Looking for an all natural and economical sugar-free sweetener that actually tastes good? You need to try my natural sweetener blend! I've found that by using a combination of xylitol, erythritol, and stevia I can save money while enjoying a low carb sweetener that tastes just like sugar.
Joy Filled Eats Natural Sweetener Blend - Xylitol, Erythritol, & Stevia - Low Carb, Keto, Trim Healthy Mama, Diabetic Friendly, Sugar Free
When I started the Trim Healthy Mama diet I was leery about all the recipes using stevia because I have never liked it. All of the grocery store varieties and even the flavored liquid drops have a bitter aftertaste to me. In the past when I stopped using sugar on the South Beach Diet I used artificial sweeteners to replace it. Over the years I've read more about the negative effects of artificial sweeteners and I knew I needed to give stevia another try.
I heard that the Trim Healthy Mama Gentle Sweet natural sweetener, which is a blend of xylitol, erythritol, and stevia, was a game changer so I thought I would give it a try. It really changed my perception of stevia. It had no aftertaste or bitterness.
Because we have a strict food budget I became determined to come up with my own blend of erythritol, xylitol, and stevia. I try to save as many pennies as I can when I shop. Making my own sweeteners, baking mixes, seasonings, and cooking from scratch saves the most.
These Tagalong Cupcakes are one use for my sweetener. Don't they look yummy? They are sugar-free! But you would never know. Even my husband who isn't a dessert guy loved them.
You can now mix up your own sweetener that measures just like Gentle Sweet. If you are on a tight budget this helps with this way of eating immensely. I use this sweetener in all my dessert recipes and I've subbed in it recipes from the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook like the Trimtastic Cake.
You can make everything from Sweetened Condensed Milk to Caramel with this recipe and more.
If you grind this in a food processor it works great as a low carb powdered sugar. It is the best out of the low carb and keto sweeteners!
Ingredients in Joy Filled Eats Sweetener
Xylitol is a natural sweetener. It is a sugar alcohol made from birch trees or corncobs. It has 40% fewer calories than sugar and is a 7 on the glycemic index (white sugar is a 64). Please note that xylitol can be fatal to dogs so don't share treats containing xylitol with your furry friends.
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol like xylitol. It occurs naturally in some fruits and vegetables It has zero calories and no impact on blood sugar. It is produced from glucose by fermentation with yeast.
Stevia is a plant discovered in South America. To make stevia powder a water extraction method is typically used. Stevia is 100 to 200 times sweeter than sugar so a little goes a long way.
Where Do I Buy Sweetener Ingredients?
My natural sweetener recipe is easy and economical. There are many choices on where to order the ingredients from. And I've used several brands of these products successfully.
I personally order the ingredients for this natural sweetener from amazon, walmart, thrive market, and iherb.
Thrive Market: My Thrive Market Coupon works on everything from sweeteners and baking supplies to vitamins and beauty products! Thrive has great prices on coconut products, spices, organic health items, baby food, and more especially since they often will email codes for an additional 25-30% off your entire order. Head over to this post to see more of the latest deals at Thrive. My favorite deal is always getting Lily's Chocolate Chips for $4 a bag!
iherb:
If you are ordering from iherb you save $5 with my link. Generally, you can get the ingredients to make for under $8 a pound. Free shipping is on orders over $20.
I ordered the ingredients from iherb with free shipping. They have a lot of products that work for Keto, Low Carb, and Trim Healthy Mama eating plans. Other products they have that are compatible with THM are oat fiber, psyllium husks, whey protein powder, coconut flour, almond flour, etc. etc. This link takes you right to iherb so you can start making your own sugar free sweetener! Just put each ingredient into the search bar and add to your cart. It's cheaper to buy the 2.5 pounds but they also have 1 pound bags if you'd like to go small before you commit to a huge bag. It is very very easy.
Amazon:
With free one day and two-day Prime shipping, Amazon is where I order from most often. I can consistently get xylitol and erythritol inexpensively. I buy the largest size stevia and it lasts me about 2 years. And I bake A LOT.
