good natural sweetner for chocolate smoothie?

affacat

trying to develop a smoothie.

current chocolate source is unsweetened cocoa powder, which is obviously unsweetened and a bit bitter. (i'd flip this for something else if someone has a good suggestion).

already have other ingredients lined up (protein, etc) but none of it sweet.

any suggestions that will help give it a nice, natural chocolate-y sweetness? calories don't matter, i've got room. for reference, i like most powdered chocolate protein shakes, i'm just trying to make my own.

affacat

bump?

carrie145

Have you tried the Liquid Stevia drops. Amazon has all kinds of flavors from grape to rootbeer. You can get them at some health food stores too. I was craving chocolate today so I put a cup of hot water in the microwave, added a dropper full of chocolate stevia drops and it tasted just like Swiss Miss hot chocolate. Not sure if that's what you are looking for, but it's an option.

carrie145

I also use the vanilla cream flavor in my strawberry smoothie.

Mochila09

I use a Medjool date in my banana protein smoothies. Works great!

BostonStrong617

What the person above me said! Stevia is great. I order it online.

You can also add sweetened almond milk instead of regular milk, it's less calories, sweeter and tastes a lot better, it comes in vanilla and chocolate too.

Maple Syrup and Apple Sauce can also be used to sweeten things in certain recipes.

Or use a sweet fruit like banana.

Truvia is good too, that's stevia but instead of liquid drops it's a calorie free sugar like Splenda but instead of chemicals it's natural

affacat

Have you tried the Liquid Stevia drops. Amazon has all kinds of flavors from grape to rootbeer. You can get them at some health food stores too. I was craving chocolate today so I put a cup of hot water in the microwave, added a dropper full of chocolate stevia drops and it tasted just like Swiss Miss hot chocolate. Not sure if that's what you are looking for, but it's an option.

i tried a stevia soda once and really disliked it. i realize it's basically natural, but it still has that fake taste to me. i'd probably go with unrefined sugar before that. but thank you for the suggestion, it's much appreciated.

savoiaS1

Stevia or Truvia are really the only good ones. I prefer ASPARTAME (ZOMG EVERYONE SHOOT ME)

metacognition

Definitely taper the bitterness of the chocolate with a few packs of truvia or a tablespoon of honey (60 calories).

Truvia is based on stevia and erythrytol (not sure of the spelling), a sugar alcohol with high tolerance that is absorbed in the small intestine and excreted in the urine.

starblossom

I use banana! I don't like the fake sweeteners... I've mushed banana with the raw cocoa powder to make a pudding to satisfy cravings.

affacat

You can also add sweetened almond milk instead of regular milk, it's less calories, sweeter and tastes a lot better, it comes in vanilla and chocolate too.

Maple Syrup and Apple Sauce can also be used to sweeten things in certain recipes.

Or use a sweet fruit like banana.

Truvia is good too, that's stevia but instead of liquid drops it's a calorie free sugar like Splenda but instead of chemicals it's natural

I prefer rice milk, but using sweetened rice milk might be a great solution! Thanks. I'm not sure if it would be sweet enough (on its own) to cut the taste of unsweetened cocoa powder though... (part of me wishes there was a better solution for the chocolate taste that was relatively healthy... i don't think Quik is the answer, lol).

Applesauce. Hmm. Applesauce, oats, cocoa powder, sweetened rice milk in a blender with protein powder and chia seeds. That's either going to be amazing, or... something. But maybe worth a try -- my wife suggested dates, but that scares me too.

I have a ton of high quality maple syrup... my only concern would be it overpowering the chocolate. But again, worth a try and I'll experiment for at least a day with it.

Banana - too unpredictable for me. I've had all sorts of issues with getting/keeping them ripe, stinking up the freezer, etc.

Thanks for all the great ideas. I'm going to get to play mad scientist.

Something tells me i'm just not going to get the thick chocolate taste i'd like to get, though. But that doesn't mean it will be bad.

lhourin

I also like Stevia in the Raw. Xylitol also has a not-too-fake flavor, but I only use it in some things (mostly cooked or when we make ice cream).

ficklesoul

I usually sweetened mine with dates, stevia or bananas and I use Gold Standard Whey(kind of sweet). If I don't have dates or bananas I always go with Stevia.

