March 23, 2005

• Sugar-free Wheat-free Cookies

  Some of you know that I’m sensitive to a lot of foods and have been on
  a gluten-free sugar-free diet for a few years.  The mainstay of my diet is a
  muffin recipe that changes from one batch to the next (several versions
  of it are in Xanga Cookbook.).
    I bake them 3 dozen at a time and freeze them to nuke later,
  usually for breakfast.  After all these months and all the
  variations I could think of, I’d been getting a bit tired of muffins.

  
  …and then there’s that other matter, my latest addiction,
  Splenda®.  I keep telling myself I shoulda known better.  I’m
  hooked.  I deluded myself that because the stuff calls itself
  calorie-free and lists 0 carbs on the label, I could handle it. 
  It started with a drink:  Crystal Clear no-calorie flavored
  sparkling water sweetened with sucralose.  My taste buds had
  adjusted to the absence of refined sugar to the extent that the stuff
  was so cloyingly sweet that at first I’d mix one part of it with 2 or 3
  parts plain sparkling water.  How sweet it was!
  
  
  
  Then, Greyfox turned me on to the little packets of Splenda® at our
  favorite Mexican restaurant.  I took a couple of them to an NA
  meeting and used about a third of one to sweeten a cup of tea.  So
  sweet!  Then we bought a box of those packets and I used a bunch
  of them to sweeten the filling in a squash pie for the holidays. 
  Mmmmmm.  I didn’t do any web research on it at the time, but
  Greyfox told me it’s made by replacing three of the hydroxyl groups in
  a sugar molecule with three atoms of chlorine. 
  
  
  
  It wasn’t long before I was sprinkling a packet of Splenda® on my
  cereal, or using it as I’d been using stevia extract to sweeten yogurt
  or tart fruits.  It gave me all the sweetness with none of
  stevia’s bitter aftertaste.  For a while, I was almost euphoric as
  I reveled in the sweetness.  For a while after that, like any good
  addict, I ignored the danger signs and denied what was happening.
  
  
  
  I stopped mixing my sweet water with the plain.  It no longer
  tasted too sweet.  I started adding sweetener to things I’d been
  eating unsweetened.  I began using two or three or more packets
  where I’d been using only a part of one packet.  I started
  improvising new recipes that used Splenda®.  Worst of all, I found
  myself looking around between meals for something to sprinkle a little
  Splenda® on for a sweet snack. 
  
  
  
  When I could no longer deny I had a new problem very much like the old
  sugar addiction, I at first rationalized it thusly:  “At least
  it’s not as bad as sugar.”  Perhaps the craziest part of all this
  is my “fickle fingers of food” test.  That’s the way I have been
  testing for allergens and sensitivities for years.  I use muscle
  response testing (MRT),
  applied kinesiology, to decide what foods are safe for me to eat. 
  It has worked very well up to now.  I lost 40% of my body weight,
  going from morbid obesity to a BMI of 23 almost effortlessly in less
  than a year just by carefully choosing what I ate, and not limiting
  portions or calories.  No exercise program, either.  Exercise
  is a ridiculous concept to anyone with CFS. 
  
  
  
  Anyhow, the MRT still tells me that sucralose is okay for me. 
  It’s just my addictive use of it that is not okay.  I suppose I’m
  going to have to get back on the amino acids again to kick this
  stuff.  I’ve gained
  10 pounds with this winter’s sweetness addiction.  I don’t know if
  the latest development (tearing open a packet, dumping it on my tongue
  and chasing it with coffee) is the extremity of addictive use, or a
  healthy
  sign of an extinction burst (not familar with that term?  I wrote
  of it in my first Xanga entry).  Today, I looked up some info with Google.  Predictably, what you find
  out about it depends on who you ask.  Sources vary all the way from “NO
  adverse reactions” to “many SERIOUS adverse reactions.” 

  Oddly enough,
  I found no references to sucralose addiction, and some sources even
  recommended it as an aid in kicking sugar addiction.  Well, if
  that hasn’t scared you off from sucralose here’s something to
  try:  my latest recipe.    Honestly, I really started
  this entry to share the recipe, but then I got off on that sucralose
  side-trip.

  Preheat oven to 400° F.  Grease cookie sheets.

  Beat together:

  2 large eggs
  48 packets of Splenda® (48 grams, or 2 cups of the granulated form for baking) (If you prefer real sugar over artifical sweeteners, use 2 cups of sugar or 1 cup white and 1 cup brown sugar)
  1 cup vegetable oil
  1/2 cup softened butter
  1/2 teaspoon vanilla

  Whisk together in a separate bowl:

  2 cups gluten-free flour (I used Bob’s
  Red Mill GF baking mix) (ordinary white flour can be substituted in
  this recipe, in which case omit the xanthan gum below)
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 teaspoon xanthan gum (essential to hold together gluten-free products)

  Stir the flour mixture into the liquid ingredients until most of the flour is moistened, then add and combine well:

  2 cups quick-cooking oats (omit oats for a truly gluten-free cookie)
  1 cup raisins
  1 apple, cored and diced

  Add last and stir in gently:

  2 cups corn flakes cereal (these add a
  small amount of sugar and can be omitted — you’ll have a different
  cookie, but still a cookie)

  Drop from a tablespoon onto cookie sheets and bake 9 minutes at 400° F.

  If you have more self-control than I do, you’ll avoid eating most of
  the dough before it’s baked, and this recipe may yield 2 to 3 dozen
  cookies.
  

  • 9:30 pm
  • 15 Comments