I get a lot of questions about the ingredients I use in ota.bars, so I thought while I have some down time [while getting ready to move] from making bars, that I would briefly talk about them.
I'm going to start with SUCANAT. Sucanat is evaporated sugar cane juice. It is the most minimally processed sugar you will find! It has a dusty brown color with small sand-like grains. Because of the short process it goes through, it actually retains all of its natural caramel and molasses coloring and flavor. Whereas brown sugar is processed and refined down to white sugar and molasses + caramel syrups are added back in [yak!].
My thought is...Why does something need to be processed and refined down and then have color and flavor added back in...when it's most natural, less-processed form, already holds those attributes!? Because it is so minimally processed it retains some natural vitamins + minerals that exist in the sugar cane plant!
SUCANAT PROCESS: crush sugar cane ---> extract juice ---> dry juice ---> paddle into granules
I haven't gotten a bag of white sugar or brown sugar in quite some time now. I have been substituting 1:1 in my recipes that call for sugar. I would love to hear from YOU and your experience with sucanat.
Send any questions my way!! Would love to give more details!
[practicing my completely amateur photog. skillz]
I buy sucanat in 2.5lb bags from this awesome store Natural Grocers. Each bag costs about $3!!! [cheap cheap cheap!] I love this store and buy about 70% of my ingredients from them. If you just want to try it out, go to Whole Foods/EarthFare/etc. and you'll find 2lb bags for appx. $6.
[trying to capture the sand-like quality]
Do not confuse this with Turbinado sugar. Turbinado sugar looks all pretty, with its large grain - shine appeal, but is basically processed down almost as much as white sugar. It only retains trace amounts of its natural molasses content.
Not only does this awesome ingredient make your baked goods taste better, it is actually easier on the environemnt too!! [Yaaaaaah!!] It skips a lot of the process that white sugar has to go through to actually become white sugar, which therefore saves time + energy. It is a MUCH less industrialized product [ = HAPPY ASHLEY ].
[GO GET YOU SOME SUCANAT!!!]
Keep me posted if you try this [amazing/flavorful/natural] ingredient out!!!
Catch ya next week!!
Ashley
p.s. if you are looking for a quick + easy + delicious summer recipe, to ease you into switching to sucanat, check out the one I left [for a peach crisp] in the comments on Kath's blog [comment #23]
6 comments:
sooooooooooooo PRETTY + informative!! ooooxxxOOO
Hi Ashley! Iread about your bars on KERF and am interested in them. They sound great! I have 2 q's: Do you know nutritional info and do you ship (I live in Kansas City).
how interesting! i've seen this at the store and wondered. thanks!
Tracy - Thanks for your interest! I do not have the exact nutritional info on them however I have figured them out for 1 of the bars. [cinna-fuse : apples/apricots/walnuts/almonds] Came out to appx. 170 cals : 5g protein : 3g fiber - I didn't figure out fat/sugar/etc. All the bars are appx. the same, but do vary a bit. I do ship bars, but for now I am on ota.bar hiatus b/c my husband and I are moving to Colorado in a few weeks. I'm hoping to restart things there..fingers crossed! Keep your eyes on the blog!!
Thanks for this post! I had been wondering about sucanat! Gotta get myself to a whole foods!
Thanks for the reply, Ashley! I didn't see it before I commented on your facebook page. I'll keep an eye out!
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