Sugar-Free Recipes Revisited

Last month, I wrote about my holiday cookie tradition, and in our podcast, I mentioned that I would try to find a way to make my cake-mix cookies in a sugar-free way. I wanted to take my recipe (linked below) a step further and make them keto. As we have discussed before, sugar-free doesn’t necessarily mean keto.

There are plenty of sugar-free cake mixes out there. What immediately comes to mind is the popular sugar-free line of cake mixes by Pillsbury® that could be easily substituted in my earlier recipe for cake mix cookies to lower the sugar content in the cookies. To make it keto, I needed to take it a step further and lower the carbohydrate content as well.

In the past, I have been on different forms of a low carbohydrate diet. These types of diets are difficult for me because I have a sweet tooth. As I mentioned in my sugar-free baking blog, I have been on the hunt for a substitute to trick my brain into thinking I am being bad while I am still being somewhat good. I call it “healthy junk,” and I have been on a mission to satisfy those cravings since I started my weight loss journey in the spring of 2019.

I typically go to Sprouts Farmer’s Market or Market Street to get my “healthy junk”, and I will further explain my grocery shopping science in an upcoming budget shopping blog. However, I want to explain why I like these grocery stores so much. Sprouts caters to individuals with special diets such as myself (I am low-carb, gluten-free, and mostly dairy-free) by labeling their pre-packaged foods with diet-friendly labels to make the process of grocery shopping quicker and easier. The labeling process is also very helpful for those just starting out on a special diet.

At the store, I discovered that Swerve® also makes a sugar-free and keto-friendly cake mix. I also picked up some Lily’s® no sugar added Pumpkin Spice chips (on clearance) for a low-sugar add-in. From there, I kept the recipe the same and just substituted the Swerve® cake mix and the pumpkin spice chips. I did not change the oil and egg ratio or the baking time. I wanted to see how they turned out.

I could not be happier with the result! The box yielded 18 cookies with less than 1 gram of sugar and 4 grams of carbohydrates per cookie. As with Swerve®, if you are familiar, this consistency is a bit grainier than a normal cake mix cookie, but the taste is very similar.

For keto dieters that are not a fan of Swerve® or would like a cheaper option that you can find in any grocery store, Duncan Hines® also has a keto cake mix on the shelves as well as Birch Benders®

As always, let me know what you think in the comments below. If you try this keto recipe, what would you do differently?

Check out our downloads page for my cake-mix cookie recipe:

Downloads

As an Amazon Affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

A Sugar-Free Twist on a Classic Cookie

In our podcast this week we talked about sugar-free recipes for the holidays. This is a subject that hits close to home in numerous ways. When I was in middle school, my dad was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes and when I was in high school, my mom was diagnosed as well. For most of my life, I tried to remain conscious of that fact. My family does not have the best genetics. We have a lot of health problems, but I’ve always considered myself lucky that I don’t have many health problems. The doctors always told me that it wasn’t a matter of if I have diabetes, but a matter of when. I don’t believe that to be true. I may not be able to stump genetics forever, but I can slow down the inevitable outcome.

In high school, I actually stopped drinking sugary drinks and switched to sugar-free sweeteners. While I wasn’t gaining weight, I wasn’t losing weight either. In fact, sugar substitutes can sometimes do more harm than good if they are not consumed in moderation.

In general, I avoid sugar substitutes because I just can’t stand the taste. However, a couple of years ago, I started cutting the carbohydrates from my life, which included refined sugars. It’s hard to cut sweets if you have a sweet tooth like I do. So, I went on a mental and spiritual journey to find a great-tasting sugar substitute to appease my sweet tooth. In the end, I found Swerve.

My favorite candy is a Reese’s Cup. In fact, peanut butter is what I crave most. My ex-husband used to make the best three-ingredient peanut butter cookies, but they were incredibly high in sugar. Last year, I resolved to find a keto-friendly recipe so I could enjoy my favorite cookies while eating low-carb. I wanted something sweet(er) that I could eat that was more than just peanut butter out of the jar with semi-sweet dark chocolate chips mixed in. I found a keto twist on the classic peanut butter recipe on the blog The Big Man's World.

The cookies came out great! With all sugar-free sweeteners, the taste is not going to be exactly the same. I’ve found that Swerve does not taste as artificial to me as other sweeteners. The taste is very similar to real sugar. Check out the recipe conversions below.

Unfortunately, cutting sugar and trying to make it taste the same is not going to be an exact science. I am still working it out. Swerve has been a life-saver. I use the brand in most of my low-sugar recipes. It even tastes great in my tea! I took these cookies to a birthday party thrown by a friend on the keto diet and they were well-received. If you love peanut butter as much as I do and you want a cookie or two, don’t feel guilty about this recipe.

Print Recipe

Let me know what you think in the comments below if you’ve tried this recipe. Also, if you have any sugar-free recipes to share, e-mail us at info@modernmusings.net.