Low Carb, Less Sugar Chocolate Syrup

I have been a fan of chocolate milk since I was a kid. For some reason I have fond memories of my Dad making chocolate milk for me when we ate spaghetti, I couldn't tell you if this only happened once and it made an impression or if it was a regular pattern, but I often long for a glass of chocolate milk as soon as the meaty tomato sauce smell hits the table. Of course when I was a kid store bought chocolate syrup was still made out of sugar. Now it is GMO high fructose corn syrup and a huge list of chemicals. I have been making homemade chocolate syrup for a few years now. I use this recipe from anoregoncottage.com she has all kinds of wonderful things on her blog that seem to fit our family's taste preferences, especially her pantry basics. Her chocolate syrup is delicious. Why would I mess with such a good thing? I am challenging myself with this yummy, healthier, treats series to make everything as diabetic friendly as possible. So I have cut the sugar per serving down from 3g to less than .5grams. It is possible to use only stevia if you absolutely need to for dietary reasons, but I don't recommend it. I scaled back the recipe because I made many variations trying to determine the best sweetener to use alongside the stevia. Maple syrup didn't help the stevia's bitterness, honey tasted too strongly of honey, evaporated cane juice and coconut sugar were both winners, but I went with coconut sugar for the lower glycemic index.

Low Carb, Less Sugar

Chocolate Syrup

1/2 cup filtered water

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 TBSP Coconut Sugar

1/8 tsp sea salt (or just a dash)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp liquid stevia (or to taste)

Put water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil, reduce heat to low and whisk in coconut sugar and cocoa powder. Stir over the low heat constantly until it reaches the consistency you want, this took only a minute or two for me. Remove from heat and add salt, vanilla and stevia. Whisk well, taste and adjust.

Makes approximately 3/4 cup, 36 teaspoon sized servings

nutrition per teaspoon:

5 calories

1.17g carbohydrates

.39g fiber

.78g net carbs

.44g sugar