Keto Sweeteners: How and When to use them!

Let’s be honest! We all love sweets!!!

It’s a common misconception that if you go Keto, you can never have sweets again. That’s not true. You can enjoy baked goods, ice cream, cookies, etc without the carbs. When going Keto, it is important to explore and research all of the different types of non-sugar sweeteners. Because living without sweets would be awful!

There are three particular non-sugar sweeteners that I use all of the time in my everyday life. (I try to avoid too many chemicals in my diet, so I steer clear of aspartame and sucralose as much as I possibly can.) I mostly stick to naturally occurring sweeteners like Stevia, Erythritol, and Monk Fruit Extract.

Monk Fruit Extract- Monk Fruit, also known as Luo Han Guo, is native to Southern China and Northern Thailand. It is much sweeter than common sugar (about 150 times as sweet) so a little goes a long way! Monk Fruit Extract works really well in smoothies and baked goods! With some blending it incorporates really nicely! Monk fruit extract has no weird after tastes. I can’t even tell that it’s not real sugar. Some of my favorite Keto Brands use monk fruit extract to sweeten their products.

Choc Zero uses monk fruit to get to add just the right amount of sweetness to balance out their amazing Keto Chocolate. Choc Zero has so many wonderful Keto Sweets! They have dark, milk, and white chocolate squares. They sell amazing chocolate barks with Hazelnuts, Almonds, and Coconut! They are my favorite after dinner dessert. Choc Zero also has Honest Syrups. They are completely sugar free and sweetened with Monk Fruit extract and the flavors are amazing! They have everything from Maple Pecan Syrup to Banana! I love their Strawberry Syrup on Keto Strawberry Pancakes. Get 10% off all Choc Zero Products with the code KETOINTHECITY

And Nui Cookies use Monk Fruit Extract in all four of their Keto Cookie Flavors.

Stevia- Stevia is a sweetener made from the plant by the same name. It is native to Brazil and Paraguay. It has no calories and no sugar. Most days on the way to work, I swing by Starbucks for a coffee with heavy whipping cream. I then add a couple drops of liquid stevia to add a bit of sweetness. Liquid Stevia incorporates right into liquids and has no weird flavor. Perfect Keto uses stevia powder in their Keto Supplement to make them extra delicious.

Erythritol- Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in some fruit and fermented foods. It is almost non-caloric and doesn’t affect blood sugar. I’ve found that Erythritol is the best sweetener for baking. I use it in my Fathead Cinnamon Roll Recipe and in my Chewy Chocolate Chip recipe. It bakes up just how you would expect real sugar to. It doesn’t effect the rise or bake time. Also I love that Erythritol isn’t too sweet. You don’t even notice that you aren’t eating real sugar.