Brown Sweetener: 16 oz by Just Like Sugar

I found out about this product when I became gluten intolerant and started researching gluten free baking. I missed the taste of brown sugar but wanted one that was a bit lower on the glycemic index. Jane Barthelemy in her books on paleo cooking talked about the various sugars that "Just Like Sugar" produces including this one that is a brown sugar substitute. It is made of crystal chicory root (and a touch of pure orange peel). They evidently use concentrated steam from molasses to create the brown sugar flavor. It is a strong taste so a little bit goes a long way in drinks...I use it in my chia tea and it complements the spiciness of the tea. I have also used it in the paleo and gluten free baking and have enjoyed the results.

Okay well.....this is great stuff as an alternative to brown sugar and was a way better option than the Splenda Brown which does have a dietary impact. The fiber is good, the sweetness is okay but the taste is.....a little strange. It isn't bad per se just strange. I have used it for chocolate chip cookies which turned out great and then dipped low carb, sugar free cookies in butter then the Just Like Sugar Brown mixed with cinnamon and it turned out pretty good. This is the same kind of sugar used in Chocoperfection chocolate which if you tasted, you know is really good. Very very expensive which may be due to the process required to make it from chicory? Regardless, this is a decent alternative and does cook very well.

I've been using the Just Like Brown Sweetener in my hot cereal, and altho it isn't quite as sweet as regeular brown sugar, I still save calories by using about equal amounts of it with brown sugar.It tastes a lot like brown sugar, so it is a nice to use, in addition to the real thing. So far, hot cereal is the only food item I use it in, but that is mainly how I use brown sugar, anyhow. It would be a little expensive to use it in baking.

I have used it in Chocolate Mint Cookie recipe in Dr. Gundry's plant paradox cookbook. I have used it in my famous best banana bread ever recipe in which the recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar. I used 1/3 cup organic sugar and 2/3 cup just like sugar brown sugar. It provides just enough sweetness which I prefer rather than being overly sweet like you find in bakery type donuts and cakes. Even kids happily eat my desserts. One kid said, why does everything you make taste so good? Because it is just like sugar!

Love "Just Like Sugar" - both the brown and white ones taste just like sugar without all of the harmful sugar spikes from real sugar (and this stuff doesn't feed cancer cells like real sugar does! Also, this is so much better than the harmful side affects of aspertame and sucralose (aspertame when tested by FDA in the 1960's was proven to cause brain tumors in the lab mice, but Donald Rumsfeld (who worked for Monsanto) insisted on getting FDA (aka Federal Death Administration) approval. I tried Splenda and all of a sudden,my joints started aching everywhere so I looked up the side affects of Splenda aka Sucralose and that was a part of the side effects (also approved by the FDA aka Federal Death Administration).

I chose a 4 because it is an acceptable alternative to brown sugar in my opinion. It isn't a 5 since it is so darn expensive. It also doesn't caramelize like the real thing does. We use it on our oatmeal and I have made apple crisp with it. I love that it has no calories and is still considered healthy and not artificial.

Just like sugar? Not really but it works. I am not diabetic but feel sugar is one of the worse things to include on a daily basis. So I have been on the hunt for alternatives. This works, it's not just like sugar but it fits the bill. Doesn't have an unpleasant after taste and I haven't noticed any digestive issues with it.

I used this to sweeten an apple pie I was making for Thanksgiving. When I first put it on my apples, it smelled caramelly, but it definitely didn't taste that way when baked. It was edible but I won't repeat with JLS. If I'm going to replace the sugar, I'm going with date sugar or succanat, not JLS.