Coconut Sugar ~ It's Sweet

With all of this cooking and baking, I needed a few things, so I took a trip to one of my favorite markets...Whole Foods.  I went straight to the baking aisle....and made a run on the coconut sugar! Yep, I bought all they had! Okay, there were only 2 bags left :)

So, having taken the last two, I felt the need to talk with the buying department about the importance of stocking plenty of coconut sugar. Sue, who works at my local Whole Foods in special orders, pointed out to me that coconut sugar {also called coconut palm sugar} is available in two other departments besides baking supplies. Now I didn't know this {wish I had} and I thought that I should let you know in order to make your shopping trips easier.  

Most Whole Foods actually carry 3 or more brands of coconut sugar in 3 different departments...On the Baking aisle they have my current favorite, "Sweet Tree" organic coconut palm sugar in a 16 oz bag for $4.39.  In their Raw Foods department {my oldest daughter's favorite section of the store}, they have "Essential Living Foods" organic coconut sugar in an 8 oz size for $4.99--a great price for raw sugar!  Also in the Raw Foods department they carry "Coconut Secret" brand organic coconut sugar in a 12 oz canister for $8.99.  In addition, in the "Bulk" department you can buy "Essential Living Foods" organic coconut sugar by the ounce or pound at $4.39 per pound. How great is that?

Why am I so excited about coconut sugar, you ask? Because finally we have a natural, healthy sweetener that comes in a granular form.  This helps out in a wonderful way in the world of gluten free, naturally sweetened baking and cooking because it allows us to achieve some of the textures and consistencies that were nearly impossible before. 

Not that coconut sugar is really new, it has been produced and used in south east Asia for thousands of years.  What's great is that in the last few years it has emerged as a new healthy alternative to cane sugar and is rapidly gaining popularity by the health community and health industry. 

Coconut sugar has a super low glycemic index of 35 compared to that of corn syrup at 75, refined, pasteurized honey at 75, table sugar at 80, high fructose corn syrup at 87 and glucose {or dextrose} at 100. Furthermore, coconut sugar boasts an extremely high nutrient content, higher in Potassium, Magnesium, Zinc and Iron than agave nectar (which I am crazy about), and is a natural source of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and C. 

Still another great aspect of coconut sugar is that it contains only 148 grams of carbs per cup compared to agave nectar which has 256 grams per cup. Some recent medical research has suggested that a diet low in carbohydrates is beneficial to people with type 2 diabetes, in which case choosing coconut sugar can be a huge help.

All in all, coconut sugar rocks my world {that is my world of cooking, baking and eating}, and I am very happy to pass this awesome info on to you!

More info:

http://www.wholefoodsmagazineonline.com/grocery/new-products/coconut-sugar

Some good general info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_sugar

~Tracy

About Delightfully Free: Delightfully Free is a gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free cookbook of 141 recipes. It includes delicious resources for autism, Celiac disease, diabetes, lactose intolerance, obesity and just plain healthy living. It contains 114 color photographs, 114 vegetarian or vegetarian compatible recipes, and 103 vegan or vegan compatible recipes.

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