Joy Filled Eats Natural Sweetener
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.
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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.
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Joy Filled Eats Natural Sweetener - Low Carb, THM, Sugar Free
Ingredients
Weight measurements:
- 16 oz xylitol *** (or allulose)
- 12 oz erythritol (or allulose)
- 2 tsp Better Stevia or any pure stevia extract
Cup measurements:
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons xylitol (or allulose)
- 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons erythritol (or allulose)
- 2 tsp 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
Please note that xylitol is fatal to dogs so don’t share treats containing xylitol with your furry friends. You may prefer to not have it in your pet-friendly house at all.
I have 2 bags of super sweet blend in my cupboard that im not using because i like the gentle sweet better. Will be making your version of it as soon as my order comes in. But do you have any suggestions how I could mix off the super sweet blend with more xylitol or erythetol to get it to taste like gentle sweet? for 1 cup of super sweet, what would I add?
Thank you!
You can definitely do that but I don’t know the exact measurements. I’d suggest adding 1 cup of xylitol to 1 cup of super sweet and trying it in place of gentle sweet in a single serve recipe like a mug cake. Then just tweak the measurements if you need to.
Thanks for this recipe! I like that I don’t have to order the THM product and it fits perfectly into my 32oz rubbermaid container with a spout for easy pouring! I am enjoying several of your recipes!
Just used your link to make a purchase on Thrive Market! Thank you!
Thank you! I appreciate it 😀
Thanks again for all you do!
I’m making a Keto chocolate pie. Calls for 1/3 cup ‘granulated stevia/erythritol blend’.
I have both stevia and erythritol by themselves. I can’t locate the ratio to make. Any thoughts of a ratio to make 1 cup?
I’d like to store for future recipes. Thanks!
I am not the best at math. Lol. If you just cut my recipe into fourths and use all erythritol you will end up with about 1 cup. It’s easier if you have a kitchen scale. Then you just need 7oz of erythritol and 1/2 tsp stevia.
Taryn, I’m so glad to find this as I, too, would like more economical sugar substitute. I don’t like using Xylitol because of tummy distress. Can I just use Erythritol and Stevia? Would the measurement for the Xylitol be the same if using all Erythritol? Thank you for all you do and share!
Hi Daylene,
Yes, I think using all erythritol will work but I haven’t tried it myself. It would be 3 3/4 cups erythritiol to 2 tsp stevia.
Erythritol does have a “cooling effect” (think peppermint patties) so it doesn’t work well for, say chocolate cake. But it does work well in small amounts or things where you like a cooling effect. 🙂
I am so glad I found this it is perfect!
I backed down the sweetener by about 1/3 and this turned out awesome! Thanks for the great recipe!
Which ingredient of the 3 did you back down in the ‘Sweetener” recipe? Or are you referring to some other recipe you used the ‘Sweetener Recipe’ in? Thanks.
I purchased all the ingredients to make this but have a question, you mention that this is a good substitute for gentle sweet but what about recipes that don’t ask for gentle sweet, rather only ask for a sugar substitute. Do we use the same amount or half the amount?
It depends on the sugar substitute. I believe splenda is 1:1 for sugar. Swerve, xylitol, and erythritol are 1:1. I believe Pyure is twice as sweet as sugar so you use half. As is gentle sweet.
I know it can seem confusing. If you aren’t afraid of raw eggs (I’m not) just start with less and taste the batter.
Hi Taryn. Is there anything that I can substitute for the better stevia until I can order some online? I want to make your chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake tomorrow, however I only have Stevia In The Raw, powdered swerve, and Splenda, along with the Xylitol and erythritol
Hi Michelle, you can sub in the swerve, xylitol, and/or erythritol but you will need a little more. What are the ingredients in Stevia in the Raw? I can’t find that on their website. Since this is a no-bake recipe and doesn’t include eggs you really can just taste as you go!
I was wondering if this blend works well under high heat to make a sugar free toffee?
Thanks!
Yup! I have several caramel and toffee recipes. Here are a couple:
https://joyfilledeats.com/caramel-pecan-turtle-bark/
https://joyfilledeats.com/toasted-coconut-toffee-pecan-turtles/
https://joyfilledeats.com/buttery-walnut-toffee/
Tried making your walnut toffee version of English toffee tonight. I used Sucralose and what a mess. Had to throw it out. The heavy cream, sucralose, butter mixture just clumped the nuts together, then the butter separated from the mixture.
I’m sorry it didn’t work with sucralose. I don’t use it so I’m not sure why it didn’t work. I prefer this combo of xylitol, erythritol, and stevia.
