Discover the Ultimate Keto-Friendly Honey Substitute Recipe You Can't Miss!

For those adhering to a ketogenic diet, which typically consists of 70-75% fat, 20-25% protein, and 5-10% carbs, finding suitable sweeteners can be a challenge. While honey offers unique benefits, its high sugar and carbohydrate content does not make it a keto-friendly choice. Although actual honey is not a keto-friendly choice for a sweetener, you do not have to miss out on the comforting taste of honey when you have a keto-friendly honey substitute on hand! This article explores a keto-friendly honey substitute recipe, its benefits, and provides tips, substitutions, and answers to frequently asked questions.

The Allure of Honey and the Keto Dilemma

Honey is known for its rich flavor and natural sweetness. Golden, gooey, with a sweet floral aroma - there’s nothing quite like honey! When it comes to sweeteners that support health, many people think about honey. Made by bees and marketed as an alternative to refined sugar - honey contains antioxidants, some amino acids, as well as vitamins and minerals. Many different kinds of honey are sold on the market, so the nutritional values may vary slightly. There’s raw honey, which is unprocessed and contains small amounts of bee pollen, propolis, and wax. Overall, honey is better for blood sugar levels than table sugar, thanks to the antioxidants. While it may be one of the healthier ways to satisfy your sweet tooth, does it have any place in a low-carb lifestyle?

The short answer? No, unfortunately not. If you’re trying to stay within the macro limits of a strict keto diet, honey does not make the cut. Even the smallest amount of honey can kick you out of the state of ketosis so if keto is your goal, best steer clear! Since a tablespoon of honey is about 17g of net carbs, it can definitely break ketosis if you consume too much of it. About 5 grams of sugar per day is generally considered the maximum amount of sugar intake to stay in ketosis.

Honey is nearly all sugar (a.k.a. carbs) but it does have some small amounts of vitamins, minerals, and even natural anti-bacterial properties. It can be considered a “better” carb compared to processed sugar since it’s less refined, but it still raises blood sugar levels. That said, enjoying a small amount of honey can be a part of a balanced diet, but it should generally be avoided on keto.

Understanding Keto Diet Variations and Honey Consumption

Different types of ketogenic diets exist, each with varying levels of carbohydrate restriction:

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Standard Keto Diet (SKD): This is the most common form, emphasizing high fat, moderate protein, and very low carbohydrate intake.
Targeted Keto Diet (TKD): The targeted keto diet involves consuming additional carbohydrates around workouts to provide energy for physical activity. This type of keto diet involves consuming your daily carb allowance before or after a workout.
Cyclical Keto Diet (CKD): The cyclical ketogenic diet involves cycling between periods of strict carb restriction and higher carb intake. On a CKD, you eat only 20-50 grams of carbs five to six days a week, followed by one to two days of more carbs - called “refeeding” days. You can eat more than two servings of honey and consume other carb sources (e.g.

If you:

Are still very new to the keto diet: Wait until you’ve adapted to keto before experimenting with carbohydrate sources like honey.
Have diabetes: People with diabetes may put themselves at risk of blood sugar spikes since their bodies cannot effectively handle the amount of glucose coming in.
Are likely to go overboard with your sweet tooth: This happens when you’re stressed, feeling anxious, and sleep deprived.

Important note: Check for ketosis using ketone urine testing strips or a blood ketone meter. Does one serving of honey spike your blood sugar or knock you out of ketosis? If the answer is yes, we recommend these alternative sweeteners.

The Keto Honey Substitute Recipe: A Step-by-Step Guide

This is a much healthier alternative liquid sweetener that will give you the taste and texture like real honey, but without the extra carbs or sugar. This keto honey recipe yields thick and sweet ‘honey’ made with NO bee pollen or actual honey!

Ingredients:

Keto-friendly sweetener of choice (monk fruit, erythritol, stevia, or allulose)
Xanthan gum (for thickening)
Warm water
Honey extract or vanilla extract (for flavor)

Instructions:

Dissolving the Xanthan Gum: In a small bowl pour half of your warm water and while whisking sprinkle in the xanthan gum a little at a time. Whisk very well, until the xanthan gum has mostly dissolved. Set aside while you prepare your saucepan.
Simmering the Sweetener: In a medium saucepan with tall sides pour in half of your warm water and your sweetener of choice. You do not want a small saucepan so you have room for stirring without it pouring over the sides. Whisk the sweetener and water until the sweetener has mostly dissolved. Now add it to medium heat and bring to a boil.
Combining and Thickening: While whisking, add your xanthan gum mixture and stir until it is smooth. Once it begins to boil, add the xanthan gum mixture and whisk very well. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes at a very low simmering boil. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until it has thickened. This will help it thicken and allow the xanthan gum to create a solution with the sweetener.
Adding Flavor: Once it has simmered, remove from the heat and let it cool. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the honey extract. Now add in either your honey extract or vanilla extract.
Cooling and Storing: Allow the honey to cool completely, before transferring to a container or sterilized jar and refrigerating it until it has thickened further. Once it has cooled to room temperature, pour into a bottle or airtight mason jar for storage.
Storing and Thawing: Store it in the fridge up to 1 month or freeze for long term storage up to 3 months. In order to use from frozen you must thaw overnight in the fridge.
Usage: Shake well and use as needed.

