SUGAR BLENDS
2025 BUYING GUIDE
In my quest to help home cooks navigate the complex world of sweeteners, I found a variety of "sugar blends” sold across the country. Some are made with real sugar and help you cut calories by 50–75%, while others are labeled zero-calorie and sugar-free, even when they contain sugar-based fillers. I'll break down both types so you can choose the right one for your needs — whether you’re baking, cutting back on sugar, or managing carbs.
WHAT IS A SUGAR BLEND?
A Sugar Blend has less sugar than the sweetener it replaces.
For example, a coconut sugar blend combines real coconut sugar with a high-intensity sweetener like stevia or monk fruit. Because the added sweetener boosts the overall sweetness, less coconut sugar is needed — so the final blend has the same sweetness but less sugar content.
The same goes for “lite” pancake syrups — they’re about twice as sweet as the original, so you can use half as much. That’s how they end up with 50% fewer calories and sugar per serving.
What's the advantage of Sugar Blends?
The advantage of these blends is that they maintain (almost) the same role as the sugar or syrup they replace, but with 50 to 75% fewer calories. You can reduce calories without losing the familiar taste and feel of traditional recipes. They offer a great way to reduce sugar without sacrificing bulk, functionality, and browning in baking recipes.
What are Sugar Blends made of?
Sugar blends are often blends of two types of sweeteners:
✔ The main ingredient is a sugar — like white sugar, brown sugar, or coconut sugar— or a syrup like honey or corn syrups.
✔ The second ingredient is a high-intensity sweetener.
How sweet are Sugar Blends?
Some "sugar blends" are 1:1 sugar replacements — you use the same amount as regular sugar. Others are 2:1, meaning they’re twice as sweet as sugar or syrup they replace, so you only need half as much.
TWO TYPES OF SUGAR BLENDS
Not all sugar blends are created equal.
Before we go deeper, it helps to know that sugar blends come in two forms, each with different ingredients and calorie content:
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Reduced-Calorie (Not Sugar-Free)
• Main ingredient is a sugar (refined, coconut, or date sugar).
• Offer 50 to 75% fewer calories but are not sugar-free.
• Sweetness comes from the sugar and a high-intensity sweetener
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Zero-Calorie + Sugar-Free
• Main ingredient is sugar-based filler (glucose or maltodextrin)
• It's sugar-free and zero-calorie.
• Sweetness comes mostly from a high-intensity sweetener
Let’s start with the first type: reduced-calorie blends.
PICK YOUR SUGAR BLENDS
Brands and Products
There is A LOT to explore. Keep reading to learn all about sugar blends, or if you're short on time, jump straight to what you would like to explore by clicking below:
REDUCED-CALORIE BLENDS
FEWER CALORIES BUT NOT SUGAR-FREE
Sugar Blends in this category are reduced-calorie sweeteners, offering 50 to 75% fewer calories than regular sugar (per serving).
Sugar has 4 calories per gram, while sugar blends provide 1 to 2. That means less than 8 calories per teaspoon — compared to 16 in regular sugar.
But here's the key: they're not sugar-free.
The main ingredient in these blends is a type of sugar — such as refined sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar, or syrups like corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup.
Even though they contain less sugar than the sweetener they replace, they don’t meet the legal definition of “sugar-free,” which requires fewer than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving.
WHEN A SUGAR BLEND MAKES SENSE
Cutting out sugar cold turkey isn’t easy, and not even recommended. The best way to reduce your sugar intake is by adjusting your palate to foods that aren't overly sweet.
You can start where it might be easiest to modify, like cutting 10% of the sugar in your coffee, for example. Once your taste adjusts, keep cutting back. You’ll find that you come to prefer less sweet coffee.
That’s the ultimate goal: gradually eat less sugar by training your palate.
But if you’re not ready to give up sugar entirely, sugar blends can help. They let you reduce calories and sugar — without losing the familiar taste, texture, and function of traditional sugar.
Sugar blends might be for you if:
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You look for a middle ground between full-sugar and zero-calorie sweeteners.
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You want to cut calories without changing how your recipes taste or behave.
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You want to keep bulk, browning, and texture in baking — but with less sugar.
BLENDS TO REPLACE WHITE SUGAR
BLENDS TO REPLACE BROWN SUGAR
BLENDS TO REPLACE LESS-PROCESSED SUGARS
BLEND TO REPLACE FRUCTOSE
BLENDS TO REPLACE TABLE SYRUPS
What are lite syrups made of?
Light syrups are sugar blends in liquid form. Most combine corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup with high-intensity sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, or acesulfame-K.
What's the benefit of lite syrups?
They provide about 50% fewer calories and sugar (per serving) than their original versions — typically around 25 calories per tablespoon. Because they’re twice as sweet, you only need half as much.
What are some examples?
I listed six options below.
Karo Lite (40 cal/tbsp) offers 33% fewer calories and sugar content than the Original Karo (60 cal/tbsp).
Wholesome Lite Syrup and Pearl Milling Company (formerly Aunt Jemina) Original Lite don't contain high-intensity sweeteners but still cut sugar by 50%.
What’s behind all the ingredients in Lite Syrups?