Thank you! I was wondering if you have a similar recipe that doesn’t use xylitol? I am scared to have it in my house because of my dogs… but I do use erythritol and stevia. Is there a recipe that combines those that you have tried?
You should be able to just use all erythritol with stevia to mimic the same level of sweetness.
Thank you!
the recipe i have calls for 2 c erythritol and 2 t stevia as the equivalent of thm’s super sweet blend
But what about the stevia bitterness? And that cooling sensation with erythritol? Have you ever explored Allulose?
Also, I thought Xylitol had kindofa high GI?
Not compared to sugar https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/xylitol-101
I don’t notice the stevia bitterness or erythritol cooling in combination with xylitol. I’ve had allulose in packaged prepared items but not on its own.
Thank you for your recipe. I love it. Have you figured out the exact savings by doing it this way?
It depends on where you order the ingredients from. Last time I ran the numbers you save a few dollars a pound.
Hi, I’m just wondering whether this blend is used spoon for spoon?
For sugar? No, it is twice as sweet.
Hi, I was wondering if I can go ahead and use of the THM pure stevia in place of the Better Stevia in this mix? The THM one is something I already have on hand, and won’t end up using on its own. I’m still learning what products are equivalent to what…
Thanks!
Yes, any pure stevia should work.
Wendy, did you try it with the THM? I am curious if it worked. 🙂
Is there a way to make this with no xylitol? I really worry that my dogs will get hold of something (that I wouldn’t want to share anyway!)
I haven’t tried but you can probably just use all erythritol. Or you can make super sweet with the recipe here: https://trimhealthymama.com/#usefulinfo
I use swerve with 2 donks of better stevia. perfect for me.
Hi
Could I use Truvia (blend of stevia and erythritol) and swerve erythritol.
If so what measurements should I use?
Pam
Hi Pam, I’m not sure how or if you can combine those to make my blend. The sweetener chart here might be helpful: https://trimhealthymama.com/#usefulinfo
So is it a problem if I put all of it in the food processor so that it dissolves better in recipes? Would it affect my measurements if a recipe calls for a cuppa gentle sweet and I used a cup of powdered copycat?
Yes, it will measure differently. I don’t know the exact difference because I haven’t tested it. I suggest blending one cup and then measuring again to see what the difference is. Then go ahead and blend the rest.
Welp. That explains why my recipes have been so sweet! I’ve been using almost double the sweetener if you account for the different measurements. At least now I know better thank you for the tip
You have a lovely blog! Just had to comment that people with chemical sensitivities should be wary of erythritol. When I tried it, I had a bad reaction: lots of burning, swelling and pain as it left my system. Some brands of liquid stevia also contain erythritol so let the buyer beware. I’ve learned to live with pure stevia only as I have no physical problems with it. I’d rather live with stevia’s aftertaste than have another reaction to erythritol. :0
For those with dogs: Xylitol is extremely toxic to dogs, so be very careful when making or using this blend or any other sweetener containing xylitol.
Thank you Barbara Frank FYI! I think it’s always a positive to know how certain ingredients affect people. We are all different from each other. Thus, my reason for taking note for future reference just in case I need to mindful for others or myself.
I sent this question to you before but I am not sure it went through so I am asking it again. I am new and just getting started on this low carb sugar free life style. I am not doing strictly THM diet but using it along with, low carb and Keto recipes to help me eat less carbs and get off of real sugar and hopefully lose a little weight in the process. I have so far hated all sugar free substitutes that I have been experimenting with until I came upon THM and saw great reviews for Gentle sweet. So after giving up all hope for a sugar free life change, I ordered it and I was so pleasantly surprised by it! The problem is I can still taste a very teeny tiny after taste. I assuming this is the stevia? I don’t mind the cool effect at all. I saw your wonderful money saving copy cat recipe and was wondering if the stevia can be eliminated all together or is this an important part to making the blend work and taste so much like real sugar?
Hi Diana, I did reply to your previous comment. Sometimes it takes me a couple days to answer questions 🙂 If you leave out the stevia you need to use twice the amount called for. Everyone’s taste buds are different and I don’t really taste an aftertaste with my blend and gentle sweet. You could always try swerve or a monkfruit blend.
So, you’re saying that if we omit the stevia then this will measure room for spoon like sugar?
Yes. Both erythritol and xylitol are 1:1 for sugar.
Can I omit the stevia completely? Does the stevia serve a purpose in using it for baking? I bought gentle sweet to try because I heard such great things and it really is the best tasting closet to sugar that I have had but I think I still can taste a teeny tiny bitterness. I think it’s the stevia but not sure. So I was wondering if it is an important part to the blend or could I just leave it out?
If you leave out the stevia you need to use twice as much in recipes that call for gentle sweet.