The Ultimate List of Low Carb Monk Fruit Recipes (2024)

Diabetes |

ByErin Palinski-Wade

Following a low-carb diet doesn’t mean giving up your favorite sweet treats! I’ve found 15 of the best monk fruit recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth without raising your blood sugar.

The Ultimate List of Low Carb Monk Fruit Recipes (1)

Monk fruit is the perfect sugar replacement for baking and cooking as it holds up to heat, dissolves well, and won’t raise your blood sugar.

Each of these recipes using monk fruit will help you manage your blood sugar without giving up your favorite foods.

What is monk fruit?

Monk fruit is a small green melon native to the southern regions of China. It’s a natural, zero-calorie sweetener that is 150-200 times sweeter than sugar. Like other sugar substitutes, monk fruit can help you enjoy your favorite foods without raising your blood sugar.

While some sugar substitutes can cause digestive issues like gas or cramping (looking at you erythritol and xylitol), monk fruit is easy on the stomach.

Monkfruit is heat stable, which makes it a great choice for baking. But, since it’s much sweeter than sugar, it’s not a one-to-one replacement for sugar in recipes. Thankfully, the 15 recipes used below are all tested using monk fruit, so there’s no guesswork on how much to use.

Sweet monk fruit recipes

If you’ve been avoiding or limiting dessert because of your diabetes, it’s about time you stop that silliness! You can have your cake and manage your blood sugars too when you sweeten your recipes with monk fruit. These tried and true sweet treats use monk fruit sweetener to create delicious, satisfying, low-carb desserts that you can enjoy without guilt or worry.

Low Carb Keto Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins | We Eat at Last

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These fluffy and delicious low-carb pumpkin muffins are great to serve for breakfast or brunch! And they’re so easy to make, you’ll be baking them on repeat!

No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake | No Sugar No Flour Recipes

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Cheesecake is typically loaded with sugar and is not an ideal treat for someone with diabetes. This no-bake strawberry cheesecake cuts the carbs in half using powdered monk fruit as a sweetener.

Keto Fruit Pizza Sugar Cookies | Simply Low Cal

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Have you ever seen a more delicious way to eat your fruit?! These low-carb sugar cookies are topped with sweet and decadent sugar-free frosting and seasonal fruit for the perfect summer treat.

Keto Brownies | Low Carb Quick

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These thick, rich, fudgy brownies are made with almond flour and sweetened with monk fruit. These gooey brownies are low-carb and absolutely delicious.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies | An Edible Mosaic

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These gluten-free and keto Jam Thumbprint Cookies are soft inside with a crispy nut coating and sweet raspberry jam filling. They’re a lovely addition to a holiday cookie platter and are also perfect for a sweet treat any time of year.

Keto Peanut Butter Cups | The Short Order Cook

No-bake chocolate & peanut butter cups are the keto treat your sweet tooth craves. The cool and creamy layers make these keto peanut butter cups absolutely irresistible.

No-Bake Keto Cheesecake | Momma Fit Lindsey

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The best no-bake keto cheesecake is right here! Made with no sugar, this monk fruit cheesecake is light, fluffy, and has a delicious toasted almond flour crust that you would swear is graham crackers! Perfect for low-carb eating or if you are looking for an easy dessert recipe that won’t spike your blood sugar.

Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies | Kalyn’s Kitchen

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Almond flour shortbread cookies are the perfect treat when you’re craving cookies and want an easy recipe that’s low in carbs!

Keto Chocolate Donuts | Low Carb Yum

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These keto chocolate donuts are a decadent treat for you to satisfy your chocolate and donut craving. Monk fruit is used to sweeten these donuts, making them the perfect low-carb breakfast or snack.

Easy Low Carb Pumpkin Muffins | Erin Palinski Wade

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These sugar-free, gluten-free, and blood sugar-friendly muffins are perfect for a pumpkin lover! Monk fruit helps sweeten these to make them the perfect breakfast or snack while managing your blood sugars.

Savory monk fruit recipes

Monk fruit isn’t only for desserts and sweet treats! These savory recipes use monk fruit to create a deliciously sticky and sweet glaze for pork and add a subtle sweetness to a keto egg salad. If your favorite savory dish uses sugar or another sweetener, monk fruit could be a great alternative to use for better blood sugar control.

Baked Pork Tenderloin with Glaze | Cooking with Mama C

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This baked pork tenderloin is always a hit! Use monk fruit sweetener in the sweet-and-spicy glaze for a delicious keto dish.

Keto Deviled Egg Salad | We Eat at Last

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This keto-friendly deviled egg salad is the perfect side dish. It is easy to make, goes well with so many dishes, and is gluten-free. Whip up a batch for your next picnic or summer day lunch.

Thirst-quenching drinks sweetened with monk fruit

If you’ve ever heard that you shouldn’t drink your carbs, now you don’t have to. These deliciously sweet drinks use monk fruit instead of sugar for refreshing and satisfying drinks that won’t cause a spike in blood sugar.

Three Ingredient Hot Chocolate| Erin Palinski Wade

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If you think you have to give up sweet decadent drinks like hot chocolate just to manage your blood sugars, think again! This three-ingredient hot chocolate is keto-friendly and has only 3 grams of net carbs.

