The BEST Healthy Cinnamon Sugar–4 Ways {keto and sugar-free}
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If you love cinnamon sugar, but you're watching your sugar intake, you are going to LOVE this Healthy Cinnamon Sugar. It's keto and sugar-free, plus I've got 4 delicious variations that we taste tested. It's really funny which one came out as the family favorite!
Making your own homemade seasoning blends is a great way to save money and avoid unwanted additives in your food.
I already make my own:
but never really had a recipe for cinnamon sugar.
I typically would just break out the cinnamon and a sweetener and mix them ad hoc to make a blend when I needed it.
I have fond memories of my mother driving me to preschool in the car while I savored a piece of toast that was topped with some margarine (yes, we were a completely processed food family) and christened with a just-right-amount of cinnamon sugar.
I'm sure the cinnamon sugar came in a pre-blended container too :-).
It tasted and smelled soooo good.
I was quite young and I was an early reader. I would munch on my toast and read the names of the street signs out loud on our way.
Funny how fragrances and flavors can trigger memories, isn't it?
Well, I still love cinnamon sugar (my kids do too) but like everything I needed to be able to make my own and have it on hand.
How We Found the BEST Cinnamon Sugar Ratio
So I wanted to make the best homemade cinnamon sugar (and make it healthier) but what proportion to use? And why make your own?
As for the why, you can read my post on Homemade Seasoning Blends to see why I recommend making your own blends.
And for the how, here's what I did.
We did a blind taste test (my family members were the panelists) and tested four different blends.
The results were well–basically hilarious!
Each blend won!
Each person in my family had a different favorite.
So what's the best ratio for cinnamon sugar?
You decide.
You now have 4 cinnamon sugar blends to choose from. One for every taste in your family!
Sweetest Blend
The sweetest blend (the least amount of cinnamon) was my youngest's favorite. He has quite the sweet tooth, just like his mama.
I predicted he'd like this one the best. I made all four blends up this morning and let him try them all once he woke up. He got a great big smile on his face after tasting the mildest (aka sweetest) version and said “This one!” when I asked which was the best.
Least Sweet Blend
The strongest was my husband's favorite and he even said that it could still use more cinnamon. (But then, this is the man who puts Tabasco on everything.)
Medium-sweet Blend
The one in the middle was my favorite (followed closely by the sweetest version).
Cinnamon Sugar with Nutmeg Blend
The cinnamon-nutmeg blend was enjoyed by all as having just that little-extra-something. I guess technically we could have 6 blends, by adding nutmeg to each.
How to Use This Blend
This is the perfect topping for my Super and Easy Baked Oatmeal / Oatmeal Cake – Two Ways It's a great Christmas breakfast idea but great for anytime!
Of course this works great for use in these Gluten-free Cinnamon Roll Cookies and on these Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts. It would taste great on this Pumpkin Chia Pudding too.
Directions
- Place ingredients in a bowl (Photos 1 & 2)
- Mix well and store in an airtight container. (Photos 3 & 4)
Where Should You Buy Cinnamon and Nutmeg?
We did taste tests (yes, we really did) and found that Frontier's was by far the best cinnamon, with Costco's coming in a close second.
We also tested Mountain Rose Herbs and Penzeys, but alas, they were not the winners. I purchase the whole nutmeg from Frontier and grind it fresh with my much-beloved Microplane grater–must-have tool.
For those of you who use white sugar, I would recommend switching to Sucanat or Rapadura or even Coconut Sugar.
And for those who cannot have sugar at all (I'm in that camp) due to diabetes or candida, I recommend xylitol, allulose, or erythritol. You can read more about my experience at The Beginning of My Sugar-Free Life.)
In any case, you will for sure be doing yourself a favor by making this blend healthier than the standard white sugar and cinnamon version.
Recipe Notes
- Sweetener Choice: If you would like a low-carb version, xylitol works well and erythritol does as well, but it is about 70% as sweet as sugar so you will need more. If you aren't on a strict low-carb diet, organic sucanat, organic rapadura, or organic coconut sugar are typically considered to be better options than regular sugar.
- Which version of cinnamon to use? Whichever you like. I'll try to post on cinnamon varieties later. However, if you use Vietnamese cinnamon, cut the recommended amounts by 1/3 since Vietnamese is typically a stronger cinnamon variety. You can use whatever amounts you would like, though.
Other Homemade Seasoning Blends
- Homemade Taco Seasoning – you for sure won't ever need to buy those overpriced packets again once you try this!
- Pumpkin Pie Seasoning
- Mild Curry Powder
- Chaat Masala (a wonderful Indian finishing spice plus a simplified version that tastes great as well)
- Vegetable Broth Mix | All-Purpose Seasoning (and a really special way to use it!)
