Powdered Sugar Substitute | How to Make Powdered Sugar
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Today I'm sharing with you something that is a super simple recipe for Homemade Powdered Sugar, including a low-carb option).
This Powdered Sugar Substitute will work great in anything you would typically use powdered sugar in. Since it's powdered, it will make any dish where you would like to have a smoother texture that much easier to make smooth.
I love making homemade versions of pantry staples and processed foods to save money on whole foods and to have healthier (and cheaper) versions of packaged foods.
Recipes like:
homemade salad dressing
easy homemade ketchup
homemade chocolate chips
taco seasoning
homemade JELLO®, and
easiest homemade coconut milk are staple in our home.
This powdered sugar substitute is yet another big help in this department. It costs less than store-bought powdered sugar, plus you can use healthier and even low-carb sweeteners to make this Substitute for Powdered Sugar, so it will easily meet your dietary needs.
You've been there, before, haven't you? You're making something in the kitchen and you ….oops–run out of an ingredient that you need.
Of course, you could call your neighbor to see if they have what you need, but if they're not home, having some recipes for homemade pantry staples can really help.
Why I Learned How to Make Powdered Sugar
Years ago, I tried to find out how to make powdered sugar when we were on an incredibly strict budget. We were living off of only $14,000 a year. Yes, we were living with my inlaws, so our expenses were low, but it was still tight. Every penny counted. I mean, when you are wondering if you should “splurge” on powdered sugar, you know money is tight.
So I did some digging on the internet to see if it was possible, and yes–it was!
You are not going to believe how simple this is and you'll wonder why you weren't doing this for years.
Just gather a blender or food processor, your sweetener, and then one other ingredient and you're done.
Low-Carb Options
Xylitol and erythritol are other options that will not affect your blood sugar and they are also helpful as they do not feed candida.
If all you have is regular white sugar or cane juice crystals, then that will work too, but those options are typically considered to be less healthy than the alternatives listed.
The Valuable Vitamix
Personally, I love making this substitute for powdered sugar, and so many other things, in the Vitamix. There are other great high-powered blenders out there, but the Vitamix is my fave.
You can make this Powdered Sugar Substitute in a regular blender too, but it's even faster in a Vitamix.
If you need more convincing about how great a Vitamix is, see these posts:
– Easiest Almond Milk Ever
– Easiest Coconut Milk
– Homemade Coconut Butter
How to Use this Substitute for Powdered Sugar
- frostings
- as a dusting on desserts
- in desserts that might be “gritty” when using granulated sweeteners, like these Homemade Chocolate Chips.
- in drinks like lemonade so the sweetener will dissolve more easily.
- meringues
How To Save Money with this Substitute for Powdered Sugar
- homemade regular powdered sugar is typically less expensive than store-bought powdered sugar so you'll save money that way
- no running out to the store at the last minute and wasting time and gas money (not to mention wear and tear on your car)
- cheaper low-carb sweeteners. The specialty powdered sweeteners are not only hard to find, but they are prohibitively expensive. For example, this powdered organic erythritol is more than $12 a pound! Make this substitute for powdered sugar instead and save tons of money!
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
- Arrowroot Alternative: You can substitute cornstarch or tapioca starch for the arrowroot, but I recommend a non-GMO option if choosing the cornstarch. If you are on a keto diet, you can omit the starch.
- Starch Ingredient: The starch portion of the recipe helps the powdered sugar not to cake. It's not necessary but it's preferable.
Sweeteners Options
- You can use organic erythritol instead of xylitol. I know that xylitol and erythritol are not typically considered “whole foods,” however I can't eat sucanat or coconut sugar, or else I would gladly use either of these for an AIP option. That's why I use xylitol and erythritol quite a bit in my recipes. However, xylitol and erythritol are naturally occurring so many consider them to not be artificial sweeteners, like aspartame and saccharin.
- Xylitol has the same sweetening power as sugar but erythritol is only about 70% as sweet as xylitol, so adjust your recipes accordingly.
- If you choose to powder sucanat, the resulting product will be light brown. But it will still work in your recipes and will taste great. See this Unrefined Powdered Sugar to see how it looks.
- Cane juice crystals are almost as refined as white sugar so they aren't as natural of an option as Sucanat.
More Frugal Homemade Pantry Basics
- Aluminum and Corn-Free Baking Powder
- Homemade Taco Seasoning
- Sugar Substitute – like Truvia
- Homemade Rice Milk
- Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice
Powdered Sugar Substitute | How to Make Powdered Sugar
Ingredients
- 1 cup low-carb sweetener
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional – see alternatives above)
Instructions
- Place the sweetener and either cornstarch or arrowroot into your blender or food processor. (I highly recommend the Vitamix!).
- Blend on high continuously until the mixture is of uniform powdered consistency. In a high-powered blender like the Vitamix this will take only about 30 seconds.
- Keep the lid on the blender until the powder settles (or you might have powdered-sugar coated cabinets, depending on how much of a powdered-sugar cloud gets kicked up by your blender!)
- Store in a cool, dry place.
Notes
- Arrowroot: You can substitute organic arrowroot or tapioca starch for cornstarch. If you are on a keto diet or the Trim Healthy Mama eating plan, you can omit.
