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 loved eating cinnamon sugar on toast.. with melted butter. Oh so good. Thanks for the share at this weeks Sugar Free Sunday!
You’re welcome! Seemed funny to add cinnamon sugar to “Sugar Free Sunday” but I’m sure you can understand now!
Mmmm…I especially like the idea for the nutmeg blend!
Thanks, Jenn! I hope you like it if you try it!
Have you tried palm sugar? There are several links online to give you all the information on it.
Hello Missy. No, I haven’t tried it. I did have someone comment about it recently, but I think they were just asking about subbing it. Have you used it a lot? I think that they both have glycemic indexes around 35, right? What do you think about the taste? I personally can’t really have any sugar so I’m thinking it wouldn’t be OK for me.
I use it all the time. Yes that is the index(35), here is some information I found that I shared on my blog. https://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2011/03/sugar.html You can substitute it for the same amount as what is called for in the recipe, but since it is a dense sugar (the kind I get from Asian Markets)it makes the baked goods a little denser. There is also thot not sugar that is a granulated palm sugar, but it can make a baked good a little drier, so I’ll use both sometimes. I think it tastes great and is very sweet. I have not used the kind from the health food stores though, because it is too expensive.
Thanks, Missy. I am confused about part of your comment. It said, “There is also thot not sugar that is a granulated palm sugar.” Could you please explain what you meant? Thanks.
I get it from an Asian Food Market, and they sell thot not sugar, but the ingredients are pur palm sugar, it is just processed differently which makes it granulated instead of thick. Whereas the palm sugar I use (because it is cheaper than granulated sugar from the health food stores) it comes in a jar and is thick, think of the solid texture honey can get if it is old?, that is what my palm sugar is like. I’ll try to take a picture to share with you later, I have a friend who is fixing to come over. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words LOL But it tastes great!
Got it! Thanks! So “thot not” is a type of sweetener – never heard of it! I just looked it up and it means “palmyra palm”. So I guess that the glycemic index of thot not would be the same as coconut or palm. I did find coconut sugar on Amazon for a really nice price: If you get the subscribe and save it is really cheap! Here is a text you can click on to see it: Madhava Organic Coconut Sugar.
These all sound wonderful – I love cinnamon sugar too 🙂 Happy New Year!
Thanks, April – and Happy New Year to yoiu too!
this sounds great! I’d love you to add this (and any other posts you like) to my What We Wore and Made Party over at https://raegunwear.blogspot.com/search/label/WWWMW
Thanks, Marissa! I hope you enjoy it!
I have been buying my cinnamon (organic) here, (site is now gone) they carry a variety of products, including essential oils, good customer service plus offer FREE shipping when you purchases total $99 or more. This is where we purchased our Berkey water filter system.
LOVE the idea of putting nutmeg in it!
Hi Wendy! I thought it was pretty neat too :-).
Every now and then I have to treat myself to a piece of cinnamon toast! I love that you have shared a healthier version to the cinnamon-sugar, definatly going to give it a try!
Hope you enjoy it – We’ve made a lot of changes to get sugar out of our diets. Wish we’d done it sooner :-).
Thank you! I love cinnamon & never know how much cinnamon to add to my sweetener when I mix up a batch, usually still have to add cinnamon to whatever I’m making. Thank you!
You’re welcome! You’ll probably like the stronger versions then!
Love hearing all the “test” results! 🙂 Thanks for giving exact amounts – I never know how much cinnamon to add. And we already have the cinnamon from Costco!
Hi Lisa – yea! Glad to have helped! I think the Costco is great. But I’d give the Frontier a try when you run out :-).