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You are here: Home / Budget Help / Powdered Sugar Substitute | How to Make Powdered Sugar

Powdered Sugar Substitute | How to Make Powdered Sugar

by Adrienne 236 Comments Updated: February 9, 2019

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Homemade Powdered Sugar

Today I'm sharing with you something that has really helped us as we have moved to a healthier lifestyle (especially around the holidays) — how to make powdered sugar.

I love making homemade versions of pantry staples and processed foods to save money on whole foods and to have healthier versions of packaged foods.

substitute for powdered sugar in a sifter and green bowl

Recipes like:

homemade salad dressing
easy homemade ketchup
homemade chocolate chips
taco seasoning
homemade JELLO®, and
easiest homemade coconut milk are staples in our home.

This powdered sugar substitute is 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 more often than not, sadly, we aren't as connected with our neighbors as we used to–and many of them are not at home as often, so it's hard to just run next door to borrow a few eggs, or whatever you've run out of. (Side note – it isn't just recipe ingredients that you might need from a neighbor. Here's a story about how we almost flooded our basement and how a neighborhood connection and a water alarm saved us!

So this is another great reason to know how to make powdered sugar so you can avoid a last minute trip to the store–or a ruined recipe.

substitute for powdered sugar in a sifter and green bowl

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!

Recently, I was reminded of wanting to write this post on a substitute for powdered sugar when I posted this past week my recipe for Luscious Lemon Bars. I mentioned that you could top them with powdered sugar and promised that I'd post about how to make your own confectioners sugar in the near future. Well, here it is.

You are not going to believe how simple this is–you'll wonder why you weren't doing this for years.

First gather a blender (or food processor), your sweetener, and then one other ingredient and you're done.

This post may contain affiliate links from which I will earn a commission.

Sweetener Options

For the sweeteners, sucanat, turbinado or coconut sugar would be typically considered to be the healthiest of the granulated sweeteners. Now Foods offers great prices on healthier alternative sweeteners.

Low-Carb Options

Xylitol and erythritol are other options that will not affect your blood sugar and they are also a help 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 that I've listed.

This Powdered Sugar Substitute will work great in anything you would typically use powdered sugar in…and even where you wouldn't. Since it's powdered, it will make any dish where you would like to have a smoother texture that much easier to make smooth.)

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. I'll share more on why later.

You can make this Powdered Sugar Substitute in a regular blender too, but it's super fast 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

Where to Use this Substitute for Powdered Sugar:

  • frostings
  • as a dusting on desserts
  • in desserts that might be “gritty” when using granulated sweeteners
  • in drinks. It will dissolve more easily.
  • meringues

For example, I powder my sweetener often when making my Homemade Chocolate / Carob Chips since makes the resulting chips much smoother.

You can check out the chocolate chips recipe here:

Love chocolate? These Homemade Chocolate Chips (or carob chips) are dairy, soy, and sugar-free and great for baking, trail mixes, or eating right out of the bag! If you know someone on a special diet this will save them a TON of money. The store bought chocolate chips without dairy are a fortune!

How Will You Save with this Substitute for Powdered Sugar?

– homemade 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)

– buying specialty powdered sweeteners is not only hard to do, but prohibitively expensive. Make this substitute for powdered sugar instead and save tons of money!

And in case this whole topic has you craving more DIY pantry basics…..

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

Recipe Notes and Substitutions

  • Arrowroot: You can substitute organic arrowroot or tapioca starch for cornstarch. If on the Trim Healthy Mama eating plan, omit.
  • Starch Ingredient: The cornstarch / other starch portion of the recipe helps the powdered sugar not to cake. It's not necessary but preferable.
  • Chocolate Pie: For another recipe in my collection that uses powdered sweetener, try Dairy-Free Chocolate / Carob Silk Pie with Almond Crust. Yumm!

Now for some sweetener 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 AIP). That's why I use xylitol and erythritol quite a bit in my recipes. Hopefully the coconut sugar will be in my not-too-distant future since its glycemic index is much lower! (Thanks, Ricki at Ricki Heller for the reminder of this great healthy sugar alternative!) 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 in my opinion they aren't as good of an option as sucanat.

substitute for powdered sugar in a sifter and green bowl

For another recipe in my collection that uses powdered sweetener, try this Dairy-Free Chocolate / Carob Silk Pie with Almond Crust. Yumm!

Powdered Sugar in a Bowl - How to Make Powdered Sugar

Powdered Sugar Substitute | How to Make Powdered Sugar

You can still make things like buttercream frosting without powdered cane sugar, just make this homemade unrefined powdered sugar!
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dressings, Seasonings, etc.
Cuisine: AIP, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Keto, Low-Carb, Paleo, THM, Vegan
Keyword: how to make powdered sugar
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 3 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup xylitol (see Recipe Notes above)
  • 1 Tbsp organic 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.

Simple, huh?

What would you use this powdered sugar substitute for?

