How to make your own Stevia sweetener
Stevia is an ultra sweet sweetener that has no calories and is grown natively for ages in South America that is 300 times more sweet than other sweeteners. The good news you can grow your own in your backyard and make some in your own backyard.
1. You can start a stevia plant by seeds but you can save yourself a lot of pain and just buy one at your local nursery and root cuttings in moist soil and keep your plant around for years.
2. Once the plant is 12” to 18” tall harvest top 2/3 of the plant.
3. Place plant on dehydrator tray at 90 degrees F, checking every 8 hours until the leaves are crisp (took 18 hours for mine to get to the correct dryness.
4. Pull off the leaves off of the stem, if the end break off keep those as well (this cab be the sweetest part of the plant)
5. Grind the leaves and into a powder using a blender or coffee grinder.
One teaspoon of raw stevia powder has the equivalent sweetness of 1 cup of regular sugar and can be used as is in baked goods though to make up for the bulk you will want to also add 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce.
You can also make your own liquid sweetener by adding 1 tablespoon of raw stevia to 1 cup water and boil for 10 minutes. Filter leaves out using a coffee filter and keep in the refrigerator for and add to your liquid drinks as needed.
14.3 years ago
Ooooh, I didn’t know you could make this. I’ll have to look into getting one of these plants. So awesome!
14.3 years ago
I have one and it’s doing well. I will definitely be doing this, as I have started drinking more tea but don’t like it unsweetened. I’d been using Splenda but wondering if I was undoing the good done by drinking the tea. I don’t want the calories or impact on blood sugar, so this is just fantastic information. Thank you.
14.3 years ago
Thanks for this!
I’ve been growing a plant all summer and haven’t been sure what to do with it. Putting off doing the research I’ve just been futzing around with it. Now I don’t have to dig, I’ll just use your method.
I have been using it with my tea; muddling a few fresh leaves in the bottom of the glass in the style of a mojito. I air dried some leaves thinking to use them like tea leaves in a hot tea to see if that would work. I don’t have a dehydrator although I’m beginning to think that might be a worthy purchase.
14.3 years ago
deniseinark, I have thought about making my own presweetened peppermint tea packets…maybe on my next big Amazon purchase.
SerenDippity, 12 hours in the sunshine should do the same though around here it can be hard to find 12 hours of sunshine without the plants getting rained on.
14.3 years ago
I had a stevia plant but until now did not know what to do with it! THanks!
14.3 years ago
Hey I hadn’t thought of that, either. I was going to ask if it would work to just steep some dried leaves along with the tea bags. So you think that might work?
14.2 years ago
deniseinark, I don’t see why it wouldn’t biggest trick would be getting the right amount of sweetner right. Probbaly just need a pinch…
13.9 years ago
Nice! I bought a packet of Stevia seeds this fall. I am going to attempt to grow some this spring. Thanks for the article.
13.4 years ago
I tried 1/4 stevia leaves in a glass of warm water and blended in the blender.The taste was sweet and bitter both, the grass taste came out of it.
Secondly, my stevia leaves are narrower than that I can see on the internet. Do the stevia has different types in leaves?
Please give the the correct idea of my problem.
Chadraman Gurung
13.2 years ago
I GREW A PLANT I FOUND AT LOWES JUST TO SEE HOW IT WOULD GROW IN TEXAS. I KEPT IT WATERED REGULARLY AND IT DID VERY WELL EVEN IN THE EXTREME DROUGHT AND HEAT WE HAVE HAD. IT IS A TALL NARROW PLANT THAT DOES NOT TAKE UP A LOT OF SPACE. HAVE NOT HARVESTED TO TRY THIS PROCESS YET. JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF THIS WAY OF PROCESSING STEVIA WILL LEAVE A PURE WHITE COLOR TO WHITE CAKE AND ICINGS SO YOU CAN USE IT IN BAKING WHITE CAKES AND ICINGS WITHOUT DISCOLORING THEM ???
13.2 years ago
This process will add a slight green color, to get a clearer product I would recommend seeping the powder in hot water to create some liquid stevia.
12.8 years ago
So glad I found this! Thanks 🙂
Do you know why the powder that is sold in stores is white? What is done to it to get it white. I’m personally not concerned about the color, just wondering b/c there are never any other ingredients listed on any white-powdered stevia.
Thanks!
12.8 years ago
Summer, large scale most likely creates a concentrate by steeping and eveaporation then cut it in with a nice powdery substance such as maltodextrin to keep volume and look of sugar.
12.8 years ago
I’ve have Stevia plants for 2 years and they are hardy. I put plastic over it in my garden 2 winters ago, and it survived and produced last summer. It is still in my garden and I’m looking forward to harvesting it again this summer.
12.1 years ago
How do I make my stevia concentrate clear….like the product in the stores?
I followed a recipe directing me to place fresh stevia leaves in a jar and cover with vodka….shake it weekly for a month.After a month I poured out the liquid and it was green. What’s the secret in making it clear?
12 years ago
@ardeth
i think there’s a chemical they put to make it in crytal powder form.try to google how the refined sugar was made.
11.6 years ago
Ardeth,
Aqua was right in stating there is a chemical added. Maltodextrin. Its a carbohydrate that is used to give stevia extract its white powdery finish and also aids in ‘filling a full box’ of stevia. Maltodextrin is a carbohydrate. Some of the very health concerned sites say to keep to your home made green powder as maltodextrin is a carbohydrate. I don’t really see the harm as so little is used anyway. A lot of bakers want the secret as the chemically processed stevia leaf keeps in suit with the normal/typical colors seen in baking. Sorry I couldn’t help more.
11.4 years ago
[…] on this site use Vodka to get a sweeter result than just plain water. On another website – Cheap Vegetable Gardener – the article shows how to make stevia powder. Basically, all you do is dry the leaves then […]