I have tried all of these brands and just buy whichever is the cheapest on the day I order! No big deal.
Walmart:
Over the last year or so I've been buying more and more groceries from Walmart. They offer free shipping over $35 and have many low carb products in addition to having more choices in the store.
Like what you see? Follow me on Facebook! Love this recipe? Leave a comment & 5-star rating right here! Make sure you don’t miss new recipes by getting email updates!
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email below & we'll send it to your inbox. Plus get great new recipes from us every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Joy Filled Eats
Joy Filled Eats Natural Sweetener - Low Carb, THM, Sugar Free
Ingredients
Weight measurements:
- 16 oz xylitol (or allulose)
- 12 oz erythritol (or allulose)
- 2 teaspoon Better Stevia or any pure stevia extract
Cup measurements:
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons xylitol (or allulose)
- 1 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons erythritol (or allulose)
- 2 teaspoon Better Stevia or any pure stevia extract
Instructions
Powdered Sweetener
- Process the ingredients in the food processor for a few minutes if you are planning on using it in chocolate, beverages, or icing.
Granular Sweetener
- For baking and candy making, you can just mix the ingredients together by hand.
Notes
Nutrition
Rosemary Snody says
Hi... how do you equal raw sugar or honey for your homemade sweetener?
Taryn says
You will need 1.5 to 2 times the amount listed.
Tammy says
Hi there! I love this idea and was wondering what are your thoughts on substituting allulose for the xylitol? I don’t allow it in the house because I have fur babies.
Taryn says
I actually purchased allulose recently to give this a try. I think it will work.
Sue says
I actually purchased allulose recently to give this a try. I think it will work....Hi Taryn, just wondering if you tried this and how it turned out.
Taryn says
I have had readers use it since my last comment. I haven't tried it myself yet. I completely forgot and need to add this to my recipe testing list.
Kneely says
Can use Pyure for your erythritol and stevia and just add xylitol???
Taryn says
I think so BUT I have not tested the ratios. You will have to play around with it. I would suggest making a small batch and trying it in a mug cake to see if the sweetness level is to your liking.
Kelly Ligon says
I have a quick question. I’ve been using lakanto monk fruit sweetener which tastes like sugar to me. Except for that cooling feeling when eating baked items. Does your sweetener mixture do the same thing?
Taryn says
Not as much. Because I add stevia it is twice as sweet as lakanto. Using half the amount helps reduce the cooling.
KELLY OLAUGHLIN says
Hello,
If I am making a recipe that calls for 1 cup of any sweetener (not regular sugar), would I use 1 cup of this?
Thank you so much!
Taryn says
I would assume that are talking about a 1:1 sweetener. I would only use 1/2 cup of my blend. You can taste test and adjust as you are cooking.
Susan DeFanti says
When you make this recipe without Xylitol, do you just omit the Xylitol or do you make up the difference with the erythritol and stevia?
Taryn says
You make up the difference with erythritol. So, you would use 28 oz erythritol and 2 tsp stevia.
CMack says
Thanks, made this in a pinch when out of Gentle Sweet and had bags of X & E I was not using. Powdered some for my skinny chocolate and drinks. Thank you!
Donna says
Would I use the same amount of your sweetener, as any sweetener listed in other recipes ie swerve, monkfruit blend.
Taryn says
No, you only use half the amount
Mila says
Hello! Can I use pure monkfruit instead of the stevia? if so, would I need 2 tsp as well? thanks in advance
Taryn says
I think so but I have not tested that yet. I have pure monk fruit in my cabinet waiting for me to test. I'd suggest making a small batch and trying it in a small recipe like a mug cake to check the sweetness level.
Mila says
thanks:) I might also try to make a “Lakanto/ Monkfruit Blend” too, I guess it’ll be around 1 and 1/3 cup Erythritol + 1 and 1/2 tsp pure monkfruit, as I read that the Monkfruit Blend has only 1% pure Monkfruit in it and the rest is Erythritol.. that way I hope I can just use it as 1:1 to sugar..
Kate says
Hi, may I know how long it would last on the shelf once mixed? Apart from individual expiry date of each raw material.
