Desserts

245

Nondairy Milkshakes (page 259) and for tea. For baking, it’s often used in combination with other sweeteners, as in my Double Chocolate Brownies (page 229). Agave nectar is also great for drizzling over hot breakfast cereals, such as Quick Oats and Quinoa Flakes (page 32).

Barley malt is a slowly digested sweetener made from sprouted barley. It is dark brown, thick, and sticky and possesses a strong malty flavor. It is about half as sweet as cane sugar. Barley malt is best used in combination with another sweetener; in my Jumble Cookies (page 233), for instance, I use it with maple sugar and maple syrup. Look for barley malt in natural foods stores.

Brown rice syrup, also best used in tan- dem with another sweetener, is a combination of barley malt and whole-grain brown rice, which is cooked until all the starch is converted to sugar. It has a unique caramel-like flavor, and a thick consistency similar to honey. Use it in my Super Hippie Granola (page 21) to help clump the ingredients together into delicious clusters. Brown rice syrup is considered to be one of the most healthful sweeteners in the natural foods industry, since it is produced from a whole-food source and is made up of simple sugars. It’s avail- able in natural foods stores.

Maple sugar is made by boiling maple syrup until all of the water has evaporated, leaving only the maple sugar crystals behind. Because maple syrup burns easily, this is a tricky process and can have a high price tag associated with it. How-

ever, the health benefits and ease of substituting maple sugar crystals for refined white sugar make it worth the expense. Maple sugar is a perfect choice for those recipes that just don’t work as well using a liquid sweetener; it’s a key ingredient in Double Chocolate Brownies (page 229) and in my Jumble Cookies (page 234).

Maple syrup is a sweetener made from the sap of maple trees. In cooler climates, maple trees store sugar in their roots in the form of sap; in the spring, the sap rises and can be tapped and concentrated. Maple syrup, a good source of magnesium and zinc, is most popular as a topping for pancakes and waffles, but it’s also a delicious natural sweetener that can be used in baking. Maple-based sweeteners are my favorites for using in desserts, as they are not only sweet enough to satisfy my cravings, but they also are metabolized at a slower rate than conventional white sugar, so they don’t cause the dramatic spikes in blood sugar

Organic cane sugar is made from the juice pressed from sun-ripened sugarcane, with the molasses removed; it tastes almost like white sugar but is less processed. Organic cane sugar is a delicious addition to sweets, but it should be used in moderation, as cane sugar can have dramatic effects on blood sugar, and on your metabolism, too. In several dessert recipes, I’ve included measurements for organic cane sugar as a substitute for my preferred sweetener. Because some cane sugars are processed with bone char, it’s important to seek out brands that are vegan; see the Sources section (page 260) for some rec- ommendations.