KETO Zero Carb Sugar Substitute Sweeteners for Baking & Conversion Chart

The simple guide to Keto zero carb sweeteners for baking. You will learn all about natural sugar-free sweeteners, which sweeteners are the best for your baking needs, how to replace the different sweeteners, best sweeteners conversion chart including Stevia, Erythritol, and Monk Fruit.

If you’re cutting down on calories and want to make sugar-free desserts and beverages try the sweeteners listed below. All these natural sweeteners are wonderful whether you are just looking to be sugar-free or eat low-carb or keto. None of these will spike your blood sugar.

Erythritol and Swerve proved to be the best low-carb sweeteners for baking. I like erythritol as it is the most pure sugar alcohol.

Sugar Alcohols sweeteners for baking

Erythritol

This is my preferred sweetener. It is a little less sweet when used in a 1:1 ratio to replace sugar. Erythritol is available in powdered and granulated form and is perfect for making syrups, beverages, desserts, and baked goods.

It has NO noticeable aftertaste.

Erythritol (pronounced “a-rith-ri-tall”)is NOT an artificial sweetener like aspartame or Splenda. It is naturally occurring in plants fruits and vegetables like grapes, melons, and mushrooms.

BLOD SUGAR: It has no calories does not spike blood sugar and will not cause gas, bloating, or laxative effects. Zero glycemic index. It is non-GMO.

Swerve

This brand-name sugar replacement contains erythritol mixed with proprietary ingredients. It is slightly sweeter and can be used in the same proportions as erythritol. It is also available in granulated and powdered form and has NO noticeable aftertaste.

Monk Fruit

This sugar alcohol made from monk fruit extract is available in liquid, powdered, and granulated form. The concentrated liquid requires only three drops per teaspoon of erythritol but is hard to incorporate into baked goods.

The powdered form blends monk fruit extract with erythritol and sweetens like pure erythritol. It sometimes has an off-flavor/menthol taste that I don’t like. I love the Lakanto brand Monk fruit. 

WHAT IS IT: Monk fruit extract comes from the monk fruit, luo han guo, a cousin of the cucumber and melon that’s native to China and Thailand. Monk fruit is rarely used fresh but more often is dried and used as a sweetener. It is 300% sweeter than sugar but is calorie-free and does not raise blood sugar levels.

Xylitol

This is a 1:1 replacement for erythritol. Although the taste of xylitol is on par with other sugar alcohol products. However, when used in desserts like cheesecake and panna cotta, the desserts didn’t set up properly.

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in some plants. Though it looks and tastes like sugar, it has 40% fewer calories. It can slightly raise blood sugar or insulin, but not nearly as much as white sugar would do. It can cause digestive issues in some people. 

Other sweeteners

Splenda

Splenda, made from sucralose, is slightly sweeter than erythritol. It works in baking but it isn’t available in powdered form and doesn’t dissolves as well as erythritol.

Stevia

Stevia ranked last. It is highly concentrated so it is used in very small amounts. It doesn’t help the texture of the baked goods and leaves a chemical aftertaste. For this reason, stevia is best used to sweeten beverages, rather than in baked goods.

WHAT IS IT: Stevia comes from the stevia plant, typically grown in Paraguay. Its leaves are boiled down to produce the liquid form on the market today. A calorie-free option, it is 300 times sweeter than sugar and does not cause digestive issues, raise blood sugar, or spike insulin. 

The type of stevia I use the most in my recipes is the liquid form from the brand Sweetleaf. depending on the extraction process used, some brands may be sweeter or more bitter than others. 

Monk fruit, stevia, and erythritol are all keto sweeteners that taste and bake like sugar, without the negative health impacts. Feel free to use the sweetener of your choice.

How to reduce Sugar Sweetener aftertaste

I’ve learned over the years of perfecting my sweet sugar-free recipes, that in order to reduce an aftertaste effect, using two kinds of sugar-free sweeteners helps balance each other better avoiding any aftertaste.

I use a smaller amount of erythritol to avoid that cooling effect, and to bring up the sweetness I add a drop of liquid stevia. It works well to cancel out any aftertaste of either sweetener and get the right sweetness level for my low-carb desserts.

Erythritol + Liquid Stevia

Low carb sweetener for baking conversion chart

You can trust my keto sweetener conversion chart as the most accurate and precise sugar-free sweetener conversion chart.

FOOTNOTE:

Anything that is a true form of sugar, like coconut sugar, honey, dates, and maple syrup, is still sugar. It doesn’t really matter if it is less refined than white table sugar, it can and will spike your blood glucose. When glucose is spiked from eating high-carb foods, especially sugar, your insulin spikes. When insulin is high, fat is not going to be lost. Insulin causes you to store and hold on to your body fat.  Those looking to balance blood sugar and lose weight should avoid anything that spikes your blood sugar which is recommended to lose body fat. 

Resources used to write this article.

• “Easy Everyday Keto” book by Alicia A. Romano.
• “Natural sugar-free low-carb sweeteners” by sugarfreemom.com
• “Low-Calorie Sweeteners” hsph.harvard.edu
• “Sugar and Sweeteners” by Diabetes Canada