Sugar Free Christmas Baking: What You Can and Can't Swap

Two of ours for the chocolate side of the baking:

On this page: which bakes swap · the fruit cake problem · which sweetener · the chocolate · FAQ

Which Christmas bakes can lose their added sugar?

It depends on where the sugar in the recipe comes from. When all of it is weighed in by the baker, as in shortbread, gingerbread or a chocolate log, a sugar replacer can take its place. When most of it arrives inside dried fruit, changing the method leaves the bulk behind.

Candied peel can go, since it is preserved in sugar syrup. The raisins, sultanas and currants are the cake, so they stay.

Why can't a Christmas cake be sugar free?

Because the fruit is mostly sugar. USDA FoodData Central lists dark seedless raisins at 65.18 g of sugars per 100 g, and a classic cake is built on raisins, sultanas and currants. In GB a sugar free claim allows no more than 0.5 g of sugars per 100 g under the nutrition claims annex, and no change to the method brings a fruit cake near that line.

The NHS counts free sugars as those added to food plus the ones in honey, syrups and fruit juice, and the sugars inside fruit only join that group once the fruit is juiced or puréed. Leave the sugar out of the batter and your cake has no added sugar, with the fruit's own sugars still in it.

Our No Added Sugar range runs on the same split: no sugars or sugary syrups go in, and the sugars line shows what the ingredients brought with them. Our guide to sugar free vs no added sugar lays the two claims side by side.

Which sweetener works in Christmas baking?

Pick one that brings bulk as well as sweetness. Sugar holds shortbread together and gives a sponge its volume, so a sweetener used in tiny amounts, such as stevia, sweetens the mix and leaves a gap the recipe has to fill some other way. Polyols, the sweet carbohydrates also called sugar alcohols, bring bulk with their sweetness. Maltitol and erythritol are both measured by the spoonful, which is why so many festive recipes without added sugar lean on them.

Maltitol sweetens our dark chocolate. It is one of the polyols with an authorised claim on the GB register:

"Consumption of foods/drinks containing maltitol instead of sugar induces a lower blood glucose rise after their consumption compared to sugar-containing foods/drinks"

GB nutrition and health claims register

Maltitol is absorbed slowly and only partly. For the same reason, food with more than 10 percent added polyols carries the words "excessive consumption may produce laxative effects", and our dark bar carries them. For a wider comparison, our guide to sugar alternatives sets the main sweeteners next to each other.

What chocolate should go in a Yule log or truffles?

Pick a dark bar and the ingredient list stays short. Our No Added Sugar Dark Chocolate 85 g is maltitol, cocoa paste, cocoa butter, soya lecithin and flavouring, in that order, with 0.5 g of sugars and 8.1 g of fibre per 100 g. None of that sugar is added: the bar contains naturally occurring sugars. It is certified halal and kosher and lab tested gluten free (under 20 ppm), which helps when the log is going to a mixed table.

Melt it slowly in a bowl over barely simmering water, then fold it through whipped cream for the log filling or stir it into warm cream for truffle ganache. Until then, keep the bar where its storage line asks, ideally 14 to 21°C, which on most Christmas Eves means nowhere near the radiator.

For the finish, our Sugar Free Chocolate Dessert Topping pours from the pack. Maltitol, water and cocoa powder (10 percent) lead its ingredient list. It has 0.5 g of sugars per 100 g and is vegan by certificate. A zigzag over the log is all it needs. If your time runs short, we would skip the mince pies and spend it on the log. The baker's guide to sugar free chocolate covers oven times and texture for cakes, brownies and cookies.

Frequently asked questions

Can you make sugar free mince pies?

Not fully. Mincemeat is built on dried fruit, and dark raisins alone carry 65.18 g of sugars per 100 g. You can leave the added sugar out so the pies carry no added sugar, but the fruit's own sugars stay.

What is the difference between sugar free and no added sugar baking?

Sugar free on a GB label means no more than 0.5 g of sugars per 100 g. No added sugar means none went in, though the ingredients may bring their own, which is why a fruit cake can be the second and never the first.

Which Christmas bakes are easiest to make without added sugar?

Shortbread, gingerbread with the syrup replaced, chocolate truffles and a chocolate Yule log. In each one the sugar is weighed in by the baker, so a sweetener and a no added sugar chocolate can replace every gram of it.

Bake with our chocolate