Sugar-free bread can be made at home or found in stores, with some using alternative sweeteners and others having no added sweeteners. Unleavened bread like tortillas and sourdough bread are examples, while some artisan breads use a long fermentation period instead of yeast and sugar. To be labeled as “sugar-free,” a food must contain less than 0.5 g of sugar per serving and no ingredients commonly considered sugar. Diastatic malt and other natural sweeteners can be used in bread recipes as alternatives to sugar.
Sugar-free breads typically fall into two categories: those that use alternative sweeteners and those with no added sweeteners. Sourdough bread and unleavened bread made without sweeteners can be bought in stores or made at home. Bread can also be created with sugar alternatives including diastatic malt, natural sweeteners such as molasses, or commercial sugar substitutes.
Many sugar-free breads can be found in mainstream grocery stores or can easily be made at home. Of the sugar-free breads found in the grocery store, many are alternatives not necessarily associated with the bread aisle, such as tortillas, lavash, naan, or pita bread. These are considered unleavened bread, made mostly of flour and water with no added sweeteners. They are also easily homemade with minimal ingredients.
Other sugar-free breads found in the grocery store can include artisan breads like sourdough that use a long fermentation period rather than adding yeast and sugars. These, like all breads, contain starches that will turn to sugar when digested. The third type of sugar-free breads are those specially manufactured and marketed as such.
Over the years, the bread produced has incorporated a greater amount of sugar. In the United States, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that a slice of white or wheat bread can contain up to 3 grams of sugar. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a food can only be labeled “sugar-free” if it contains less than 0.5 g of sugar per serving and is completely free of ingredients commonly considered sugar. Consumers can read the product’s ingredient label to discern whether sweeteners have been added. If the label contains any type of added sugar, including corn sugar, corn syrup, or brown sugar, the product isn’t sugar-free.
Sugar-free breads can be easily made at home, by creating doughs with no added sweeteners and longer fermentation periods, known as slow breads, or by using artificial or alternative sweeteners in the bread recipe. One such alternative to sugar, which has long been used by bread makers, is diastatic malt. Diastatic malt is created from sprouted barley or wheat and can be found in specialty stores, labeled freshly malted, or brewed at home with a sprouting pot. This natural sweetener breaks down the starches in the dough and feeds the sourdough so there’s no need to add sugar. Other sugar substitutes used in baking include brown rice syrup, date sugar, natural fruit juices, honey, agave nectar, molasses, and sugar substitutes such as Truvia or Splenda.
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