a naturally occurring (but certainly not naturally extracted, especially from corn) alcohol that tastes a lot like sugar, has 1/3 fewer calories, and doesn't promote tooth decay. In fact, it actually helps your teeth, because the bacteria that like to eat sugar *think* it's sugar, eat it, can't digest it, and starve to death.

Cool.

Anyway, it's supposed to be pound-for-pound substitutable for sugar, so I made some shortbread. The result tastes fairly similar, minus the subtle carmelized overtones present in the sugar-based version. The biggest problem, and the reason I can't call the operation a success (except as as test) is that the shortbread has *no* cookie-style crispiness at all. It's basically the consistency of a soft cookie. And the consistency change definitely fucks over the entire experience.

Any clues what else I could add to get the crispiness back?

Comments

[terriblelynne.livejournal.com]

I was raised on a no-processed-cane-sugar diet and am very familiar with sugar substitutions...want to shoot me the recipe and see what I can make of it? I'd also be happy to shove some tried and true sugar free recipes your direction. :-)

[errantember.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I'll definitely take you up on that.