uses for corn syrup

[Zoe Girl]

I am going through my pantry to use things up, especially for holiday treats. I have 2 bottles of corn syrup (not high fructose type actually, ) and I want to make something. The bottles have pecan pie as the idea and I don't like that much. Maybe some kind of candy

[jp1]

Unfortunately you lost me at the point when you said that you don't like pecan pie since that was going to be my suggestion. Pecan pie is my second most favorite dessert. Right after anything with chocolate in it.

[Zoe Girl]

Oh no, well I looked up homemade mints and caramels that sound great. Maybe candied nuts if they are not too expensive. It would make great gifts.

[Blackdog Lin]

Back in the old days popcorn balls were a treat and were made with corn syrup.

(though like jp1, I'd just be making pecan pie too!)

[Tradd]

It works as a good substitute for "maple" syrup on pancakes, etc., I'm serious. I grew up using Karo dark corn syrup on pancakes.

[Float On]

Like Tradd we used it on pancakes. I always liked it clear and for my brother, mom would add some brown sugar to it (heated on the stove) to make it darker. We did the popcorn balls every Halloween and Christmas, I wonder if pulled taffy calls for corn syrup. Seems like mom was always buying corn syrup.

http://www.karosyrup.com/Recipes/

[lessisbest]

Is it light or dark corn syrup? I have a 1930's booklet for Stanley's Syrup, which was the competitor of Karo. Stanley had light and dark corn syrup, golden table syrup and sorghum flavored syrup. Some recipes that include light corn syrup are:

Grandma's Syrup Cookies
Rocks (cookies)
Hermits (cookies)
Fondant (candy)
Peanut Brittle (I have a microwave recipe that works great)
Caramel Nut Pralines (my sister-in-law always makes these)
Doughnuts

[frugal-one]

Aren't all corn syrups high fructose?

[Zoe Girl]

Aren't all corn syrups high fructose?

Actually this corn syrup is not the high fructose type, isn't that cool (I can't have fructose)

[Tussiemussies]

The only problem is that corn syrup is a GMO food item. I would just throw it away, unfortunately.....

[Rosemary]

I think I've read somewhere that a tbsp. or two of corn syrup subbed for some of the sugar can create chewiness in lowfat cookies made without butter.

If you compare the sugar content of corn syrup to other liquid sweeteners, you'll see that it's lower. So you could probably sub it for other liquid sweeteners in recipes for a less-sweet result. I'm guessing you could use it to make granola, for instance: I find that the amount of honey or maple syrup needed to sweeten oats does not make a clumpy granola; it would be too sweet if we used that much. But it might work with corn syrup. (We just eat flakey granola.)

HFCS is not commonly available to consumers in raw form, so the stuff on store shelves is all "traditional" corn syrup (still a highly processed item).

[lessisbest]

Zoe Girl-

Please share the brand name and whether it's dark or light corn syrup. That would be helpful for sharing recipes, and for anyone else who has Fructose Malabsorption for a brand that would be user-friendly. Most syrups have at least a certain percentage of fructose in them, so how low a percentage works for you?

-Sorghum Syrup has 13% fructose

-Palm Sugar is primarily sucrose with small amounts of glucose and fructose. (You can make a liquid version by mixing 1-1/2 c. palm sugar with 1/2 c. water and gently heat until the sugar is dissolved.)

-Coconut Nectar has about 10% fructose

-Golden Syrup has 27% fructose

-Maple Syrup has .5% fructose

-White table sugar has 50% fructose

[Zoe Girl]

It is karo light corn syrup. I have made a few things but not eaten too much. One benefit of fructose intolerance is that I really cut out most sweet tasting foods. I have not seen a reaction to this corn syrup yet, but I have been eating 2-3 of the mints per day or the candied nuts. I am not as sensitive as the genetic fructose malabsorption and that looks like most all sweetners are avoided. I can tolerate sugar but do notice if I have a lot of even white sugar I tend to get bloated so other than tea I don't have sugar daily. Sugar is still better for me than artificial sweetners, but I will watch it with the 50% fructose. The dietician I went to did not tell me to watch sugar but to test things like avacado.

Guess what, I found another bottle of corn syrup in the cupboard! It has HFCS so it will go to the food pantry with a few other things.

[lessisbest]

I tend to avoid high-fructose sugars/syrups, but especially since having my gall bladder out, because fructose goes straight to the liver. "What the liver does with fructose, especially when there is too much in the diet, has potentially dangerous consequences for the liver, the arteries, and the heart". You might benefit from looking up the percentages of fructose in sugars/syrups. And BTW, just because the corn syrup doesn't include HFCS as an ingredient, doesn't mean it's low in fructose, although I'd have to do more research on that to find the percentage numbers.

I prefer maple syrup (or sugar), sorghum syrup, Golden Syrup, and syrup made from palm sugar, to corn syrup of any kind. I also use pure Trehalose as a mild sweetener.

There is also fructans in:
onions, garlic, wheat, rye and pistachios; there is fructose in lactose (milk sugar) found in dairy products; polyols found in sugar-free products; cauliflower, mushrooms, blackberries, peaches & nectarines.

Boiled vegetables have a lower content of fructose than raw vegetables. New potatoes have higher fructose content than old potatoes. Whole wheat contains more fructose than white processed flour because both the germ and bran contain sugar. Who knew????

[lessisbest]

As I suspected, corn syrup, such as Karo Corn Syrup without HFCS, isn't fructose-free. It has 10% fructose. HFCS (also known as HFCS-55) is 55% fructose.