Out of Sugar, one case
Sugar substitute for ice cream
5 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Honey
¾ cup for every cup of sugar
In homemade ice cream, sugar is what keeps it scoopable, so the swap has to stop the base from freezing solid. If you are out of sugar, use ¾ cup honey or maple syrup per cup of sugar: the ice cream comes out softer. For sugar-free ice cream, allulose is the pick at 1 1/3 cups per cup of sugar, because it stays soft in the freezer. Erythritol and stevia freeze rock hard.
- Verdict —
- Tweak it
- The tweak —
- Stir it into the warm base and take 3 tbsp of the milk out per cup of sugar replaced. Use a mild honey such as clover.
- Best for —
- vanilla, fruit and nut ice creams
- Pantry —
- Likely in your cupboard
One casethe full sugar card
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 cup sugar | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honeyvanilla, fruit and nut ice creams | ¾ cupTweak it | Tweak it |
| 2 | Maple syrupmaple walnut, pecan and coffee ice cream | ¾ cupTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Allulosesugar-free and keto ice cream | 1 1/3 cupsTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Light corn syrup, for part of the sugarsmoother, chewier homemade ice cream | ¾ cup sugar + ¼ cup corn syrupTweak it | Tweak it |
| 5 | Erythritol blend or Splenda granulatedice cream eaten straight from the churn | 1 cupYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| Not a swap | Liquid stevia or monk fruit drops alone | not a swapNot for this | Not for this |
Honey
honey is the main flavor
Sweeter than sugar, and its glucose and fructose lower the freezing point more, so the ice cream is softer and smoother.
- Best for
- vanilla, fruit and nut ice creams, frozen yogurt, when you are out of sugar
- Prep
- Stir it into the warm base and take 3 tbsp of the milk out per cup of sugar replaced. Use a mild honey such as clover.
- Contains
- honey
- Where it fails
- Delicate flavors get covered by the honey, and the ice cream melts faster on the cone.
Honey must not be given to a child under 12 months.
Maple syrup
clearly maple; tan color
Sweetens and keeps the ice cream scoopable, with its own flavor. It is about a third water, so the base needs a little less milk.
- Best for
- maple walnut, pecan and coffee ice cream, vegan coconut-milk ice cream
- Prep
- Take 3 tbsp of the milk out per cup of sugar replaced.
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- Fruit and mint ice creams, where maple fights the main flavor. Too much added water makes ice crystals.
Allulose
close to sugar, no aftertaste
A sugar-free sweetener about 70 percent as sweet as sugar. It lowers the freezing point even more than sugar does, so the ice cream stays scoopable.
- Best for
- sugar-free and keto ice cream, custard bases and no-churn ice cream, sorbet
- Prep
- Whisk it into the warm base until dissolved. For a firmer scoop, use 1 cup per cup of sugar and accept a slightly less sweet ice cream.
- Suits
- vegan, keto
- Where it fails
- At the full 1 1/3 cups the ice cream can be too soft to hold a cone and melts quickly. Large servings can upset some stomachs.
Light corn syrup, for part of the sugar
slightly less sweet, denser and smoother
Corn syrup adds body and fights ice crystals, which is why many ice cream recipes swap in a little. It is much less sweet than sugar.
- Best for
- smoother, chewier homemade ice cream, sorbet, ice cream that will sit in the freezer for a week
- Prep
- Replace up to a quarter of the sugar with the same volume of light corn syrup.
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- Replacing all the sugar: the ice cream tastes flat and turns gummy, because corn syrup is far less sweet and much thicker than dissolved sugar.
Erythritol blend or Splenda granulated
sweet; erythritol adds a cooling aftertaste
Cup-for-cup sugar-free sweeteners give the right sweetness but do little to keep the base from freezing solid.
- Best for
- ice cream eaten straight from the churn, sugar-free bases when allulose is not on hand
- Prep
- Dissolve it fully in the warm base, and let the frozen tub stand on the counter 15 to 20 minutes before scooping.
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- After a night in the freezer the ice cream is rock hard and icy. Erythritol can also come out of solution as gritty crystals.
Liquid stevia or monk fruit drops alone
sweet, sometimes bitter
Drops sweeten the base and replace none of the dissolved solids.
- Best for
- topping up the sweetness of a base made with allulose
- Where it fails
- With no sugar and nothing in its place, the base freezes into a hard, icy block like a milk ice cube.
How it behaves in this recipe
Sugar dissolved in an ice cream base lowers its freezing point, so part of the water never freezes and the ice cream stays soft enough to scoop. It also adds body. A swap that only sweetens leaves all that water free to freeze hard. Honey, allulose and xylitol keep ice cream softer than sugar does. Erythritol tends to crystallize out of the base, and sucralose and stevia are used in amounts too small to matter, so those freeze hard.
Tips for substituting sugar
5 tips- A typical 1 quart recipe uses ¾ cup of sugar. That is ½ cup plus 1 tbsp of honey or maple syrup, or 1 cup of allulose.
- Sugar-free ice cream that has frozen hard is not ruined. Leave the tub out for 15 to 20 minutes, or in the fridge for 30, before scooping.
- 1 tbsp of vodka or another 80-proof spirit per quart helps a sugar-free base stay softer. Leave it out if children will be eating it.
- Brown sugar replaces white sugar cup for cup, packed, with no change to texture. It adds a caramel flavor that suits vanilla, coffee and pecan.
- Cold dulls sweetness. A base should taste slightly too sweet before churning, so taste it warm and adjust then.
Questions
4 questionsCan I substitute corn syrup for sugar in ice cream?
For part of it. Replace up to a quarter of the sugar with the same volume of light corn syrup and the ice cream comes out smoother and a little chewier. Do not replace all of it: corn syrup is much less sweet than sugar, so the ice cream tastes flat and the texture turns gummy.
Why is my sugar-free ice cream rock hard?
Most sugar-free sweeteners do not lower the freezing point the way sugar does, so more of the water freezes. Use allulose, which keeps ice cream soft, or let the tub stand 15 to 20 minutes before scooping. More fat, such as extra cream or egg yolks, also helps.
Can I use xylitol in homemade ice cream?
Yes, cup for cup. It keeps ice cream softer than erythritol does. It is highly toxic to dogs, even in small amounts, so do not use it in a house where a dog might get a lick of the bowl or a dropped scoop.
Can I just leave the sugar out of ice cream?
No. Without sugar or something that does its job, the base freezes into a solid, icy block. A banana-based ice cream is the exception: frozen ripe banana blended smooth has enough sugar and body of its own.