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Filed Under: Budget Help, Candida, Do It Yourself, Health Concerns, Recipes

About Adrienne

Adrienne Urban is the Founder and Owner of Whole New Mom. She has a background in research, journalism, insurance, employee benefits, financial markets, frugal living, and nutrition. Seeking a better life for herself and her family, she uses research and consults with many physicians and other practitioners to find solutions to the variety of issues they have dealt with including life-threatening food allergies and thyroid and adrenal concerns. WholeNewMom.com is the result of her experiences and knowledge gained throughout the process. Posts are reviewed and verified by the Whole New Mom team.

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Comments

  1. LaRoy Saline says

    August 25, 2018 at 2:29 pm


    Thanks Wholenewmom.com,
    I needed this…. it’s abig help for the diabetics I bake for. Are there added sugar substatutes you use in baking? Someone recommended finding zero indexedsweeteners.
    I am also trying trying to learn how to adjust the gluten free baking i do to get products to rise like cakes should! Any suggestions there. I’ve been looking at Koda Farms products but not sureif glutenous riceflour will create issues for gluten free folks systems or if itsricerelated if its different?

    Where do you buyyour substatutes? It’s been hard finding these other substatute ingredients andin bulk? This same someone mentioned a nave or some similar names sweetener in walmarts shelves have you heard of a four letter named product similar to that?
    LaRoy

    Reply
    • Adrienne says

      August 25, 2018 at 4:01 pm

      You are so welcome! I have used stevia, xylitol and erythritol. Monk fruit is another option and so is glycerine. Some of those are not zero glycemic. I have never heard of Koda. Rice is GF so that’s not a problem. I buy things online and sometimes from other places. I almost never shop at Walmart. Not sure what you mean by nave – any more info about it?

      Reply
      • charlotte james says

        January 11, 2019 at 8:09 am

        Hi there,

        For the monk fruit what were the quantities you used? Also how much would you recommend if you were to try to use this as a substitute for 2 cups of sugar?

        Many thanks,
        Charlotte

        Reply
        • Adrienne says

          January 16, 2019 at 8:33 am

          Hi there. I have never used monk fruit for this recipe. Please let me know what you are asking re: substituting for 2 cups of sugar. Thanks!

          Reply
  2. Anita says

    August 2, 2018 at 11:12 am

    Hi,
    I I hope you can help me. I use vegan eggs, either with flax or chia, I am not havinng too much when I don’t need to use sugar substitute , I use stevia extract, this is where I’m having an issue, I know bulk needs to be added, example, if recipe calls for 1 cup sugar amount of stevia extract needed 1 tsps. , for every cup of sugar replaced 1/3 cup of yogurt, applesauce or other fruit. I don’t know what I need to to, the cake is very dense, does not rise much, and does not taste terrific. I am a vegan newbie, just several months, (been a vegetarian for 42 years, yes, I ‘m old?). Do you know what I need to do? I apologize for babbling, but I’m a babbler. If you have an answer to my dilemma, I’d be so grateful.

    Anita

    Reply
    • Adrienne says

      August 2, 2018 at 11:15 am

      Hi there. I think you would prefer this for your substitute. It has leavening in it so it works better than flax and chia. https://wholenewmom.com/recipes/energ-egg-substitute-egg-replacer-without-eggs/ I think that should really help. Hope so!

      Reply
  3. Rose Brennan says

    July 18, 2018 at 7:33 pm

    Hi,
    I wanted to thank you for this recipe. I made powdered sugar with organic sugar, and forgot the cornstarch – I think I’ll use organic arrowroot instead of cornstarch, I use that for thickening stuff too.
    The next time I’ll try using organic xylitol or erythritol since it doesn’t spike blood sugar, since my husband has diabetes.

    Thanks Again,
    Rose Brennan

    Reply
    • Adrienne says

      July 18, 2018 at 7:52 pm

      You are so welcome! Erythritol is better for blood sugar issues. Take care!

      Reply
  4. Linda says

    May 28, 2018 at 3:40 pm


    Thank you for the great tip on making confectioners sugar from other sweeteners. I wanted to let you know about a new sweetener I just discovered called BochaSweet. It tastes just like cane sugar without any of the negative side effects of other sweeteners. I put a bag of BochaSweet in my Vitamix and in a few seconds on medium high speed I had confectioners sugar. I love it!!! You might want to give it a try.
    Here are some of the pluses I found on BochaSweet’s website:

    Bakes, cooks, and tastes just like sugar
    Dissolves easily
    No bitter taste
    Diabetes friendly
    Zero net carb
    No weight gain
    Will not cause insulin stimulation
    Ensures keto diet success
    Provides pure energy for the cells
    Non GMO
    Helps support healthy blood sugar levels

    Reply
    • Adrienne says

      July 5, 2018 at 10:05 am

      I saw that – pricey but interesting. Thanks!

      Reply
  5. Celina says

    May 2, 2018 at 3:54 pm

    I will using it for a velvet frosting, my receipt calls for 1 (8 oz. pkg.) of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of softened butter, 1 tsp. Vanilla and 3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. And I only have 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and I am baking a Carrot Cake. It’s the best frosting I’ve ever made. Thanks for the recipe for making the powdered sugar, I’m going to make it today. Thank You, Celina Parins

    Reply
    • Adrienne says

      May 2, 2018 at 5:12 pm

      Hope it works well for you. LOVE carrot cake!

      Reply
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