These Keto-Friendly Sweeteners Prove You Don’t Have To Give Up Dessert

If you’re not a total carboholic (looking at you, pasta lovers), then being on the keto diet might not seem like such a big stretch. You get to swap baguettes for burgers? Sounds good! But there is one thing you may not realize you’ll be missing out on: sugar.

“Sugar is the simplest form of carbohydrate, so added sugars have to be avoided on keto because they can increase your total carb intake throughout the day and force your body out of a state of ketosis,” says Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, author of 2 Day Diabetes Diet.

So does this mean you’re doomed to fail on the keto diet if you’ve got a sweet tooth? Thankfully, no. There are several low-carb sugar alternatives you can reach for so you don’t have to totally deprive yourself (think: erythritol, monk fruit extract, and stevia). But depending on the type of sweetener you’re cooking or baking with, it’s not always a simple one-to-one substitution for sugar.

Palinski-Wade says you can usually make an even sugar-swap with erythritol since it’s about as sweet and works the same way in recipes. Stevia's another game, though: You can replace one cup of sugar with one teaspoon of liquid stevia (⅓ to ½ teaspoon of stevia powder or granules). And if you want to use monk fruit extract, look for a product blended with erythritol first-at that point, says Palinski-Wade, it can be used at a one-to-one ratio (but beware, in its concentrated form, monk fruit can be up to 300 times sweeter than sugar).

If you’re ready to start making batches of keto-friendly cookies, cakes, and brownies, here are seven sweeteners that will make you forget all about the plain ol' white stuff.