Healthy Cinnamon Sugar (keto)
Ingredients
Sweetest Version
- 1 cup low carb sweetener (or alternative granulated sweetener as desired)
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
Medium Strength Version
- 1 cup low carb sweetener (use xylitol for low-carb option)
- 4 tablespoons cinnamon
Strongest Version
- 1 cup low carb sweetener (use xylitol for low-carb option)
- 5 1/3 tablespoons cinnamon (or 16 teaspoons)
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly-ground recommended)
Cinnamon-Nutmeg Blend
- 1 cup low carb sweetener
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground recommended)
Instructions
- Place ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- Store in an airtight container (if you are making all three blends, you could have a small container of each :-)).
- Sprinkle on anything where you might like a nice sweet topping (toast, oatmeal, coffee (coffee substitute for me), etc. This would also be the perfect topping on my Pumpkin Snickerdoodles if you'd like to vary the topping a bit.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and preparation methods. Optional ingredients are not included. Net carbs are typically calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols (such as erythritol) from total carbohydrates. This information should not be relied upon for medical or nutritional purposes.
Hope you like it!
Do you have a special flavor or fragrance memory to share?
I looooooooove cinnamon, and I actually try to add cinnamon to whatever I can. I think I’ll go with the medium or strongest version 🙂
Have you tried the Vietnamese cinnamon? It’s really strong and wonderful.
I haven’t tried it, and I’m not sure if we have it here. I’ll try to find it. Thanks!
Hope you can find it! It is available online via Amazon if you have access to that. If you follow the links to Frontier in my post you can see their cinnamon.
Thanks Adrienne!:)
I’ll buy it via amazon if I can’t find it here.
You’re welcome!
Thanks for these ‘official’ measurements. I haven’t had cinnamon/sugar on my toast in a long while, but do think I must have some this morning! Appreciate the reminder – great post!
You’re welcome! We hadn’t had it in awhile either. It’s great on my Oatmeal Cake – I’ll go put a link in my post! I think you’ll really like it!
Cinammon sugar? I’ve never had it but it sounds great! I mean I love cinammon pastries and to just have some of this to sprinkle on toast would be wonderful!
Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Best wishes for a fabulous New Year 2012!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
https://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/
I think you’ll like it, Jill – thanks for stopping by!
We didn’t have it often growing up but occasionally our mother would let us have cinnamon toast! What a treat. Though I grew up in a whole food house (at least for the most part) we also had margarine instead of butter. I think that was during the time when they were crusading that butter was bad for us! So funny now to think back on it. WHat fun recipe variations. I like the one with a tad of nutmeg!
Yes, I remember the “butter is bad for you” thing. And my husband, who really didn’t grow up in an “unhealthy” household, still doesn’t get too excited about eating butter! My mother told me that margarine was delivered to their home as a wad of fake fat in a bag that had yellow liquid in it and they would knead the bad in order to distribute the color throughout the fat. Ick.
heh heh — me too! It was Parkay Margarine and it arrived home, a plastic bag of pure white margarine with a yellow ‘bubble’ in the centre. My brothers and I all had a job of each squeezing a bag until it was an even colour of yellow. First you broke the bubble and then squeezed the bag this way and that for about 10 to 15 minutes till all the marg was a uniform colour. I think each bag was a pound of marg and there were three bags in a box. What a hoot — I have not been reminded of this in years!
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and leaving that sweet comment!
I’m a huge fan of cinnamon sugar — my mom used to make me cinnamon sugar toast too, lol! The cinnamon/nutmeg blend sounds wonderful.
You’re welcome! I hope to try more of your recipes and to stay in touch! We have similar styles of cooking and I love your photos.
That should be cinnamon, the first time! :o)
:-).
I love sinnamon sugar, too! I love cinnamon. Fullstop! I like it best atop of rice pudding.
Haven’t had rice pudding in a long time. Sounds great!
Wow! Thats perfect!! …..I wish you could have seen my expression when I read your response…..oh its the little things 🙂 Now you can go to bed knowing that you not only encourage women, you help them solve their biggest ‘storage’ dilemmas. haha
:-). You made my night. And coming from an organizationally challenged woman, that’s something!
yes…because I have the kitchen space for 4 separate containers!! just kidding! I’m glad you posted the variations though because it cuts down the work for me, I’ve had this on my mental to-do list for a while, but I’ve put it off because I’m trying to find a nice ‘sprinkly container’ with bigger holes than a salt shaker (and thats bigger than your average spice container)
Thanks for posting this!….this brings me back to my childhood as well
I know – making 4 varieties is a bit much — but it sure was fun testing them out :-). How about a parmesan cheese dispenser?
look at the Goodwill and thrift stores you can find allkinds of shakers there.
My mom used to make us cinnamon sugar toast as well! She would just mix it in an old spice jar and then shake it on. It was so good! I haven’t had it in forever but now I want to, especially with a healthier sugar!
It’s great on toast….or almost anything sweet. I hadn’t even thought of the memory until I was writing the post :-).