Polydextose / Brownie Experiment w/Pic

[Jaideyes]

My 5 lb bag of polydextrose arrived today! My first experiment with it came out perfectly. Next, I want to make some berry preserves with it! This stuff is going to be FUN to work with.

These brownies are fudgy, chewy, rich, super-chocolatey, and perfectly sweetened (no wierd splenda-chocolate effect or aftertaste). I only wish I had more toasted pecans to chop up and sprinkle on top, I ran out! They puffed up a bit while baking, and I feared they would be <EEK!> *cakey* but when cooled, (I hurried things along with an hour in the refrig) they settled down to the dense, sticky, carmelized REAL BROWNIE texture we all know and love. Yahooooo! Can ya tell I'm a fanatic? lol

The PolyD Brownie Experiment

4 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 sticks butter
1.5 c polydextrose
1/4 c erythritol
10 drops liquid splenda (adjust to taste)
4 pkts Stevia Plus
1 t vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/2 c Carbquik
1/2 chopped nuts
1/2 c SF Choc Chips

Preheat oven to 350. Line 9 X 13 w/foil, spray with PAM
Melt choc and butter in large glass bowl in microwave.
Stir in sweeteners well
Fold in eggs, CQ, and nuts.
Bake 20 mins
Remove from oven sprinkle with Choc Chips and spread around as they melt (if desired)

[parrotchic]

Jaideyes, those brownies look so yummy I can't wait to get my poly now. This is going to be so much fun experiment with this new sugar sub, I feel like I'm in science class again

[kcduffer]

My poly-d is on the way too. I also found a good price on almond flour at the same site--5# for about $21. That's better than I can do buying and grinding my own. I'm really anxious to try this.

[scott123]

Wow Jaideyes, I'm impressed!

For weeks now I've been kittyfooting around polydextrose brownies. I've been sticking my foot in... taking it out... sticking the other one... testing the water... and along you come with a

CANNONBALL!

Those look really good.

Did the carbquik give it any kind of a biscuity/dusty quality?

[Cap57]

Those look amazing! I ordered my polydextrose yesterday, as well as the Z-trim. Can't wait to play around with them. Keep those recipes coming!

[griffin]

does poly d bother your stomach? carbs?

[Jaideyes]

I ate two brownies yesterday, and two today, with NO tummy troubles whatsoever. Hooray! Great stuff

Scott, I can't find anything wrong or unusual with these brownies in taste, texture, color they are just delicious, the real deal. Maybe it was the sorbitol in yours, as you suspected, that was responsible for the dusty quality? Or the WPI? I'm sure the high butter ratio in mine helped the texture and flavor too. What are you working on next? I always enjoy your posts.

The carb info was posted previously on other threads like this one:
http://lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/showth...t=polydextrose

[Criosa]

Jaideyes,
Brownies were my first experiment with polydextrose too! I made them a bit different than you did, with WPI, but they were excellent. I am anxious to hear how your preserves turn out. Please let us know how it goes, and the recipe you use!

[Lee140]

Jaideyes, those brownies look so good I wish I could crawl through my screen to get them !! Still waiting for my poly-d order. The brownies are the first thing I'm making!

[SCOTTSDALEJULIE]

How do you know how much to use in each recipe? Is there a ration or something?

[geegee4456]

Jaideyes, please keep the poly recipes coming. I ordered some but am not very good at experimenting. Those brownies look wonderful I can't wait to get mine. Thank you so much

[griffin]

that so amazing that its on that site, i was just there days ago and earmarked it for some different items, small world .

[Jaideyes]

It's guesswork on the proportions with this stuff, that's fun for me LOL. The original brownie recipe (it was on the Hersheys Unsweetened Choc box) called for 2 c sugar. I kind of sprinkled and tasted and crossed my fingers on the substitutions. Lucking out and having it actually work was great!

Here's the jam recipe I want to try experimenting with next.
Hopefully subbing 1/2 c PolyD + 1/4 c Erythritol + a little Stevia + Liquid Splenda drops to taste will work out as well.

