Many people try to eliminate carbs in an effort to lose weight, and finding a good no carb dessert is part of that plan. The suggestions and recipes below will help you satiate your sweet tooth, even when you're on a low carbohydrate diet.
Zero Carbs
It can be very difficult to make dessert foods with zero carbs. Common ingredients used in low-carbohydrate desserts such as heavy cream and eggs do have a small amount of carbohydrates. Likewise, granular artificial sweeteners may also contain a small amount of carbohydrate, although the amount is typically negligible. The recipes and ideas below have less than one carbohydrate per serving.
Dessert Ideas
Consider these low-carb and no carb alternatives to your typical high-calorie, high-carbohydrate dessert options.
Lemon Meringue Cookies
These cookies use egg whites, which have 0.2 grams of carbs per white. They also use a bit of cream of tartar, which has 2 grams of carbs per teaspoon, and artificial sweetener. If you'd like to use a truly carb-free sweetener with no filler, consider Sweetzfree sucralose drops, which have no fillers. A little goes a very long way - these drops are tremendously sweet.
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites (0.8 g carbs total)
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (0.5 g carbs total)
- 3 drops Sweetzfree (0 g carbs) or 3 packets sucralose (3 g carbs total)
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (1 g carbs total)
Method
- Carefully separate eggs, making sure you get no yolk in the whites at all. Warm egg whites to room temperature.
- Preheat your oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking pans with parchment.
- Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl.
- Whip eggs until they form soft peaks. Add sweetener and lemon zest.
- Continue beating until eggs form stiff peaks.
- Carefully spoon eggs into a large plastic bag and cut the end off the bag.
- Pipe meringue into bite-sized mounds on cookie sheets.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the cookie. Cookies are done when they are crispy.
- Cool the cookies completely and store them in an airtight container.
This recipe has a total of 2.3 to 4.3 grams of carbohydrates for the entire recipe, which makes several dozen cookies. One cookie would then have less than one carb each.
Variations
There are a few of ways you can vary this recipe without adding many grams of carbohydrates.
- Replace sweetener and lemon zest with a packet of flavored sugar-free gelatin, which has no carbs.
- Replace sweetener and lemon zest with several drops of flavored liquid stevia, which has no carbs. Flavored liquid stevia comes in a variety of flavors such as root beer, vanilla, and English toffee.
- Replace lemon zest with another citrus zest such as lime or orange.
Sugar-free Gelatin
Sugar-free gelatin has no carbs per serving, and it comes in a variety of flavors. If you'd like to make it a little fancier while still keeping carb counts down, then whip up a few egg whites as described in the Lemon Meringue Cookies section and spoon them on top of the gelatin. Use a kitchen torch to brown the meringue instead of baking it.
Coconut Oil Chocolates
While cocoa powder does contain 1 gram of carbs per tablespoon, you can cut these into small chocolate squares to enjoy in moderation. Each square has less than one gram of carbs per serving. You will need a small chocolate candy mold. Flexible ice cube trays that make small pieces of ice work as well.
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons coconut oil (0 g carbs total)
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (3 g carbs total)
- 3 drops Sweetzfree (0 g carbs) or 3 packets sucralose (3 g carbs total)
Method
- Melt coconut oil in a small saucepan with cocoa powder and sweetener.
- When cocoa is completely dissolved, pour mixture into candy molds. Resulting candies should be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, until chocolate completely solidifies.
- Unmold and store in an airtight container.
Teas
If you are truly trying to be strict on your carbs, consider drinking a warm tea, like acai berry, orange blossom, raspberry, or chamomile to satisfy your sweet tooth without adding any additional carbohydrates to your diet. Drinking teas also helps you get in your water intake for the day. Aveda makes a wonderfully sweet tea with licorice and sweet basil.
Homemade Soda
You can also satiate your sweet tooth by making your own soda with soda water (zero carbs) and flavored liquid stevia. For every eight ounces of soda water, you'll need about a half dropperful of the flavored liquid stevia.
Satisfying Your Sweet Cravings
It may be a little more difficult to satisfy your sweet tooth when you're on a low-carbohydrate diet, but you can do it. By making the desserts suggested above and eating them in moderation, you'll be able to enjoy a little something sweet while sticking to your health goals.