- Starch Ingredient Information: The cornstarch / other starch portion of the recipe helps the powdered sugar not to cake. It's not necessary but preferable.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
What would you use this powdered sugar substitute for?
Recipe sounds really good. I will be trying it. I got a giggle out of this so I am sharing. I use coconut sugar and stevia leaves… lol brown colored powdered sugar, lol can you see it. I don’t think my family would take well to that. For myself I would do it.
Merry Christmas!
Hi Denise! That’s so funny because here I have a whole post on just that type of thing. Actually I will be combining these posts soon hopefully. Great minds! Do you combine the coconut sugar and stevia leaves or are the stevia leaves ground powder? I’d love to know what you’re thinking exactly.
I did go out and read your post, I am surprised no one commented on the brown color. I am still giggling over that and probably because children are highly opposed to that so I buy organic powdered sugar for them, they want the white stuff. I did try to make powered sugar out of raw cane sugar in my ninja and I just could not get it fine enough. Mind you my children grew up eating white sugar and white powered sugar so when I made the changes it was not well received. I cannot do alcohol sugars, my body does not like them at all so I am happy with coconut sugar and stevia. I grow stevia, so I dry the leaves and then I grind the leaves to powder.
Hi again! I think people who are looking for this are just totally fine with the color. I have people who get frustrated about the use of sugar alcohols (I get it – I am eating fewer of them these days), and those who want them, and those who want only stevia. It’s complicated! Hopefully your kids will change in time. I’m surprised that they Ninja didn’t work well enough for you. I wonder why. I would think that the results should be the same as with a Vitamix.
I meant to say what about Monk Fruit and what’s the ratio? It’s what I use now.
Gotcha. Are you using a pure monk or monk blend with another sweetener?
Hi, what Monk Fruit bc I use a lot of it? What is the ratio? Thanks
Hi there. Can you please clarify your question for me? Thanks!
I use Monkfruit sweetener with Erythritol. Can I use this to use i making cakes, pies, etc.? I have golden and white. Thank You
Hi again! You would follow the directions in the post for any sweetener that’s a 1:1 substitution for sugar, which those blends almost always are. Yes, you can use it for making just about any of those things. Enjoy!
You mention low carb in the post. Unfortunately, neither cornstarch, arrowroot or tapioca starch are low carb and definitely not for diabetics, who, I think, would want this recipe.
I’ll have to research to find out what low/no carb ingredient would be acceptable in this case…
Thank you.
Oh, and BTW, my comment about Bocha Sweet still stands however, I have since discovered it is Xylitol. I now usually will use a mix of BS and Allulose or just Allulose.
Hi Carol! Yes, that’s correct. I had mentioned in the post that it’s not needed – I just put that information in the recipe card as well :).
Yes, I found out about Bocha Sweet. Hard to find something that’s great all the way around for sure. Thanks!
I blended 3 3/4 cups of Splenda and wound up with only 1 1/4 cup of powdered sweetener. My recipe for frosting calls for a box of powdered sugar, which according to Siri is about 3 3/4 cups. Will this be an adequate substitution?
Hi there. How many ounces does the recipe call for? There can be a little variation. Siri isn’t always as thorough as “she” should be LOL.
It’s an old family recipe when all we had was the standard box powdered sugar. Back then we did not have the larger bags of powdered sugar. I’ve done the conversion with 3 3/4 cups with regular powdered sugar and it worked fine. So if I were to convert granulated sugar to powdered would I use cup for cup?
I just don’t want to make it too sweet. The suggestion for using Splenda rather than regular sugar is one to one. I’m just not sure if the same is true for Splenda as a substitute for powdered.
If a box of powdered sugar is 3 3/4 cups and you have a recipe calling for that, then you need 3 3/4 cups of powdered sugar. Since Splenda original is 1:1 sugar you need to powder however much Splenda you need to blend in order to get 3 3/4 cups powdered Splenda. Does that help?
How much powdered sugar does 1 recipe make? Does it come out puffier so greater than a cup or do the smaller particles compress and make less than a cup? Thank you.
Hi Maggie! A cup of granulated should yield about 2 cups of powdered. I’m seeing others say differently, but that should be the case. Let me know if that isn’t the case for you and hope it works out well.
Thank you, Adrienne. I appreciate your speedy response.
You are so welcome! Enjoy and I look forward to hearing if that 2x amount worked for you! Grinding is funny in that it doesn’t behave the same for all ingredients, but this should be the case with the sugar. 🙂
I am interested in more info. How can I reach you?
Hi there. You can comment here or email adrienne at wholenewmom dot com.
I recently found a product called “Bocha Sweet” “Made From Kabocha
A Cultivated Crop
The kabocha is a “superfood” that has been a staple of the Japanese diet for centuries.
Pure Cell Energy. No Insulin Stimulation.”
You use it 1:1 for real sugar.
I have tried other sweeteners like stevia but just can’t like them.
This, I LIKE!
Hi Carol! I really appreciate your bringing this up to me b/c I had my eye on it for years. I reached out to the company and hope to get some kind of savings for my readers. I knew kabocha well from my time in Japan and before and after when I was pretty steeped in the culture. Of course taking the sugar out is just the sugar and doesn’t have the nutritional benefits of the squash, but I like the concept!