Monks’ Fruit and Chrysanthemum Tea | Daily Cooking Quest

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Chinese herbal tea (liang cha) is a homemade remedy for sore throat. I love this version with luo han guo (monk fruit), chrysanthemum flowers, and longan.

Homemade Keto Lemonade Concentrate | The Short Order Cook

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Making homemade lemonade concentrate that’s keto-friendly and sweetened with monk fruit is so easy and delicious! Get ready to enjoy sugar-free lemonade all year long!

The Bottom Line

Monk fruit can be used in a variety of dishes from sweet treats, to dinner, or refreshing drinks. By enjoying any one of these recipes, you can eat satisfying and enjoyable food while managing your blood sugar. A diabetes-friendly diet never tasted so good!

Love this post? Check out…

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The Ultimate List of Low Carb Monk Fruit Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Which is better, stevia or monk fruit? ›

When it comes to choosing between Monk Fruit sweetener and Stevia sweetener, both offer viable alternatives to sugar. However, Monk Fruit emerges as the better and healthier choice due to its pleasant flavour, absence of bitter aftertaste, zero glycemic index, and potential antioxidant benefits.

Does monk fruit take you out of ketosis? ›

People have used monk fruit for centuries in China, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only generally recognized it as safe in 2010. A monk fruit sweetener has no calories or carbs , so it will not raise a person's blood sugar levels. This means it is suitable for those following a keto diet.

What is the insulin response to monk fruit? ›

Monk fruit extract is also a potentially healthy sweetener for patients with diabetes. Since the human body does not recognize mogrosides as carbohydrates or sugars, they do not trigger an insulin response.

How much monk fruit equals 1 tsp sugar? ›

Some monk fruit blends are 1:1 sugar replacements, i.e., spoon for spoon, they are as sweet as table sugar. Others are 2:1 (2 teaspoons of sugar is as sweet as 1 teaspoon of monk fruit) up to 12:1. To find out how sweet a product is, you need to pay attention not only to the brand but also the type.

What are the negatives of monk fruit sweetener? ›

Along with the many benefits, there are some drawbacks too, which include:
  • Raw monk fruit is hard to find. It's almost impossible to find unless you live in a region in which its grown.
  • Some monk fruit sweeteners are processed. ...
  • Sweetening food and drinks can encourage sugar cravings. ...
  • Avoid if you have a gourd allergy.
May 15, 2020

What is the healthiest sugar substitute? ›

Stevia and monk fruit are both naturally derived from plants and some people feel they have a flavor very similar to regular sugar. The FDA says these sweeteners are “generally regarded as safe,” which means they are safe to use for their intended purpose.

Does monk fruit raise a1c? ›

‌Because monk fruit sugar doesn't change your blood sugar levels, that makes it a safe option for people with diabetes. It's also often used as a sugar substitute in keto diets. Monk fruit sugar has been approved for general use in the U.S., so children and pregnant people can enjoy it as well.

Does monk fruit cause inflammation like sugar? ›

The mogrosides in monk fruit have antioxidant characteristics, which protect cells from damage caused by free radicals. The damage is a primary source of inflammation, meaning that monk fruit also has anti-inflammatory properties.

Does monk fruit affect the pancreas? ›

According to a study, monk fruit extract can reduce inflammation, repair damaged cells in the pancreas, and relieve symptoms in mice with diabetes.

Why do they add erythritol to monk fruit? ›

During the production of monk fruit sweeteners, monk fruit extract is often blended with erythritol in order to taste and look more like table sugar. Erythritol is a type of polyol, also referred to as a sugar alcohol, that contains zero calories per gram.

Why is allulose banned in Europe? ›

Allulose is banned in Europe and Canada, possible carcinogen.

Is allulose or monk fruit better? ›

Both have minimal calories, do not impact blood sugars, and are generally considered safe by the FDA. The one exception is their heat stability in baking. Allulose is a better option for baked goods. Check out this Keto Chocolate Bundt Cake recipe from Cathy's Cake Salon made with a monk fruit allulose blend.

What are the downsides of stevia? ›

As with most nonnutritive sweeteners, a major downside is the taste. Stevia has a mild, licorice-like taste that's slightly bitter. Some people enjoy it, but it's a turn-off for others. In some people, stevia products made with sugar alcohols may cause digestive problems, such as bloating and diarrhea.

Is monk fruit the safest sweetener? ›

Is monk fruit safe? Monk fruit received the “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It also has no reported side effects. But use monk fruit — or any sweetener — in moderate amounts.

What is the best sweetener for diabetics to use? ›

You can use most sugar substitutes if you have diabetes, including:
  • Saccharin (Sweet'N Low)
  • Aspartame (NutraSweet)
  • Acesulfame potassium (Sunett)
  • Neotame (Newtame)
  • Advantame.
  • Sucralose (Splenda)
  • Stevia (Pure Via, Truvia)

Which is healthier, stevia or erythritol? ›

While both Erythritol and Stevia have zero calories, Stevia is associated with more health benefits such as lowering blood pressure and fewer potential side effects. Erythritol can cause nausea and digestive issues for some people while Stevia is known to have no harmful impact on your gut.

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