Tips for the Perfect Keto Honey Substitute

Be Patient:
Use a Good Quality Honey Extract: The key ingredient!
Make it Spicy:
Adjust the Sweetness:
Choosing Your Sweetener: As long as you choose a keto-friendly sweetener for the type of sugar substitute sweetener in the keto honey then you can choose whichever one you want. Keep in mind that the one you choose will shine through in flavor, so choose your favorite. I chose to try out keto brown sugar for a rich flavor and also plain monk fruit for the vanilla version which is lighter. The color of the honey substitute will be determined by the keto sweetener you choose not the extract.

Sweetener Options for Keto Honey

Several keto-friendly sweeteners can be used in this recipe:

Monk Fruit Sweetener: Pure monkfruit is all natural, doesn’t taste chemical or leave a strange aftertaste like some other sweeteners. While you can certainly enjoy it on its own, monk fruit is 150-200 times sweeter than regular sugar. If you want pure monk fruit, you’ll find it as concentrated drops, similar to stevia. Contains 9g carbs and 9 g fiber per 1 tablespoon of keto friendly honey substitute. This is considering using monk fruit original.
Allulose: Another one of my favorite low-carb sweeteners, allulose is a natural sweetener with zero calories and carbs. Allulose has a similar taste and texture to regular sugar, but it still makes a great honey substitute for sweetening desserts, baked goods, coffee, and tea. It has 70% of the sweetness of regular sugar, so you’ll need to use a little more of it to achieve the desired level of sweetness. One thing to note is that allulose does not caramelize like regular sugar, so it may not be the best option for certain recipes that require caramelization.
Erythritol: Erythritol may sound like a scary chemical, but it’s actually a natural sugar alcohol found in fruits and fungi like grapes, melons, and mushrooms. Erythritol has a similar taste to sugar but is only 70% as sweet. This means you’ll need to use a little more of it in your recipes, but it still makes a great alternative to honey. One downside to erythritol is that it can have a slightly cooling effect on the tongue, which some people may find unpleasant.
Stevia: If you are not fond of artificial sweeteners that have been processed, you can choose stevia. Stevia is from the Stevia Rebaudiana Plant and is very sweet. Use a teaspoon in this syrup recipe instead of the monk fruit if you wish. Stevia is a natural sweetener derived from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant. Stevia has an incredibly sweet taste, between 200-350 times sweeter than sugar, so a little goes a long way. Even so, it’s important to note that stevia can have a slightly bitter aftertaste to some.

You can include stevia, monk fruit sweeteners, erythritol, or other sugar alcohols.

Sweeteners to Avoid:

I personally like to avoid artificial sweeteners like maltodextrin, maltitol, sorbitol, and mannitol. These can be found in other sugar alternatives and are known to raise blood sugar levels. So be sure you check the labels of products before consuming them!

Xanthan Gum and Other Thickening Agents

Discover the magical thickener xanthan gum! Xanthan gum is a key ingredient in this recipe, providing the necessary thickness and texture.

You can substitute the xanthan gum with another thickener like glucomannan if you wish. Glucomannan is from the konjac plant and thickens very similarly to xanthan gum.

Using Keto Honey Substitute in Recipes

Oh yes, the keto honey substitute can be used in baking as a replacement for traditional honey.

Yes, it would be perfect in a salad dressing recipe especially honey mustard!

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Purchasing Keto-Friendly Honey Alternatives

If you want to purchase some honey, you can visit Natureshollow.com for some Honey Substitute that fits into a low carb diet. If I buy any, this is the brand I would recommend, especially for use in my recipes. They have other options for keto-friendly food as well like ketchup and maple syrup.

Addressing Common Concerns

How Much Keto Honey Substitute Is Safe? Moderation is key with any keto sweetener. Different people are affected differently when they consume too much of a certain type of keto sweetener.
Will It Spike Blood Sugar Levels? This keto honey substitute is designed to have a minimal impact on blood sugar levels. It all depends on how the sweetener you use to sweeten the keto honey substitute effects you.

Personal Journey and Inspiration

On most days my diet is quite simple - real food made with eggs, avocados, meats and vegetables. I rarely crave foods like pizza, bread or sweet treats but when I do, I know there are healthy alternatives for most of the foods I love. Over the years, I've developed all sorts of low-carb recipes both for my blog, apps and cookbooks including keto bread, tortillas, crackers, pizza, pies and tarts, ice-cream, and even caramel sauce. I always wanted to create healthy low-carb, keto honey and keto maple syrup that can be used even on a keto and paleo diet.

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