Taryn says
Months. Possibly years. All the ingredients are shelf-stable so as long as you store in an airtight container it should last indefinitely.
Cat says
Hi Taryn,
If you substitute allulose for xylitol in the sweetener recipe, do you use the same amount?
Thanks so much,
Cat
Taryn says
Yes, they are both 1:1 for sugar so should be interchangeable.
Jewel says
This was super simple to make. Thank you so much!!! This was the first time I have successfully baked anything keto. It was fantastic. I wasn't thrilled with the icing as I used swerve powdered sugar. But the cake itself was beyond my imagination. So smooth and perfect!!! Highly Recommended!!!!
John Smith says
For anyone sensitive to Xylitol (it can cause stomach trouble in large enough quantities), or if you have a dog (it's deadly to dogs), you can substitute Allulose for it (vitacost has it for a reasonable price). Like Xylitol or sugar, it will also caramelize, but like erythritol it is only 70% as sweet as sugar (you may need to add a bit more stevia then).
I used 1/2 tsp of toffee flavored liquid stevia for this recipe instead of powdered, and also added 1/4 tsp of blackstrap molasses (1.25 carbs extra for whole recipe, but it really jacks up the flavor). I used a bit more than a cup of chopped raw pecans instead, and toasted them in the butter to impart their flavor to it.
Poured it all into a 8"x8" silicone mold set onto a cold aluminum pan, that is currently sitting in my fridge cooling. I plan to freeze them solid, cut them up into bars, and dip them in sweetened chocolate, put them on a sil-pat lined pan, and stick back into the fridge for later eating.
Taryn says
Sounds delicious! Which recipe were you making?
Mel says
Love your recepies Taryn. Im, from Australia and have been following your blog for a couple of years and love all your recipies I've tried. Congratulations on your site. I was wondering if you can tell me by using your sweetner blend to make jam will it crystalise ? Thanks again for a great site.
Taryn says
It should not. I use it in my jams all the time 🙂
Heather says
This was the very first alternative “Gentle Sweet” recipe that I tried and is still the one I do every single time. Much more cost effective and works beautifully in all the recipes that I’ve made.
Deb says
Even though this sweetener has zero net carbs, my calculation comes up with 30 calories per tablespoon because of the xylitol. Am I correct? Just something to keep in mind if you're also counting calories on Keto.
Vana says
Would I be able to use liquid stevia drops?
Taryn says
Possibly, but I have no idea how many drops. You would have to figure out the conversion and then mix it into the other sweeteners and let it dry.
Lisa says
Greetings! Are you sensitive to the cooling effect of Erythritol? If so, do you find that your recipe diminishes the effect? Thanks!
Taryn says
Yes and yes. I do not enjoy anything with straight erythritol. This combo helps minimize the cooling effect.
Erin says
Your ingredients say:
Weight measurements:
▢12 oz erythritol
▢16 oz xylitol
▢2 tsp Better Stevia or any pure stevia extract.
Then you explain that Xylitol can be made using just erythritol and stevia if you do not want to use xylitol because of a pet in the house. How much Stevia and erythritol do you recommend to use in replacement of the 16 oz of xylitol?
Taryn says
You would use 28 oz erythritol and still use 2 tsp of stevia. Or for half a batch you can use 14 oz erythritol to 1 tsp of stevia.
Brittnaie Bell Wade says
Can I use powdered Stevia?
Taryn says
Is stevia the only ingredient? You want a pure stevia extract. It is a powder.
Alison says
I am not getting the same carb count per serving that you list for the recipe. Just the erythritol alone is 4.5 carbs per serving. And I haven't counted the Xylitol or Stevia yet.
1 serving of erythritol linked in the recipe is 8g of carbs per 2 tsp.
If I do the math correct, there are 72 tsp in 12oz.
1 tsp contains 4 carbs = 72 * 4 = 288 carbs for 12oz.
288 carbs divided by the 64 servings for the recipe gives 4.5 carbs per serving.
Are there lower carb products that I should be using?
Taryn says
You need to subtract the sugar alcohols.