Living Low Carb with Erythritol

Erythritol is natural, not man-made like many other sweeteners. It is made by fermenting foods which naturally contain sugars. The result is a product which retains the sweetness, but not the calories and carbs of the original foods.

It is a sugar alcohol, but it is neither sugar nor alcohol. And unlike other sugar alcohols, it doesn't cause nasty side effects like an upset tummy or quick dashes to the restroom! It will not harm your teeth, either: the FDA approved it to carry a "does not promote tooth decay" label.

Erythritol contains only 0.2 calories per gram and has very little, if any, effect on BGLs (Blood Glucose Levels). So you can enjoy low carb treats like this Frosted Chia Brownie without worrying about carbs and calories.

Erythritol is available in both powdered and granular forms. You can run the granular form through a blender to make it finer, but I prefer to order powdered erythritol as well as granular.

I use granular erythritol when I want the recipe to have some crunch, like in the pizzelle pictured above. I also use it in toppings for crunches and other desserts.

Powdered erythritol blends into recipes well, which makes it great for many desserts, especially chocolates, like these Low Carb Mint Chocolate Disks.

Erythritol has a slightly "cool" taste, which I sometimes offset with a little Fiberfit (liquid sucralose). But I don't find it objectionable and sometimes use erythritol by itself, like in my Low Carb Russian Teacakes. You can find the recipe for them and many other desserts in the list below.