Sweetening cider

I'm making another 1 gal batch of cider, and this time I have decided to sweeten it when I bottle it. The last batch I did dry and still. It was pretty good, but I think a little sweetness and some carbonation might help. So this time I plan on bottling it with some priming sugar. I also bought some Splenda to sweeten it. I was wondering if there is some kind of thumbrule with using Splenda. I'd rather not add and taste too many times and risk contaminating my cider. I'm going for sweetened, but not "sweet" if that makes sense.

So, how much should I use for a gallon?

This is a really subjective subject, if that makes sense.

Get four small glasses, put two oz. in three of them, four oz. in the last one. Put a tablespoon of Splenda in the last glass (D) & taste it. Not sweet enough, add a second tablespoon. Too sweet, pour two oz. from D to C. Still too sweet? Pour two oz. from C to B, then B to A. If that's still too sweet, you probably don't need to sweeten the batch, it has enough residual sugar.

D. 1 TBL/4 oz. = 2 cups in a gallon (check the math, it's early). This is about half the sweetness of soda.

Honestly? That sounds nasty. I *hate* the taste of Splenda, and the last thing I want to have in anything I brew is something artificial. This is just me talking personally, my wife is waging a war in our pantry against high fructose corn syrup, I'm waging one against artificial sweeteners. I'm wondering if someone with more experience that me could suggest some non-fermentable sugars that could be added without destroying the taste and body of the cider.

Other than laxtose and maltodextrin (which doesn't taste sweet to many people)?

By the way, as evil as HFCS is, honey has about the same level of fructose. I have to avoid both AND dried fruit!. I think DQ has switched over to HFCS. Had a cone Monday, first time in years, & my GI is still upset.

VERY interesting about the honey = HFCS. Shall have to keep that information in mind the next time we're shopping and SWMBO is intently studying the list of ingredients.

Of course, more likely is that she'll just ban honey from the house as well!