"sugar" news and stories

Running low on brown sugar with all the holiday baking you've been doing? Whip up some homemade brown sugar in a pinch.

The iconic Necco Wafer is going au naturale.

The revamped product is now using red beet juice, purple cabbage, cocoa powder, paprika and turmeric to replace the artificial ingredients that had been flavoring and coloring the wafers for years.

But not every wafer made the cut.

If you really want to make your Halloween party guests squeal, raise the gross-out factor of the foods.

This Halloween concoction, meant to resemble kitty litter just might take the cake with the gross-out gourmets. And don't worry, those are Tootsie rolls.

Cornmeal Sparkle Cookies. Photo: He Cooks She Cooks/Flickr.

How can anyone not smile at the sight of these cookies? There's just something so positive about a little mound of sweet goodness, especially when it's homemade. Add to that a topping as fun as sprinkles or, better yet, whimsical sparkles of sugar, and all your troubles will melt away.

A simple recipe adapted by He Cooks She Cooks, this batch of sparkle cookies was made with flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, butter and sour cream, all rolled in an extra cup of sugar for that shimmery coating!

[Via Flickr]

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Photo: SUSTA.

A new sweetener is muscling onto store shelves already saturated with pink, blue and yellow packets.

SUSTA is the latest sugar substitute to hit store shelves with what developers call a proprietary blend of "inulin fiber, fructose, natural flavors, botanical extracts, vitamins, minerals and probiotics." At 5 calories, SUSTA claims its sweet punch from orange-peel extract.

But its inspiration came the Newton way -- with an apple.