We tested six types of sugar substitutes and have yet to find one that's a universal stand-in for the white stuff.

AGAVE SYRUP

Natural sweetener made from the evaporated sap of the Mexican agave plant.

BRAND NAME: Madhava Agave Nectar

PERFORMANCE: About 1.5 times sweeter than sugar. Ideal for sweetening beverages, as it dissolves easily and has a relatively neutral taste. Not good for baking. Cookies were bready, cakes had a chewy layer of agave stuck in the pan.

Erythritol

Crystallized form of the sugar alcohol erythritol.

BRAND NAME: Organic Zero

PERFORMANCE: Terrific in beverages. Baking was another story: Sugar cookies turned out crumbly; cakes and muffins were chewy.

Granulated Sucralose

Sweetener derived from sucrose plus chlorine.

BRAND NAME: Splenda

PERFORMANCE: Perfectly acceptable in drinks, cobbler, and fruit-pie filling. But sugar cookies were overly soft and cakey and lacked sweetness.

Granulated Sucralose Blend

Mix of granulated sucralose and granulated sugar.

BRAND NAME: Splenda

PERFORMANCE: Drinks, cobbler, and fruit-pie filling all tasted fine. Sugar cookies had surprisingly decent texture but exhibited slight “artificial” aftertaste.

”Lite” Corn Syrup

Blend of glucose and sucralose.

BRAND NAME: Karo

PERFORMANCE: Sugar cookies and pecan bars had decent texture but exhibited slight “artificial” aftertaste.

Saccharin

Sweetener derived from petroleum.

BRAND NAME: Sweet ‘N Low

PERFORMANCE: Harsh, metallic aftertaste in drinks and baked goods. Sugar cookies were crumbly, and cakes and muffins were chewy. One upside: the metallic taste was less noticeable in fruit-pie fillings.

Stevia

Natural, calorie-free sweetener extracted from the leaves of the stevia plant (a sunflower cousin).

BRAND NAME: Truvia

PERFORMANCE: Mouth-puckering bitterness in beverages as well as in baked goods. Produced sugar cookies that were dry and crumbly rather than soft and chewy.