Review: Truvia - Nature's Calorie-Free Sweetener
" Truvía® natural sweetener is the first natural, great-tasting, zero-calorie sweetener born from the leaves of the stevia plant.
o One packet of Truvía® natural sweetener provides the same sweetness as two teaspoons of sugar.o Truvía® natural sweetener is refreshingly uncomplicated. Add it to coffee and tea. Sprinkle it on fruit and cereal.o Truvía® natural sweetener is a great alternative for people with diabetes. It is also kosher certified.
Where to BuyTruvía® natural sweetener is available nationally at most major retailers and in package sizes of 40-count, 80-count, 140-count and a spoonable jar.
Discover great-tasting recipe ideas and more at truvia.com " (from Truvia promotional site on influenster)
What is Truvia?
Truvia sweetener comes from nature: Rebiana comes from the sweet leaf of the stevia plant, native to South Amercia. Dried stevia leaves are steeped in water, similar to making tea. This unlocks the best tasting part of the leaf which is then purified to provide a calorie-free sweet taste. Natural flavors compliment the clean sweet taste of Truvia sweetener. Eryhritol is a natural sweetener. Produced by a natural process, and is also found in fruits like grapes and pears.
My thoughts:
I am a fan of calorie free sweeteners! At home we have Splenda, Sweet & Low and regular sugar but the first 2 is used more often. I'm a splenda girl and my husband is the sweet & low guy.
When I opened up the Truvia sample box, there were 7 packets and each packet felt like it was less than entirely filled up to its packaging. Maybe it was the similarity in shape that Truvia had to sugar, which was round granules but that seemed great because other sweeteners aren't filled to its entire packaging. In turn, I felt you got more for your money in each little packet.
I'm usually a coffee drinker but since being pregnant with my second child and nursing, I have cut coffee out of my diet completely and picked up teas. When I drink hot tea, I prefer it plain because I enjoy the natural tastes of the teas and having sugar in my hot tea was a change. To try it out, I put a quick dash (which literally was only a fourth of the packet) into my tea. I sipped the tea and it was too sweet for my taste. With that experiment, I felt Truvia did its job of sweetening my tea but not to my enjoyment.
I compared the three non-calorie sweeteners in our house with taste and texture and found the following:
Splenda - light, airy, fluffy, sweeter than Truvia
Sweet and Low - dust like, sweetness similar to sugar, lingering after taste
Truvia - looks similar to sugar but smaller granules, sweet, no lingering after taste
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| Difference in texture of Splenda , Truvia , Sweet & Low |
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| Truvia looks similar to regular sugar at glance |
Like all other sweeteners, it is a great alternative to regular sugar in most food dishes and drinks. I perused the truvia website and found some recipes but not many. In comparison, Splenda's website had many recipes on its website to make healthier version of dishes. On a different note, I liked how one of the winners of Top Chef, Sam Talbot (a diabetic), created recipes that uses Truvia on the website.
When baking with truvia (from its website)-
- Cooler oven: Baking with Truvia® natural sweetener often requires using lower temperature than sugar based recipes. Lower the oven temperature by about 25 to 50 degrees F and increase baking time by 5-10 minutes.
- Replacing sugar in baked goods: The most difficult recipes to replace sugar in are baked goods like cookies, cakes, muffins and brownies. Sugar contributes a lot of functionality to baked goods beyond sweetness - like structure, tenderness, spread and browning. For best results, leave about 1/4 cup sugar in your favorite recipe and replace the remainder with appropriate amount of Truvia® natural sweetener from the conversion chart on www.truvia.com. Use brown sugar for more chewy and moist baked goods.
So, there are a couple of things to be aware of when using Truvia in baking.
From the splenda and truvia conversion charts, the amount in measurement equaled the same amount of each package. For example both splenda and truvia in 1tbsp = 1 1/2 packet of sweetener.
The cost for a package of 40ct of Truvia is $3.99 or plastic spoonable canister is $6.99.
I like Truvia and plan to take advantage of the $0.75 off coupon on a full size package when I finish what I have. I really like how this product over my current sweeteners because it is naturally derived and doesn't come from chemicals. As a mom on a budget, I purchase store brands of popular named brands and would be inclined to buy more if I had a coupon or if there was a promotional discount. Personally, I'd like to see more recipes on website using Truvia and hope there will be more coupons to reduce cost of Truvia.
Pro -
- Great naturally calorie free alternative
- Don't have to use as much to sweeten
- Looks like sugar
- Packaging is filled with truvia
- Sample pack had a coupon
- All natural from Stevia Leaves, I can read the ingredients of this product
Cons-
- Not FDA approved
- Lack of an extensive recipe database
- With all things, moderate usage to avoid possible side effects
In short -
Packaging - packet in a white and green packaging filled a less than full
Sweetened? Yes, with just a dash!
Texture - granules similar to sugar but smaller
Taste - Sweet and no after taste
Cost - 40 ct: $3.99 or spoonable $6.99
More information - www.truvia.com
Ranking - 5 out 5 stars
Would you recommend it to a friend? YES!
Are you a truvia user? Have you used it in baked goods? Have any good recipes?
I found one I'd like to use but my husband ended up eating the bananas I wanted to use. Reduced sugar banana bread
Thanks for reading and subscribe to keep up with new posts!
Laters,
Ree
P.S.
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FTC: this product was complimentary through the Influenster VoxBox Program. Review and opinions are 100% honest.
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