Whether you are diabetic or just trying to limit your sugar and carbs, Splenda can be used as a sweetener in place of sugar to make no bake peanut butter cookies. However, because the properties of Splenda are different from those of sugar, your final cookie will be affected. Understanding how to use Splenda and how that will affect the nutritional content in your cookies will guide you in the use of this substitution.

Combine one stick of butter, 1 c. sugar, 1/2 c. of milk and 4 tbsp. cocoa powder over medium high heat in a stock pot, stirring while it boils for one minute. Remove your pot from the heat and mix in 1/2 c. of reduced fat, organic peanut butter, and 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract. Slowly stir in 3 c. of quick cooking oats and drop the cookies by the teaspoonful onto a waxed cookie sheet and allow to cool until firm.

Because the stability of the sugar provides some of the glue that holds the no bake cookies together, you will find that substituting some of the sugar with Splenda will produce firmer cookies that will not be as likely to fall apart in humid weather. In this case, add 1/2 c. of Splenda and 1 c. of sugar. Additionally, using full fat peanut butter will improve the taste and texture of your no bake cookies.

All baked goods are best if consumed within 24 hours of preparation. However, because Splenda does not have the preservative qualities of sugar, you will find that the Splenda no bake cookies will get stale sooner. To avoid this, layer your cookies in a plastic, freezer approved container with sheets of wax paper in between layers. Seal the container with a lid and place it in a zip closure plastic freezer bag. Freeze any uneaten cookies within 24 hours.

With each batch of your Splenda no bake peanut butter cookies you should make approximately three dozen cookies. Each cookie will have 107 calories with Splenda only, as compared to a full sugar version with 156 calories. Using half Splenda and half sugar yields 132 calories per cookie. Eleven grams of carbohydrates are contained in a full sugar recipe, as compared to 10 g with the Splenda cookies and 10.5 g per cookie for the mixed sweetener version.