Recipe for home-made liquid stevia sweetener

Stevia has become my go-to sweetener, these days, for so many reasons. It replaces sugar in coffee and tea as well as in yogurt, mixed drinks, puddings and custards, and even baked goods, with a little practice.

Vinny’s recipe for a home-made stevia sweetener results in a liquid that you can measure out by the teaspoon or with a dropper. One teaspoon is equivalent to one teaspoon of sugar in sweetening power. It works reliably well.

Using other stevia products off the shelf is trickier. Just a few grains too much when using the pure stevia powder can result in a bitter taste. The liquid stevia solutions you buy at the health food counter are also too intense for my taste. And the stevia products that are sold as sugar equivalents, like Truvia, contain additives to dilute the stevia powder. These additives can be detrimental.

In the references at the end of this post, are links to detailed info on Stevia previously published, including this recipe. But I refer to Vinny’s home-made liquid stevia throughout my posts, so it deserves its own link. Here it is.

Vinny’s home-made liquid stevia
Makes 1/2 cup, enough to sweeten 24-36 cups of coffee

1/4 teaspoon stevia white powder concentrate, from New Roots
1/2 cup boiling water (preferably filtered or distilled)

Heat the water in a small heat-proof bowl or cup in the microwave, 30 seconds on high.
Gently stir in the powder until it dissolves. It clumps in the water initially but within a minute or so you have a colorless solution. It dissolves faster in hot water.
With a funnel, pour the liquid stevia solution into a small dropper-style, dark-brown, glass bottle. Store the excess in a second dark-brown glass bottle. You can buy them at the pharmacy.

Accuracy when measuring the stevia powder is important. Over-fill the measuring spoon, then use a knife to smooth the top of the powder, pushing the excess back into its container.

Using Vinny’s homemade liquid stevia solution – Sugar equivalency

Single servings – My homemade stevia solution sweetens one-for-one like sugar does. So if you like a half teaspoon in a cup of strong coffee, you need a half teaspoon of my stevia solution. One dropperful of stevia is perfect for a cup of my Nespresso coffee. Experiment to find just the right amount for your own use.