Microwave Strawberry Jam
1 c Crushed strawberries
2 ts Lemon juice
3/4 c Sugar
1/4 ts Butter

Stir together strawberries, lemon juice, sugar and butter in an 8-cup microwave-safe measuring cup.
Microwave on 100 percent power for 4 minutes, then stir and continue to microwave at 100 percent power for 4 minutes. Pour into covered container, cool and refrigerate.

[griffin]

so if im understanding this right it is an sugar replacement/add bulk, chewy, mouth taste, kinda thing correct?

[scott123]

Originally posted by griffin
so if im understanding this right it is an sugar replacement/add bulk, chewy, mouth taste, kinda thing correct?

Yes, textural qualities of sugar without the sweetness.

[scott123]

Jaideyes, I hear a few complaints about non biscuit carbquik recipes turning out biscuity/dry. It sounds like the moisture retention properties of the polydextrose solved that.

Originally posted by Jaideyes
It's guesswork on the proportions with this stuff, that's fun for me LOL. The original brownie recipe (it was on the Hersheys Unsweetened Choc box) called for 2 c sugar. I kind of sprinkled and tasted and crossed my fingers on the substitutions. Lucking out and having it actually work was great!

Any idea of what kind of synergy you achieved?
Are you using 1/4 t. = 1 C. liquid splenda?
What's the sugar equivalent of 4 packets stevia plus?

It sounds like the synergy might have doubled the sweetness. If it did, that's phenomenal.

Btw, I haven't talked about this much, but I'm crossing my fingers that polydextrose, even though it only has 10% the sweetness of sugar, migh have synergy with splenda/other sweeteners. I think it's a distinct possibility.

[Jaideyes]

I have the weaker liquid splenda 1.5 t = 1 cup
The SweetLeaf stevia plus says 1 pk = 2 t sugar

The polyD does have that slight sweetness, maybe it is part of the sweetener synergy too, makes sense Scott.

P.S. The jam experiment mentioned above was a success too. Yum!
I used 1/2 c polyD, 1/8 c eryth, 2 pkts stev, 6 drops liq splen
for the sugar. Also, added 1/2 t natural strawberry extract.

[SCOTTSDALEJULIE]

I still don't understand how you know how much to use. Is there some kind of formula? Help me to understand this, I have 5 lbs on the way. TIA, Julie

[scott123]

Jaideyes, I did some calculations and your sweeteners all total about 1/2 Cup sugar equivalent. This was based on a 2 Cup sugar recipe? If that's so, that's a 400% boost from the synergy. I thought doubling was pretty spectacular, if combining sweeteners quadrupled the overall sweetness, I'm flabbergasted.

ScottsdaleJulie, I came up with this formula in the other polydextrose thread:

For 1 cup sugar:

1 1/3 cup polydextrose
1/16 t. liquid splenda (6 drops - 1/4 C. sugar equivalent)
3 T. erythritol
1 T. Sunnet/Sweet One (or diabetisweet)

Total carbs: less than 15

This is a very very rough sketch. If you have different sweeteners that you're attempting to work with, let me know what they are and I'll be more than happy to come up with some numbers for you. If you want to see how I came up with the formula above so that you can work out a mix on your own, my thought process is below (warning, it gets complicated )

When you work with polydextrose, you have to look at your sweetening mix from two perspectives:

1. What is providing bulk?

Sugar alcohols add bulk in a 1 to 1 ratio to sugar. Polydextrose is lighter/fluffier than sugar so to match sugar's bulking qualities you need to use 1/2 more. In other words 1 cup sugar = 1.5 cup polydextrose (from a bulking/weight perspective). So whatever sugar alcohols you use combined with the polydextrose, should match up to the weight of the sugar you're attempting to replace.

2. What is providing sweetness?

Once you get the bulk hammered out, then it's on to overall sweetness. You'll need to convert everything to it's sugar equivalent and then add your high intensity sweeteners (such as liquid splenda) to compensate for polydextrose's lack of sweetness. You'll also need to compensate for synergy, which can be tricky. In my formula above, I factor in a doubling of sweetness from synergy. In other words, all the sweeteners in the mix (including the 10% sweetness from the polydextrose), equal about 1/2 cup sugar equivalent. The synergy from combining the multiple sweeteners bumps the sweetening up to a cup (hopefully).

