Sugar-free chocolate
Someone once said: "Put ‘eat chocolate’ at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done."
If you can’t eat sugar, eating chocolate is not straightforward. Fortunately, the manufacturers are increasingly realising that chocolate is not just for those who can eat sugar. And there are now a number of options to satisfy your chocolate cravings without sugar, such as:
Chocolate sweetened with maltitol, lactitol or sorbitol
There are now several chocolate brands that use these sweeteners. For instance, Boots’ Diabetic No Added Sugar Chocolate uses maltitol.
Chocolate sweetened with fructose
Special Recipe and Holex are brands that use fructose and they can be bought online and in some health food shops. In addition to milk and plain chocolate, they both produce a variety of other flavours, like peppermint cream or praline filled chocolate bars.
Chocolate sweetened with stevia
Stevia-sweetened chocolates are fairly new in the UK. Cavalier and Balance are brands that are probably the easiest to get hold of. Although both indicate that their chocolates are sweetened with stevia, it alone is not sufficient to make the chocolate taste sweet enough. Therefore, they both use additional sweeteners: Cavalier adds erythritol and Balance adds maltitol and lactitol.
Chocolate sweetened with xylitol
Xylitol-sweetened chocolate is gaining popularity in the UK. Plamil and Xylitol UK manufacture different kinds of xylitol chocolates, including dark chocolate flavoured with orange, coffee and mint. Some raw chocolate is now also made with xylitol (for example, The Raw Chocolate Company).
Chocolate sweetened with other natural sweeteners
There are some chocolates, especially among the raw chocolates, that use a variety of other natural sweeteners. For example, some Booja Booja chocolates are sweetened with agave syrup and Ombar superfood chocolate bars contain coconut sugar.
100 % plain chocolate
If you fancy completely unsweetened chocolate, Willy’s Cacao and Hotel Chocolat manufacture 100% cocoa bars. These are quite bitter tasting on their own, but can be excellent in cooking and baking.
Copyright © Tarja Moles 2012. Photograph © Nilsz | Dreamstime.com. All rights reserved.
If you’d like to use this article in your ezine or on your website, you’re welcome to do so as long as you use the complete article, including the copyright line, and include the following paragraph in its entirety:
Tarja Moles is the author of No Naughties: Sweet Treats without Sugar, Wheat, Gluten and Yeast. Visit www.nonaughties.com for free recipes and information on special diets and living with multiple dietary restrictions.
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If you can’t eat sugar, eating chocolate is not straightforward. Fortunately, the manufacturers are increasingly realising that chocolate is not just for those who can eat sugar. And there are now a number of options to satisfy your chocolate cravings without sugar, such as:
Chocolate sweetened with maltitol, lactitol or sorbitol
There are now several chocolate brands that use these sweeteners. For instance, Boots’ Diabetic No Added Sugar Chocolate uses maltitol.
Chocolate sweetened with fructose
Special Recipe and Holex are brands that use fructose and they can be bought online and in some health food shops. In addition to milk and plain chocolate, they both produce a variety of other flavours, like peppermint cream or praline filled chocolate bars.
Chocolate sweetened with stevia
Stevia-sweetened chocolates are fairly new in the UK. Cavalier and Balance are brands that are probably the easiest to get hold of. Although both indicate that their chocolates are sweetened with stevia, it alone is not sufficient to make the chocolate taste sweet enough. Therefore, they both use additional sweeteners: Cavalier adds erythritol and Balance adds maltitol and lactitol.
Chocolate sweetened with xylitol
Xylitol-sweetened chocolate is gaining popularity in the UK. Plamil and Xylitol UK manufacture different kinds of xylitol chocolates, including dark chocolate flavoured with orange, coffee and mint. Some raw chocolate is now also made with xylitol (for example, The Raw Chocolate Company).
Chocolate sweetened with other natural sweeteners
There are some chocolates, especially among the raw chocolates, that use a variety of other natural sweeteners. For example, some Booja Booja chocolates are sweetened with agave syrup and Ombar superfood chocolate bars contain coconut sugar.
100 % plain chocolate
If you fancy completely unsweetened chocolate, Willy’s Cacao and Hotel Chocolat manufacture 100% cocoa bars. These are quite bitter tasting on their own, but can be excellent in cooking and baking.
Copyright © Tarja Moles 2012. Photograph © Nilsz | Dreamstime.com. All rights reserved.
If you’d like to use this article in your ezine or on your website, you’re welcome to do so as long as you use the complete article, including the copyright line, and include the following paragraph in its entirety:
Tarja Moles is the author of No Naughties: Sweet Treats without Sugar, Wheat, Gluten and Yeast. Visit www.nonaughties.com for free recipes and information on special diets and living with multiple dietary restrictions.
Back to Articles