My smoothie recipe calls for >>> half cup of unsweetened almond milk or skim milk, 1 tbs unsweetened cocoa, 1 scoop whey protein, 1 banana(if I don't have banana I use 2-3 medjool dates as sub or stevia), a bit of vanilla extract, 1tbs flaxseed, 1tsp natural, unsweetened peanut butter. You can always just omit the peanut. I like it with peanut butter because it thickens the texture and give it a very creamy taste.

_rozamu

I like to use bananas or dates

Kindone

I hate artificial sweetener and I have used organic blue agave to sweeten things. It is lower on the glycemic index than most sweeteners and not as sickly sweet as some.

affacat

I usually sweetened mine with dates, stevia or bananas and I use Gold Standard Whey(kind of sweet). If I don't have dates or bananas I always go with Stevia.

My smoothie recipe calls for >>> half cup of unsweetened almond milk or skim milk, 1 tbs unsweetened cocoa, 1 scoop whey protein, 1 banana(if I don't have banana I use 2-3 medjool dates as sub or stevia), a bit of vanilla extract, 1tbs flaxseed, 1tsp natural, unsweetened peanut butter. You can always just omit the peanut. I like it with peanut butter because it thickens the texture and give it a very creamy taste.

I'm going to be using Just Great Stuff Peanut Butter Powder (an organic PB2), because I do like peanut butter but I wanted to try something new (and it'll be easier to measure). Vanilla extract is a good idea. Is your protein sweetened/flavored? I'm going with a pumpkin protein specifically because it's supposed to have little to no flavor. It's interesting you mention dates, that's exactly what my wife think I should use (but i'm scared of for no actual reason).

I hate artificial sweetener and I have used organic blue agave to sweeten things. It is lower on the glycemic index than most sweeteners and not as sickly sweet as some.

Agave! Don't know how I didn't think of that, i used to use it to make vegan ice cream and have some in stock. Definitely also worth an experiment. Thanks!

polarfuchs

How about a spoonfull of honey?

ficklesoul

PB2! Awesome choices. I've been trying to look for PB2 but couldn't find it anywhere in my area. I read that it's 80%ish lower in calories. You won't really taste the dates once they are finely blend.(I use magic bullet) I don't like dates on its own to be honest lol I only use them to sweeten my smoothie and treats.

I would love to try agave but I was reluctant because of a few online articles I read about agave. I have read that it is not really low glycemics and because agave isn't naturally sweet they had to heavily refined the syrup to make it sweet. I'm not so sure if that is true, if anyone has more information to share on agave that would be nice.

G'luck with your chocolate smoothie endeavour.

affacat

PB2! Awesome choices. I've been trying to look for PB2 but couldn't find it anywhere in my area. I read that it's 80%ish lower in calories. You won't really taste the dates once they are finely blend.(I use magic bullet) I don't like dates on its own to be honest lol I only use them to sweeten my smoothie and treats.

I would love to try agave but I was reluctant because of a few online articles I read about agave. I have read that it is not really low glycemics and because agave isn't naturally sweet they had to heavily refined the syrup to make it sweet. I'm not so sure if that is true, if anyone has more information to share on agave that would be nice.

G'luck with your chocolate smoothie endeavour.

Yea, I went with Just Great Stuff's version because it's organic and I try to avoid GMO where possible. But I'm really excited to try it. Back in the day when I didn't worry about cals (because i didn't have to), peanut butter was one of the trouble makers in my smoothies... my tablespoon was probably more like a quarter cup. So I'm thinking the powder will be easy to measure. Also, I use in-store-fresh-ground peanut butter so it's not super smooth for a smoothie anyway. I can always switch to fresh peanut butter when the powder runs out if i'd like.

Agave -- I don't know the science of it... it's quite possible there are issues with agave, i never used it because it was healthy, but rather because it's a great replacement for honey (both in sweetness and texture) in vegan recipes. I wouldn't be surprised if it's not as healthy as originally reported, but i also wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't as unhealthy as the articles now suggest. Sweetener companies are always at war with each other, trying to convince us we should buy this or that. (heck, you can already find anti-peanut butter powder articles on the net, some probably sponsored by jiffy).

Amy_Andrews

I read on another post here that someone uses ovaltine instead of cocoa powder - guess it has a lot of vitamins and minerals with little sugar... not sure if that would fit into your plan or not, but maybe worth a look?

lisamarie1780

I like lime with chocolate. squeeze a bit of fesh lime juice into it and maybe a bit of vanilla or even ginger? Not overly sweet but gives lots of flavour....
I add a bit of brown sugar to things like that sometimes though.... nobody ever complained about a bit of brown sugar