Biscuits without added sugar: erythritol is suitable for shortcrust pastry?

Today we wanted to share with you all  an article written by Elena Spolaore , Of Food Hub in Science Pills.

Erythritol has been getting a lot of buzz these past few days, but the reason for this article is different.

We found it so interesting that we had to share it with you again.
From this page you can read just the extract and at the bottom you will find the direct link to the site of the original author that we thank in advance.

Sugar-Free Cookies: Is Erythritol Suitable for Shortcrust Pastry?

THE' erythritol It is a natural substance widely present in nature and is classified as a polyol .

It presents itself as metabolite or storage compound in algae and fungi and is also contained in some common fruits such as melon, grapes and pears.

The countries major producers of erythritol are China, United States and South America . In Europe there is only one company with headquarters in Switzerland and a production plant in France (where the erythritol SaporePure ).

At the digestive level, thanks to its low molecular weight, it is 90% absorbed into the bloodstream and excreted as is through the urine. Only the remainder 10% reaches the intestinal lumen and can give rise to water recall and/or fermentation by the microbiota.

There range of applications of this natural sweetener is growing .

It can currently be found alone or in combination with other polyols in foods, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products.

The Italian food industry began using erythritol a few years ago especially in fruit compotes and spreadable creams .

In the sector of baked goods , in the category of “ no added sugars ”, we find biscuits organic with erythritol and biscuits conventional containing maltitol .

The reason is simple, maltitol is more suitable for the production of shortcrust pastry but it does not exist in an organic version.

Cookies made with erythritol are very different from those made with sucrose in terms of taste and texture.

For the lack of reducing sugars the typical browning from baking is less marked. This can however be an advantage: the use of polyols such as erythritol in the production of biscuits reduces the formation of acrylamide .

Although replacing a certain percentage of sucrose with erythritol can lead to a suitable dough from the point of view of the production process , erythritol is not suitable from a sensorial point of view.

THE In fact, the biscuits turn out too hard and the perception in the mouth is of a product that is too dry, not moist enough.

Learn more about this topic in the article published on Food-Hub.it . Click  here .

We thank again the author of this article  Elena Spolaore  for the valuable information and the original blog on which this article on erythritol, the sugar that has been making people talk about it lately, is published.