Start by reducing the sugar by one-half in all your baking recipes. If you do this, decrease the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup.Despite constant health warnings about the risks associated with excessive sugar consumption and obesity (heart disease, high blood pressure, increased risk of stroke, and the list goes on), U.S. consumers still get a whopping 17.1 percent of their total food intake through sugars and sweeteners. That’s nearly one-fifth of their entire diet. Scary stuff.
Lower the amount of sugar you use. A cup of sugar is 774 calories, so cut it in half.
CALORIES SAVED: 387.
If you’re a slave to your sweet tooth, try to wrest control from it by exploring some of the following suggestions:
Start by reducing the sugar by one-half in all your baking recipes. If you do this, decrease the liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup.
Replace sugar (or part of it) in recipes with honey or agave syrup. Both are natural sweeteners that have a less volatile effect on your body’s blood sugar. In recipes, use ¼ cup to 
cup of agave syrup for each cup of sugar. In baking, reduce liquid in recipes by 2 tablespoons for each ¼ cup of agave used.
Experiment with SweetLeaf or Truvia. Both are natural sweeteners made from stevia, a calorie-free herb. When baking with SweetLeaf, use 1½ tablespoons powdered (or 1 teaspoon liquid) to replace 1 cup of sugar. As for Truvia: cup + 1 tablespoon is the same as 1 cup of sugar.
CALORIES SAVED: ALL THE CALORIES FROM SUGAR!
For natural sweetness, try using fruits in cookies, cakes, and quick breads such as muffins, pancakes, and waffles. Good choices include raisins, dried apricots, dried cherries, dates, apples, and bananas.
CALORIES SAVED: 400 TO 500
per recipe.
Use fruit juice instead of sugar and liquids such as milk. If the juice is acidic, add ½ teaspoon of baking soda per cup of liquid.
If you don’t have a problem with noncaloric sweeteners, bake with the sugar substitute sucralose (Splenda). Unlike many artificial sweeteners, it can withstand heat and is suitable for baking. In recipes, 1 cup of Splenda is the same as 1 cup of sugar.
Try the newest kid on the sugar block: coconut nectar. It’s made from the sap of the coconut tree and, unlike most sweeteners, is loaded with nutrients: 17 amino acids, minerals, vitamin C, B vitamins, and enzymes. It is a low-glycemic-index food, too, and very low in obesity-causing fructose. At 55 calories per tablespoon, it’s not exactly a calorie bargain, but it’s a nutrition bargain and will do your body more good than other sweeteners, as long as you enjoy it in moderate amounts. You can bake with it, put a teaspoon or two over cereal, and use it in hot drinks, among other cooking applications.