Eating an ancestral diet doesn’t mean you have to ditch all sweet foods for good! Here are my favorite natural sweeteners I use weekly in my own kitchen.
Quick Look at Ancestral Eating Sweeteners
- 🍪 Best 1:1 Baking Substitute: Coconut sugar
- 🍯 Most Nutrient-Dense: Raw honey
- 🌿 100% Sugar-Free: Monk fruit extract
- 🌾 Best Form of Sugarcane: Sucanat
The Way Sugar Was Meant to Be
As a teenager, I started experimenting with baking with less refined sugar, but after my husband’s Crohn’s crisis, I finally got refined sugar out of my kitchen for good.
At first, I thought my baking days were over, but I quickly discovered various natural sweeteners that easily take the place of refined sugar in so many recipes. People have been enjoying these sweeteners in moderation for thousands of years, and adding them to your pantry has never been so easy!
What’s the Difference Between Refined and Natural Sugars?
Refined white sugar is made through a process which extracts the natural sugars from sugar beets or sugarcane. It is extremely processed and retains no health benefits from the original source.
Because of this, it causes blood sugar spikes and over time can lead to various health issues.
On the other hand, natural sugar is found in whole foods such as fruit, vegetables, and dairy. While you still want to eat natural sugar in moderation, it’s much healthier for you than refined sugar.
Check out all my favorite naturally-sweetened desserts!
My Favorite Natural Sweeteners for an Ancestral Diet
Coconut Sugar
This is my favorite granulated alternative to refined sugar! It can be used as a 1:1 substitute for regular sugar or brown sugar in recipes.
It does have a caramel-like flavor which can impact the taste of certain recipes. Because of this, I recommend using it recipes that have their own distinct flavor, such as almond flour brownies. You can also combine it with other refined sugar alternatives to minimize the caramel flavor.
Coconut sugar is made from extracting the sap of coconut palm trees and exposing it to high heat to evaporate the liquid. What’s left is the coconut sugar crystals which you can use in so many ways in your kitchen!
Lime shortbread bars are one of my favorite desserts with coconut sugar!
Molasses
Molasses is added to refined white sugar to make brown sugar, but you can use it by itself to sweeten foods. While it has the flavor of brown sugar, keep in mind that it’s not nearly as sweet.
It’s a wonderful way to add depth of flavor and slight sweetness to so many dishes or condiments! However, it’s not a direct substitute for refined sugar.
Molasses is made during the process of refining sugar, however, it retains some of the nutrients from the sugarcane.
Maple Syrup
Maple syrup is a classic on pancakes, but it can also be used to sweeten many other foods!
Since it’s slightly sweeter than refined sugar, you can replace 1 cup of white or brown sugar with 3/4 cup of maple syrup. In baking, make sure to reduce other liquids in the recipe by 3 to 4 tablespoons per 3/4 cup of maple syrup.
Maple syrup has been made through a simple process for hundreds of years. Sap is extracted from sugar maple trees and the water is evaporated until the syrup reaches the desired sweetness. Like other natural sweeteners, it contains numerous vitamins and minerals.
Maple syrup adds the perfect texture to this healthy apple crisp!
Monk Fruit Extract
Even though monk fruit has only recently gained popularity in the United States, it has been used in China for centuries. Its sweetness comes primarily from certain antioxidants in the fruit which makes it 100-200 times sweeter than sugar.
Many versions of monk fruit extract on the market contain unhealthy added ingredients such as erythritol, so it’s best to carefully check the ingredients of any monk fruit extract you buy. For the healthiest option, choose a product that contains 100% monk fruit extract.
While the flavor of monk fruit extract doesn’t typically interfere with recipes, the sweetness of pure monk fruit extract makes so that it’s not a 1:1 substitute for sugar. It’s easiest to use it in drinks and cooking instead of baking.
If you do choose to bake with it, you will likely need to experiment with modifying the ingredients in the recipe to make it turn out correctly. I typically use it to add additional sweetness to nice-cream or improve the flavor of my kids’ smoothies if I added too many greens.
Sucanat
This is another wonderful granulated 1:1 ratio substitute for refined sugar! It has a strong, roasted caramel-type flavor, so you’ll want to use it in recipes where it will compliment the taste. It can also be used to sweeten drinks.
Rapadura is evaporated cane sugar juice that has not been processed. The molasses and sugar are still combined giving it a rich color and flavor.
It’s traditionally made in various countries and also known as rapadura, jaggery, gur, panela, piloncillo, chancaca, and tapa de dulce depending on the brand and where you are in the world.
Sucanat is the best way to sweeten homemade water kefir!
Raw Honey
Raw honey is one of the most delicious sweeteners there is, and it has been used for all of human history! Heating honey destroys much of its nutrition, so it’s not best to cook or bake with it.
I love using raw honey as a flavorful sweetener for tea, in salad dressings or other condiments, and as a delicious topping for muffins, bread, or pancakes. It’s also a wonderful way to sweeten yogurt or smoothies!
I want to know, what’s your favorite natural sweetener? Let me know in the comments!