Yes, most lite syrups have a long list of ingredients — often longer than their full-sugar counterparts. That’s because they need to replace sugar’s bulk, texture, flavor, and shelf life. So they may also contain:
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Preservatives to maintain freshness
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Artificial and/or natural flavors to improve the taste
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Thickening agents (cellulose gum or xantham gum) to make them more viscous.
ZERO-CALORIE BLENDS
Sugar blends in this category are labeled as zero-calorie and sugar-free — even though most of their weight comes from ingredients like glucose or maltodextrin (or even raw sugar and agave nectar), which act like sugar in the body.
How is that possible?
Most of the sweetness actually comes from a tiny amount of high-intensity sweeteners (like stevia, monk fruit, sucralose, or aspartame) added to the blend. Even though the sugar-based fillers make up 99% of the product, the per-serving amount is small enough to legally round down the calories and sugar to zero.
This often raises questions:
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How can a sweetener that's 99% sugar be zero-calorie & sugar-free?
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Why replace regular sugar with glucose or maltodextrin?
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Don’t they have the same calories as sugar?
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Don’t they spike blood sugar even more?
These concerns are valid — glucose and maltodextrin function much like sugar in the body. While maltodextrin isn’t technically a sugar like glucose, it's quickly broken down into maltose and glucose during digestion, meaning it is absorbed as pure glucose.
Both provide a rapid source of energy (4 calories per gram) and have a high glycemic impact, causing a fast rise in blood sugar levels. So why are they used in sugar substitutes?
Let’s break it down.
Despite their high glycemic index (GI), the key reason they are used in “zero-calorie” sweeteners comes down to quantity (or volume).
The amounts of glucose or maltodextrin PER SERVING are so small that they contribute minimal calories and carbohydrates. Maltodextrin, in particular, adds bulk and can occupy 2–3 times more volume than table sugar and glucose.
How can a sweetener that's 99% sugar be zero-calorie & sugar-free?
Under FDA rules, a sweetener can be labeled:
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Zero-calories if it contains fewer than 5 calories per serving.
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Sugar-free if it has less than 0.5 grams of sugars per serving.
So, even though these sweeteners contain sugar-based ingredients, the amounts per serving — often just 1 teaspoon — are low enough to be rounded down to zero.
But that only works for small amounts. Scale up to 1 cup (48 teaspoons), and the numbers add up: around 100 calories and 25g of carbs per cup. Still far less than sugar (770 cal and 192g carbs), but not truly zero.
While the labeling can feel misleading, it’s legal — and a good reminder of why it’s worth learning how to choose and use sugar alternatives wisely.
Keep scrolling to see some blends and the break down of their actual calorie and carb counts.
ZERO-CALORIE BLENDS
With Glucose or Maltodextrin
Glycemic Impact: Why It’s Lower Than You’d Expect
Below are examples of products labeled as “stevia,” “monk fruit,” or containing artificial sweeteners — but made primarily with glucose or maltodextrin as fillers.
Glucose has a glycemic index (GI) of 100. Maltodextrin is even higher. So, why aren’t these sweetener blends considered high-GI?
Because they don’t replace sugar gram per gram. Instead, they’re used in much smaller amounts to match sugar’s sweetness.
For example, let's take a sweetener made up of maltodextrin and stevia.
Stevia In The Raw is a 1:1 sugar replacement by volume — meaning it’s as sweet as sugar spoon for spoon. But 1 teaspoon of sugar weighs 4g, while 1 teaspoon of this stevia weighs just 0.5g.
To calculate the glycemic index of these blends, the sweetness level compared to sugar by weight must be used. When adjusted this way, the effective GI is much lower: around 14 (with glucose) to 20 (with maltodextrin).
So while the ingredients themselves may have a high GI, the tiny amount used per serving makes the overall glycemic impact much smaller — especially when used as a sugar replacement, not a source of carbs.
Baking Tip
Maltodextrin blends give the best results when you do not replace all the sugar required in your recipes. Cakes will not rise and brown like their full-sugar counterparts.
BLENDS OF ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS
With Glucose or Maltodextrin
Real Calorie and Carb Count
Example: Splenda Granulated
Main ingredient is maltodextrin (4 cal/g).
1 tsp = 0.5g maltodextrin × 4 cal = 2 cal.
1 cup (48 tsp) = 95 cal = 24g total carbs.
BLENDS OF STEVIA
With Sugars or Maltodextrin
Real Calorie and Carb Count
Example: Stevia In The Raw
Main ingredient is maltodextrin (4 cal/g).
1 tsp = 0.5g maltodextrin × 4 cal = 2 cal.
1 cup (48 tsp) = 95 cal = 24g total carbs.
BLENDS OF MONK FRUIT
With Glucose or Maltodextrin
Real Calorie and Carb Count
Example: Monk Fruit In The Raw
Main ingredient is maltodextrin (4 cal/g).
1 tsp = 0.5g maltodextrin × 4 cal = 2 cal.
1 cup (48 tsp) = 95 cal = 24g total carbs.
THE TAKEAWAY
Sugar blends can help you cut back on sugar and calories — but they’re not all the same.
Some still contain real sugar. Others use fillers like glucose and maltodextrin, which act like sugar in the body. Many are labeled “zero-calorie” or “sugar-free,” but that only holds true in small amounts.
If you’re baking, managing blood sugar, or tracking your carb count, it’s worth reading the ingredients and serving sizes closely to know what you’re really using.
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