If you need to adjust the mix because it isn't sweet enough/needs to be sweeter, make sure you leave the bulking agents (SAs/Polydextrose) intact and modify only those items that are impacting sweetness, such as liquid splenda.

[SCOTTSDALEJULIE]

Thank you Scott. I have copied this so I will have it in my little hands anytime. I still think you must have been a chemist in another life. Julie

[Tater Head]

I must have missed the post about this sweetner, so what is Polydextrose? is it a SA and what is the carb count for say 1 cup?

[Y0-Y0]

Originally posted by Tater Head
I must have missed the post about this sweetner, so what is Polydextrose? is it a SA and what is the carb count for say 1 cup?

Yea, im confused about what this is as well. Can somene elaborate?

Thanks

[Jaideyes]

Check out the previous threads about PolyD....
http://lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/search...der=descending

[geegee4456]

Anyone have any new recipes using the polydextrose? Can't wait to try Jaideyes' brownies. Hopefully my poly will come tomorrow.

[scott123]

Originally posted by Tater Head
I must have missed the post about this sweetner, so what is Polydextrose? is it a SA and what is the carb count for say 1 cup?

Polydextrose is a little tricky carbwise, in that the process used to create it results in slight variations in the end product. According to the manufacturer, polydextrose is a minimum of 90% fiber and 4% water. If this is true,

1 cup = less than 9 net carbs

[Jaideyes]

Check out this interesting study...
"Polydextrose ingestion had significant dietary fiber–like effects with no laxative problems. "

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/72/6/1503

[Cap57]

I must have done something wrong, because my batter has sticky hard clumps in it that no amount of beating will remove! I followed the directions for the order to add ingredients, (which is different from standard brownie recipes where you beat the eggs and sweetener, then add the melted chocolate/butter mixture. Once I added the polydextrose, even before I tried folding in the eggs, it started to harden, and the butter was separating. I then got out my electric mixer and tried mixing with that, even though the terms used would lead you to believe you could do it all by hand, (stir, fold). It helped somewhat, but there are still lots of sticky clumps.
What did I do wrong? Was there a reason to not combine the eggs and sweeteners, including the polyd, before adding them to the melted choc. mixture? I've read Scott's tip about not mixing polyd with water, but I thought he said that mixing with butter was fine.
Update:
I just tried sprinkling a Tab. of polydextrose into a measuring cup of water, because Scott123 suggested doing that to see what happens, and to understand the properties of polyd. It turned into a sticky blob, kind of like sugar syrup cooked to the soft ball stage. This is just what my brownie batter is full of, but in much larger clumps.
HELP!

[scott123]

Cap57, maybe Jaideyes can be more specific about how she melted her chocolate as well as how she incorporated her sweeteners into her chocolate/butter mixture.

How melted was your chocolate/butter? If you microwaved it too long, it might have separated or even seized.

How did you incorporate the PD? Did you pour it in, wait a sec (maybe adding other ingredients) and then stir? Or were you sprinkling as you poured? There is a little water in butter - I wasn't sure if it was enough to cause clumping problems, but from your experience it looks like it does. You might want to try a test run of adding the polydextrose just to melted chocolate, incorporating it and then adding room temp butter to that.

So far, as far as I can tell, these are good rules of thumbs for polydextrose.

1. Add to melted fat first, it possible.
2. Dissolve in hot liquid, if possible.
3. Always sprinkle while stirring vigorously, regardless of the ingredient it's being added to.
4. If fat/hot liquid is not possible, then try incorporating into dry ingredients.

The other possibility, and this is a long shot, is that these clumps may dissolve/not have that much of an effect on the final brownie. Did you try baking them up?

[CandidCam]

How thick are these brownies? It doesn't appear that there is a lot of "stuff" in the recipe, so I am envisioning fairly thin brownies. Do you think I could make the same quantity in my 6x9 pan for a thicker brownie?

TIA,
k

[CandidCam]

Oops...NOW the photo is showing.


OK, so they are fairly thin. I think I might lower the temp a bit and try using the same recipe in a smaller pan. I'll let ya' know how it works!



k