Stevia, an all-natural alternative sweetener, tastes many times sweeter than sugar. It has no calories, is safe for diabetics and doesn't lead to tooth decay; as of 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows refined stevia products to be used as food sweeteners. The herb is heat-stable for a variety of cooking and baking uses; you can combine it with other sweeteners. Despite its sweet taste, stevia does not act like sugar. Pulverized dried leaves might color your food a bit, they don't dissolve in liquid --- and stevia won't caramelize as sugar would in a meringue, for instance. Jeffrey Goettemoeller, horticulturalist and author of the book "Stevia Sweet Recipes," recommends stevia extract powder as the best choice for most recipes. It is a white powder extracted from the glycosides in the stevia plant. Look for pure stevia with no maltodextrin or other fillers.
Step 1
Crush the dried leaves into a powder, either by hand, in a coffee grinder or an herb blender. Collect the fine powder for use in recipes that call for green stevia powder. Store it in a clean glass jar. According to Goettemoeller, the powder works best with beverages, pineapple, kiwi and some pies.
Step 2
Use 2 to 3 tbsp. of dried, ground stevia leaves in place of one cup of regular cane sugar. This is merely a rule of thumb. Experiment with dried stevia to determine how much to use for your taste. When using ground stevia in place of sugar, you might experience a loss of bulk that sugar would have otherwise provided. Substitute more dry ingredients to make up for it.
Step 3
Make a water-based stevia extract by combining ¼ oz. of dried, whole, crushed or ground stevia leaves to 1 cup of boiling distilled water. Allow it to stand for 24 hours. Strain it, then store in your refrigerator. A water extract is not as sweet as an alcohol-based stevia extract, but either one can be cooked down and concentrated into a syrup. Both water- and alcohol-based extracts are useful in drink recipes.
Step 4
Create an alcohol-based stevia extract using brandy or scotch. Combine dried, whole, crushed or ground leaves with brandy or scotch, for example, and let the mixture stand for 24 hours. Filter the liquid from the leaves or powder residue and dilute it to your liking using pure water. You can reduce the alcohol content of your extract through evaporation by slowly heating it --- not boiling. Refrigerate it, covered, for up to one month or freeze it for up to six months.
Things You'll Need
- Dried stevia leaves
- Grinder
- Strainer
- Glass jar with lid
- Brandy or scotch
References
- Stevia.com; Stevia Sweetener of Choice For Future Generations; James May
- Wake Forest HerbFest: Stevia - Nature's Natural Sweetener
- Stevia.com; Questions and Answers About Stevia; David Richard
- Stevia.com; Growing Your Own Stevia; David Richard
- AboutEating.com; The Sweet Herb Stevia Is the Sweetest Natural Product Known; Rita Nader Heikenfeld
- Stevia Central; Stevia in the Kitchen; Jeffrey Goettemoeller
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