Sweet success: Craft delicious baked goods with alternative sweeteners

Nonnutritive sweeteners like allulose and monk fruit provide sweetness without added calories or a sugar spike; however, using them correctly in baked goods requires a little finesse, which you can read more about in SupplySide Food & Beverage Journal's better-for-you baked goods digital magazine.

Higher-intensity sweeteners like stevia or monk fruit solely replace the sweetness and not the bulk. Replacing the lost volume of sugar is a huge challenge — and additional functionalities must be considered.

“Some alternative sweeteners cannot withstand high temperatures and break down during baking, losing their sweetness, while other alternative sweeteners have negative impacts on digestion and can cause issues when consumed in high levels,” Becky Regan, Ph.D., principal scientist of sweet goods applications at IFF, shared. “In addition, some alternative sweeteners do not participate in Maillard browning, which affects crust color and flavor generation. Moreover, select alternative sweeteners have different hygroscopic (water-binding) properties than nutritive sweeteners, which can affect texture. Alternative sweeteners that are not crystalline will impact processing steps such as creaming used for some types of cakes and cookies. This, in turn, will negatively alter the structure, texture and appearance of the baked good.”

Related:Sugar is back on the menu in moderation

Because a single sweetener cannot contribute all the attributes needed in a baked good, a system of sweeteners and ingredients may be required. Julie DesRochers, senior principal scientist at Tate & Lyle, pointed out that high-intensity sweeteners do not contribute to browning, so formulators “will want to make the addition of protein and/or reducing sugar such as a low level of dextrose, corn syrup solids, fructose, allulose or fructooligosaccharides (FOS).” Soluble fibers (such as FOS) simulate the bulk in the dough — just as sugar does — as it’s soluble in the aqueous phase of the dough or batter.

“Sugar is known to tenderize the crumb of a cake or bread,” she continued. “Baked volume can be positively or negatively affected, depending on the type of sugar and level and its effect on starch gelatinization, which (in part) sets the baked product structure. When sugar is removed or partially replaced, the formulator may need to compensate for changes in batter viscosity. Thinner, lower-sugar batters can leverage use of a clean-label instant starch such as CLARIA that will build back the desired batter viscosity. In this case, choosing a starch also helps retain moisture. Other ingredients like various enzymes can be used as clean-label ways to soften crumb, increase loaf volume and extend shelf life.”

Related:Fermentation offers new taste tech for sweeteners

Stevia

All sweetening agents — even among the same class — have differences. For instance, stevia consists of many sweetening components (steviol glycosides) that are inherent in the Stevia rebaudiana plant. The flavors of these components vary depending on the growing location, growing conditions, means of extraction and selection of glycosides in the final sweetening product. Crossbreeding, identifying and isolating specific concentrations and/or combinations of glycosides have improved the flavors of stevia. Today’s offerings have less of the bitter aftertastes that early stevia products suffered, which also means food developers now have a wider variety of attractive products to choose from. “The selection of stevia is largely determined primarily by the flavor sensitivity of the baked good,” DesRochers explained. For example, a more cost-effective stevia can be used in a chocolate cake with partial sugar replacement, whereas a no-sugar-added vanilla product will require a premium stevia. Similarly, a milk chocolate cake will require a more subtle-flavored stevia than a dark chocolate cake.

Monk fruit

Like stevia, monk fruit is also plant derived — in this case, from the fruit of Siraitia grosvenorii. Because of its high temperature tolerance, the ingredient can be used in baked goods. Since it also has high sweetening ability, it requires a bulking agent.

Erythritol

Erythritol is a zero-calorie bulk sweetener often used with high-intensity sweeteners. Icon Foods’ IconiSweet is a blend of allulose, erythritol, stevia and monk fruit. This one-for-one replacement with sugar is recommended for use in baked goods.

By itself, erythritol has a noticeable cooling effect, but that doesn’t preclude its use in bakery items. DesRochers noted, “Erythritol has some functional properties that are very compatible with baked goods, and at lower levels, the cooling effect is not a pitfall.”

Complementary combos

When choosing a formulation strategy, combining well-matched sweeteners can bring out the best of each. “In terms of combinations, there are known synergies among stevia and allulose, so the increased sweetness impact can help to reduce cost-in-use,” DesRochers said. Among alternative sweeteners, she finds allulose is the most unique because its temporal profile is similar to sucrose.

Thom King, chief innovation officer and food scientist at Icon Foods, commented that while stevia and monk fruit have distinct flavors, they tend to mask each other’s off-notes. Their masking abilities also extend to other ingredients in the formula, so he suggested that flavor levels might need to be increased.

IFF offers a line of sweet modulators that can be used to boost sweet flavors, in addition to a variety of maskers which can mask off-flavors that may result from the use of alternative sweeteners or the reduction of sugar.

Allulose

Allulose is a viable choice in most baked goods. Since it’s 70% as sweet as sugar, it contributes bulk and sweetness. Browning is another benefit. But King cautioned that allulose is currently not approved for use in products sold to Whole Foods or Canada. “In that case, I would use a combination of soluble tapioca fiber with a short-chain inulin and a high-intensity sweetener like stevia or monk fruit.” Fibers like chicory or agave inulin metabolize at different rates, allowing higher usage. “You can go as high as 6% with a stacked fiber like that without people getting gas and having a GI [gastrointestinal] issue," King added. “Allulose metabolizes into a GLP-1 agonist, which is a glucagon-like peptide, so it suppresses blood sugar slightly.” He mentioned that the drug Ozempic, used for diabetes and weight control, is also a GLP-1 agonist.

A downside of allulose is it tends to burn at a lower temperature than sugar. King recommends reducing the baking temperature to between 315 and 320 and adding a 15% longer bake time if using allulose. He said he has successfully done this with cereal and baked good applications.

Leavening is another issue when using allulose because it doesn’t activate yeast as well as sugar. “Using baking powder or even egg whites will help give your baked goods a little more fluffiness and less density,” King suggested. “It will definitely brown because allulose participates in Maillard and it has a mouthfeel that’s very similar to sucrose. You might lose some humectancy with allulose, where it might get a little dry. With those types of formulas, I'll backfill with some soluble tapioca fiber, which is a digestive-resistant maltodextrin. And that works well as a humectant.”

To ensure a bake is using the right ingredient or ingredient system, Regan said it is best to work with ingredient suppliers. For good measure, collaborate with a partner that has experience in baked goods, along with a wide portfolio of ingredients to complement the success of the sweetening system.