☕ Tammy's Kitchen · Without the Compromise · Low Carb
Sugar-Free Cherry Vanilla Syrup
It's cherry soda season, apparently. Every coffee shop and recipe blog is doing some version of a cherry vanilla drink right now, and every single one of them is sitting on a small mountain of sugar. Which is annoying, because I wanted one too. So I made my own — same flavor, none of the consequences, and now I have a jar of it in my fridge for whenever the craving shows back up.
Quick disclaimer because I'd want one: I'm not a doctor, a dietitian, or anyone's nutritionist. I'm a Type 2 diabetic who got things under control through diet and lifestyle, and who's stayed low carb for 7+ years because the second I don't, those jacked up blood sugars come right back. This is what works for my body. Talk to your own doctor before you build a meal plan around my syrup jar.
Why I Make It This Way
Seven years into low carb, I'm not in the strict early-days zone anymore — I eat more flexibly than I used to. But "more flexible" still means I'm not drinking a syrup made of straight sugar just because cherry soda is trending. So this is the moderate-era version: full cherry flavor, a sweetener that behaves the way I need it to, and a jar I can actually use all week instead of saving for one "treat."
The Hack
Use a pure allulose, or an allulose/monk fruit blend — not one of the allulose-and-erythritol blends that are everywhere right now. Erythritol crystallizes once it chills, so a syrup made with it can turn into a grainy mess in the fridge. Pure allulose stays smooth and pourable. And because allulose isn't as sweet as regular sugar, I don't use the usual 1:1 simple syrup ratio — I go 1½ cups allulose to 1 cup water, not 1:1. That's the part most regular syrup recipes get wrong when they just swap in a sugar substitute without adjusting for it.
What You Need
- 1 cup filtered water (cleanest taste — tap water can dull the flavor)
- 1½ cups powdered allulose (pure allulose, or an allulose/monk fruit blend — avoid erythritol blends)
- 1 cup frozen cherries (fresh or canned work too — frozen is just the least effort)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt (optional)
- Xanthan gum (optional — for thickening faster, see notes)
How to Make It
- Combine the water, allulose, and cherries in a saucepan and bring to a slow simmer.
- Once the cherries have thawed, break them up in the pot — the goal is pulling as much flavor out of the fruit as possible. Let it simmer gently for about 30 minutes. The fruit adds extra liquid, so this needs longer than a plain syrup would.
- Strain out the fruit if you want a smooth, pourable syrup for drinks (this is what I do). If you'd rather keep texture for pancakes or dessert, skip straining and blend it smooth instead with an immersion blender.
- Return the strained liquid to the saucepan. If you like a thin syrup, you're basically done. If you want it thicker, return it to a low simmer for another 10 minutes or so until it's where you want it — keep an eye on it, it thickens fast near the end, and it'll thicken a little more as it cools.
- Off the heat, stir in the vanilla and the pinch of salt. Vanilla goes in last, after the heat — always. Pour into a jar.
Notes
- Don't toss the strained fruit. It's still got flavor in it — mine went straight into a smoothie. My son made himself a protein shake out of it before I'd even finished the syrup.
- Want it sweeter or thicker? I use 1½ cups allulose to 1 cup water, but you can go up to 2 cups for a thicker, sweeter version that holds up well in cocktails and sodas. My ratio is lower on purpose — after this many years low carb, my tolerance for sweet has dropped, and I find a lot of the commercial sugar-free syrups out there are way too sweet for me. Think of 1½ cups as the middle ground and go up from there if you want more.
- In a hurry? A small amount of xanthan gum will thicken the syrup without the extra simmer time. Some people get digestive issues from xanthan gum, so it's entirely optional — I skip it and just simmer a bit longer.
- Keeping the fruit in instead of straining makes a thicker, more textured syrup — better suited to pancakes or dessert than to drinks — and picks up a small amount of fiber in the process. If you need to keep carbs as low as possible, strain it.
- Storage: a plain simple syrup with no fruit in it keeps for around 6 weeks in the fridge. Adding fruit shortens that — this one's good for about a week. If you're not going to get through it that fast, freeze it in ice cube trays for portioned use, or just plan to use it up. It's good in enough things that this usually isn't the problem.
- This is a technique, not just a recipe. The same method works with pretty much any fruit — just adjust simmer time depending on how juicy the fruit is. A blueberry version using this same approach is coming.
How to Use It
- Cherry Vanilla Cold Brew Soda: a splash of this over Java Momma cold brew, topped with sparkling water (or a splash of cream if you want the actual cherry-cream-soda version)
- Sugar-Free Cherry Coke: a splash of this in a sugar-free cola. I'm in Australia, where cherry coke flat out doesn't exist — let alone a sugar-free version of it — so this is genuinely the only way I get to have one.
- Cherry Vanilla Iced Latte: stir 1-2 tablespoons into iced coffee with milk of choice
- Straight into plain yogurt, or just sparkling water on its own
Nutrition (Approximate)
This is a flavoring syrup, not a finished drink, so the number that actually matters is net carbs. Approximately 1g net carbs per tablespoon — this accounts for what naturally carries over from the cherries into the liquid; the allulose itself doesn't count toward total carbs under FDA labeling rules. Numbers are approximate and will vary depending on how ripe your fruit is and how far you reduce the syrup down.
FAQ
How many net carbs are in this cherry vanilla syrup?
About 1g net carbs per tablespoon. The carbs come from the natural sugars in the cherries that make it into the liquid during simmering — allulose itself doesn't add to the count.
What's the best sweetener for a sugar-free fruit syrup?
Pure allulose, or an allulose/monk fruit blend. Avoid the allulose-erythritol blends that are common on shelves right now — erythritol crystallizes once the syrup cools, which can turn a smooth syrup grainy in the fridge.
Does sugar-free syrup crystallize?
It can, but it depends on the sweetener. Erythritol-based syrups are the usual culprit. Pure allulose stays smooth and pourable even after time in the fridge, which is exactly why it's the one to use here.
Is this syrup keto-friendly?
Yes, as a low carb, sugar-free descriptor — at roughly 1g net carbs per tablespoon, it fits easily into a keto or low carb day.
How long does this keep?
About a week in the fridge in an airtight container. It also freezes well in ice cube trays if you want it portioned out for grab-and-go use.
Recipe and notes by Tammy. More low carb coffee builds (and the rest of the sweetener and cold foam framework this one's built on) are over on the Without the Compromise page.
