Sugar Free Wheat Bread
I needed some mayo, so I stopped by Target on the way home from the gym this evening. On my way to that area of the store, I ended up walking past all the breads (since they’re in the same aisle). What caught my eye was some Sugar Free 100% Whole Wheat bread from Mrs Baird’s.
I wasn’t even aware that regular bread had an appreciable amount of added sugar (I just figured that all their carbs were due to the flour). At first, it came to mind that maybe this was like the labeling of some peanut butters as “cholesterol free”. Of course, because only animal-based products can contain cholesterol, all peanut butters have no cholesterol (since they’re made from peanuts). Along those some lines, I considered for a moment that maybe this was just a new labeling initiative.
But, I then went to check the labels themselves. I compared the Sugar Free bread to some nearby rye bread (also from Mrs Baird’s). The rye bread had 14g carbs (with 1g fiber) while the Sugar Free bread had 9g carbs (with 2g fiber). So, discounting the fiber, the Sugar Free bread had an effective carbs of 7g per slice — which is about half that of regular bread.
It came to mind that it could be mighty tasty to have a tuna sandwich from time to time (just like old times), so I picked up two loaves. I’ve transcribed the ingredients below, and it looks like there’s nothing egregiosly bad in there:
Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Wheat Gluten, Yeast, Wheat Bran. Contains 2% or Less of the Following: Soybean Oil, Crushed Wheat, Extract of Corn and Barley Malt, Maltodextrin, Wheat Fiber, Calcium Sulfate, Salt, Datem, Grain Vinegar, Corn Starch, Mono and Diglycerides, Ethoxylated Mono and Diglycerides, Calcium Prorionate, Aspartame, Soy Lechtin, Enzymes
And, yes, it apparently contains Aspartame (Nutrasweet). Perhaps breads normally have token amount of sugar to round out the flavor (as opposed to conspicuously sweetening it) and the Aspartame was needed to fill that role. And if Mrs Baird’s website didn’t suck so much, I’d compare this with the ingredients of their other breads (but, their website doesn’t list the ingredients for any of their products).
In any case, I’ll write more about the bread once I’ve had a chance to taste it. And, if you’re looking for this bread on your own, the most easily noticed design element is probably the words “Sugar Free“ which are written in white text against a green banner.
I’ll wait to see what you think it tastes like before I try it. But I’m really interested in hearing your review on it; keep me posted!
I am looking for a recipe or a loaf of bread
that is sugar free and whole wheat.
I am on Suzanne Somers diet. I am at this
moment trying to make her soft pretzel dough
into a loaf of bread.
Do you know of any such bread to buy?
Can have no sugar, shortning, corn etc etc.
Thanks
Carol
This sugar free wheat bread is a perfect example of foods that should be listed in http://www.foodb.com’s data base. Go see the site - it’s one of a kind.
Members can add their favotive ____ free foods. Bye now.
Does anyone actuall have a sugar free wheat bread recipie without adding a bunch of other funky food stuffs to it (other than molassis that is). Thanks Matt
I learned recently I am a diabetic, so of course I am filtering out foods with sugar in them. I am totally mystified as to why bread manufacturer’s feel there should be any added sugar. I am thinking, it may be added to activate the yeast starter for rising purposes.Since this may be the case, it has become a “traditional” taste factor in whole wheat breads. I am not waiting. I am buying a book on bread making and I am going to experiment at home with making my own whole wheat bread without ANY sugar. It might be fun :) I am sure it won’t rise as well as the store bought loaves, but it sure will be healthier for me than eating high fructose corn syrup, maltose sugar or brown sugar which is contained in the commercial products. And I actually like more chewy, harder crusted breads anyway! I would encourage anyone who reads this to get their hands involved in their kitchen and make home made bread! Hmmm mmm! Think of the smell! LOL. I found this site, just in passing.
try using organic plain yogurt as a sub. for honey or other sweeteners in bread
this is crap da bread is yuck without sugar
Thanks for the post. It is hard to find bread that tastes good and is sugar free.
I just found out that my killer migraines are caused by sugar so I have to eliminate it from my diet. But I am really craving bread. Does anyone have a recipe on how to make wheat bread without sugar, honey, artificial sweeteners, stevia, or molasas if you have one PLEASE email me it. I am desperate. My email is lambright_paula@yahoo.com
I don’t understand the mystification. I have been making home made bread all my adult life. It is no big deal. I use 2 tbsp yeast dissolved in water with a “pinch” of sugar. 2 tbsp salt and 4 cups water. I mix some water and flour until I get a gooey mix then I add the swollen yeast. I continue adding water then the rest of the flour (add flour until you get the right consistancy) Then place it in an oiled bowl and cover with wax paper until it rises double. Shape. let rise until double and bake at 400 f. (about 45 min) If you like more crust, lower the oven to 300f and leave the bread another 20 min. If you have a good quality mixer, it is so easy and you can freeze it for over a week and it will always taste fresh p.s. if you want no sugar at all, go ahead, just takes a little longer for the yeast to swell up
Sugar is used to react the yeast and decrease rise times. Time is money for commercial bakeries. I make mine without sugar in the bread machine, let it rise a little longer and bake it in the oven. It tastes great. I am used to bread without sugar because I am not from USA, where it seems adding sugar is a common practice. Corporate greed at its finest.
Aspen Mills Bakery out of Ogden, UT makes a bread that has no sugar out of five ingredients: Whole wheat flour, water, yeast, honey and salt. I really want to figure out the recipe and so far am disappointed, but I may try fudging with those ingredients to see if I can make it happen. If I can I may try to put the recipe on paper, but no guarantees.
As a sidenote my MIL partially subscribes to the raw food diet - the main way of ‘cooking’ food is dehydration - and I wonder what chefs of this ‘trade’ would do with whole wheat flour. I would like to incorporate this as much as possible but so far do not have the money to invest.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bread-Machine-Sugar-Free-Bread/Detail.aspx
Here is another recipe I found, though I am not as thrilled with it as the Aspen Mills stuff. I like to stay away from dairy when possible.
What grocery store can you purchase Whole Wheat Bread with out any form of sugar.
http://www.naturesownbread.com/NAT_Varieties/Variety.cfm?CategoryID=100&ProductID=17
This is the kind of sugar free bread I purchase. It has no aspartame in it but does contain “natural flavors” and who knows what those may be! Even my picky kids eat this bread without batting an eye.
Here are the ingredients:
STONEGROUND WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, MALTITOL, WHEAT GLUTEN, YEAST, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: BUTTER *, SALT, DOUGH CONDITIONERS (SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM STEAROYL-2-LACTYLATE, MONOGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM PEROXIDE, ETHOXYLATED MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, DATEM), CULTURED WHEY (MILK), VINEGAR, NATURAL FLAVORS, CALCIUM SULFATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, YEAST FOOD (AMMONIUM SULFATE)
* A TRIVIAL SOURCE OF CHOLESTEROL
Made some bread last night/ this morning guessing as the amounts of flour, water, yeast, honey and salt that Sunny mentioned above. See what happened here.
http://reneetheneohippy.wordpress.com/