Question from Jeff Keller
I love milk chocolate chips. That is all I ever eat when I crave something sweet. My favorite chocolate is made by Guittard. The biggest problem is the sugar. Chocolate is my only vice otherwise I eat very healthy. I really don’t want it, but I don’t have a choice (I know, I know, but I love chocolate!). Anyway, do you know of anyone making milk chocolate with stevia or xylitol? I’m sure I’d love it!
Debra’s Answer
I don’t know of any chocolates sweetened with xylitol or stevia, but I do have an answer for you: “diabetic” or “sugar-free” chocolate. These are typically sweetened with maltitol (I’ve also seen it spelled malitol), which is a close cousin to xylitol. Both are “sugar alcohols,” which come from natural sources. All sugar alcohols absorb more slowly than refined white sugar, so they supposedly do not spike blood sugar. But they do contain carbohydrates.
[I just want to tell diabetics who are reading this that my experience with xylitol was that it DID raise my blood sugar noticably.]
For some reason that I don’t remember offhand, malitol is used more often commercially, but xylitol is sold more widely for home use. So I think your solution is “diabetic” or “sugar-free” milk chocolate (be sure to check the label to make sure it’s sweetened with malitol or something that ends with -ol). You can find this very easily. Godiva Chocolate, though not organic, is all-natural and they have a sugar-free line sweetened with malitol (it tastes good–I’ve tried it). But there are also many other brands and more and more available all the time.
But don’t eat too much! All sugar alcohols can cause diarrhea when eaten in excess of what your body can tolerate.
I tried sweetening unsweetened chocolate with all the sweeteners I recommend on this site (including xylitol and stevia) and I ran into some problems.
I’ve had good success melting grain-sweetened chocolate chips for dipping fruit as long as I do it over a double boiler. It just melts.
