I grew up watching my grandmother make what she called “sugar syrup”. You put the water in the pan and get it hot then you mix in the sugar and flavorings and boil! So, when I started Trim Healthy Mama it was for life; after trying a few sugar free syrups, I realized that I’d have to put the fond memory of these delicious homemade syrups behind me and just be glad that sweeteners have progressed to the point that we can have syrup at all! But still I couldn’t stop remembering, so one morning last year I woke up and thought to myself…”Why not do the math and make a real sugar syrup?” Why indeed? Well for many reasons, the biggest of which is that you can’t boil erythritol or it turns to crispy critters and “ain’t nobody go time for that ;-)”! So I decided to get the water hot enough to melt the sweetener (I used a
So I decided to get the water hot enough to melt the sweetener (I used a truvia type blend) then quickly whisk it in along with the flavorings and binder). It worked! I HAD SYRUP! But I still kept at it and found that I could have a sweeter smoother syrup using xylitol, but xylitol is well…..xylitol, which can cause digestive problems (if you ingest too much) and also it measures cup per cup with sugar so it’s expensive; plus, it is higher on the glycemic index than the other sweeteners so I abandoned that idea after a while.
Well this morning, I decided to finally get around to using the Gentle Sweet Blend to make my syrup and GUESS WHAT?! It is fantastic! Same recipe as my original syrup but, of course, Gentle Sweet measures differently so here’s the recipe.
*Instead of Gentle sweet you can use 1/4 cup Pyure or Truvia plus 1/4 cup erythritol OR just use the 1/4 cup Pyure or Truvia
Keep whisking and it will thicken…very important that the water be very hot and the xanthan will froth a little, but mixes in well. Keep in mind that it will continue to thicken as it cools so be careful and don’t overdo the binder.
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Sugar (Free) Syrup with Gentle Sweet
Ingredients
Sugar (Free) Syrup featuring Gentle Sweet Sweetener
Heat:
- 1 cup water on top of the stove until it is hot enough to boil
- Working quickly whisk in:
- 1/2 cup THM Gentle Sweet - note this is very sweet)
- *1 tsp. extract (I usually make it with maple but I also switch out caramel, etc.) I use Watkins brand from Wal Mart
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 pinch of salt (VERY IMPORTANT)
Whisk, Whisk, Whisk and add in:
- 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum (Now brand gluccie will make this get too thick and xanthan gum can be purchased as it's NSI)
Instructions
Keep whisking and it will thicken...very important that the water be very hot and the xanthan will froth a little, but mixes in well. Keep in mind that it will continue to thicken as it cools so be careful and don't overdo the binder.
This morning I attempted the sugar free syrup. Although I did not have the gentle sweet, I used pyure. Turned out great.?
My daughter is very picky when it comes to taste and food, lol. So when she tasted it and said “it taste good, I know she approved. We will be using this for sure.
What a great blessing! Thanks
Thanks for letting me know Robbie! One of the exciting things about discovering how to make this syrup a couple of years ago is that it lead to so many others. I based all my coffee house syrups on that recipe. I subbed cocoa and other extracts for the maple extract to make the caramel and peppermint mochas. Added pumpkin spice extract (also Watkins brand) and pumpkin to make the Pumpkin Spice Latte syrup which is also great on pancakes. Being able to make your own sugar free syrup just opens a whole world of cooking options and I’m so glad you’re on your way! If you make any discoveries along the way be sure and let me know so I can try them too!
Hi! Is it necessary to refrigerator this syrup? Thanks!!
Hi, Melissa! Long term storage requires the fridge but it can be left out quite a bit as it doesn’t contain protein or other ingredients that spoil easily.
I have been meaning to try this and today was going to be the day. Got to the line for the Glucomannan and cringed…then I saw the note on the Now brand being slimy! Yup, that is what I have and don’t like it because it’s slimy! Imagine that! I just thought it was how it was supposed to be. Will get the Xanthan today and try it until I can order the Gluccie from another source! Thank you so much for that tip!!!!!
Hi Becky! I hope you like it and thanks for stopping by 🙂
This recipe looks great but I’m a bit confused. The previous poster mentions gluccie but I see no mention of it in the recipe. And it says not to use Now brand xanthan gum, but isn’t that what is pictured? What brand do you recommend?
Hi Tobi, I think I’ve got it fixed now. Thanks for letting me know 🙂
This syrup was really good! Thanks for the recipe!
Can i use monk fruit drops? And do you know how much? I wouldn’t know how to convert it.
I’ve never used drops to make this syrup and I think the lower volume of the drops, as opposed to the sugar alcohol/stevia mixture, might make it quite a bit thinner and you’d need to use more xanthan. If you don’t have a problem with the sugar alcohols I’d recommend making a mixture of it and the monk fruit drops instead.
How many grams of fat and carbs in this syrup?
Hi Diane! I’ve gradually been adding nutritional facts to my recipes but the low glycemic sweeteners aren’t calculating correctly. This recipe is basically water and sweetener though so when I get a practical way to express these numbers correctly, I will add them. Hope this helps. 🙂
I heated the water in the microwave to boiling, let it cool til the bubbling stopped, and added the sweetener. Easy Peasy.
I have trouble whisking in the xanthum I end up with tons of bubbles. Could l put cold water plus all ingredients including xanthum in the blender and then put on the stove and bring almost to boil? That way the xanthum would be distributed well before the heat is added?
The idea of sprinkling in the xanthan gum over the very hot water and whisking is to mix it in with the least amount of whisking. The bubbles always subside within a few minutes when I’ve tried it.
If you ommited the flavors would it be just be like a simple syrup?
Yes it sure would be Laura.
Just made this and it’s my favorite! Yum, I don’t even like syrup especially maple lol Thank you!
I just made your syrup this morning. It smells really good. I haven’t gotten to try it yet but I was wondering how you got yours so dark. Mine looks really light. Like discolored water. I feel like I must’ve done something wrong.
It might be a difference in the flavorings. At the time of publishing I did not have the higher quality flavorings which tend to be lighter in color. I make it with a maple flavoring now that is light colored and I add just about 1 tsp of black strap molasses. It doesn’t even effect the taste at all; just the color and the texture is smoother I think.
I made this and loved it. S pancakes yesterday and used leftovers to sweeten my E oatmeal this morning.
I always enjoy your recipes!
Thanks Kim! Glad to here that you enjoy them. 🙂