This swiss meringue buttercream is silky smooth and perfectly pipe-able. It is hands down the best sugar free frosting I’ve ever made and is worth the effort. Up your keto baking game with this amazing vanilla buttercream recipe. And it’s virtually carb free!
It’s January and you are all doing your best to get on track, stay on track, and avoid temptation. I totally respect that. I really do.
So why am I posting a recipe for something as decadent as Swiss Meringue Buttercream? Because, my friends, this is hands down the best sugar free frosting you will ever make, bar none. Silky, creamy, so easy to frost keto cakes and other goodies, and it holds its shape for days.
And even if it’s January and you are trying to be good, you deserve a sweet treat once in a while. Especially when it’s sugar free and keto-friendly!
I am a recent convert to Swiss Meringue, having made the American-style frosting all my life. While swiss meringue definitely requires a little more effort, both the flavor and consistency are worth it. It’s less tooth-achingly sweet but it’s silky smooth and the flavor is rich and buttery.
Heretofore, I despaired of making this gorgeous frosting because I knew that erythritol based sweeteners would re-crystallize too much. But having recently discovered that adding a little Bocha Sweet to my recipes helps keep them softer, I decided I wanted to tackle a sugar free Swiss Meringue recipe.
It. Was. Amazing. I felt like I had just won the keto dessert lottery. And conquering a sugar free frosting like this made me feel like I was ready for the big leagues.
What is Swiss Meringue Buttercream?
Swiss meringue is perhaps one of the most beloved frosting of professional bakers. It has an incomparable silky consistency and sweet buttery flavor, without being as tooth-achingly sweet as the standard American frosting.
It’s called “meringue” because it involves using egg whites to get a lighter, fluffier consistency. They are combined with sugar (or in our case, sweetener) and then gently warmed over a double boiler until the sweetener dissolves. Then they are whisked to stiff peaks.
You then add cubes of room temperature butter, which deflates the egg whites. For once, you actually want to deflate the egg whites so don’t panic! Once the whites and the butter are full combined, you truly have the most amazing silky frosting which pipes and spreads so well.
It also uses far less sugar or sweetener. A typical American buttercream will use upwards of 2 cups of powdered sugar, just to have the right structure. In many of my sugar free frosting recipes, I’ve gotten around this by using a little cream cheese to give it some structure without copious amounts of expensive sweeteners.
But this recipe for keto Swiss meringue buttercream uses less than a full cup of sweetener in the whole batch. And it’s enough to frost a 9 inch layer cake or about 18 cupcakes!
Sugar Free Frosting Research
Since Swiss meringue is a little trickier than your standard American buttercream, I knew I need to get the best tips and advice. I turned to some trusted dessert blogs and websites to learn just how to make it properly.
I found the instructions for Swiss Meringue from Handle the Heat to be clear and straightforward and so I followed those most closely.
I also read a great deal on what to do if it doesn’t come out right, which sometimes (often?) happens. My first batch curdled and I managed to rescue it based upon the tips provided on Serious Eats. The article was written by Stella Parks, of BraveTart and her advice was spot on.
Turns out that when it curdles, it may end up being fine if you keep whipping it. But if it won’t come back together, then it can mean that your butter was too cold. All you need to do is re-heat the whole mixture just a bit to bring up the temperature. Then you can keep whipping until it smoothes out.
Worked like a charm, thank you, Stella!
The second time I made it, I watched the temperature of my whites carefully, both while I was heating them and while I was cooling them. And I got perfect sugar free buttercream frosting from the start.
Advantages of Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
Yes, it’s definitely trickier and more time consuming to make than standard buttercream. But it’s so so worth it.
I’ve already mentioned the incomparable taste and texture and the fact that it uses far less sweetener. But it holds up so well at room temperature and it doesn’t get overly greasy. It also doesn’t get crusty in the fridge and with the combination of Swerve and Bocha Sweet, it won’t recrystallize at all.
It can be made ahead and refrigerated for a day or two and can be frozen for up to 2 months. To make it smooth and creamy again, just let it come to room temperature and beat it on low until smooth.
Yes you can add other flavors and additions. I have yet to try that though but I will report back when I do!
So are you ready to up your keto baking game and give this amazing sugar free frosting a try?
This swiss meringue buttercream is silky smooth and perfectly pipe-able. It is hands down the best sugar free frosting I've ever made and is worth the effort. Up your keto baking game with this amazing vanilla buttercream recipe.
- 4 large egg whites
- 1/2 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/3 cup Bocha Sweet (allulose or xylitol may also work)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature cut into tablespoons
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
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Make sure the bowl of a stand mixer is very clean and set over a pan of barely simmering water. Add egg whites and both sweeteners.
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Whisk gently but constantly, until the sweeteners have dissolved and egg whites are hot and slightly frothy. They should reach about 150F on an instant read thermometer.
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Transfer the bowl to the mixer and attach the whisk. Whip the egg whites at medium high speed until they are thick and glossy and the bottom of the bowl is no longer warm, anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes. The temperature should be about 90F on an instant read thermometer.
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Start adding the butter cubes one at a time until full incorporated and the frosting is smooth and creamy. Turn stand mixer to medium low and add the vanilla and salt until combined.
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Spread or pipe on your favorite keto cakes and cupcakes! This frosting also freezes really well. Let it come to room temperature again and rewhip lightly before frosting.
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NOTE: I know I will be answering this question over and over so let me just say it straight up. You need the two different sweeteners here! A combination of an erythritol based sweetener, such as Swerve, and one that keeps things softer, such as Bocha Sweet, xylitol, or possibly allulose, is necessary to achieve the correct consistency.
How to rescue sugar-free Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
Curdled frosting: If the frosting has little lumps of butter, it means it's a bit too cold to fully incorporate together. Simply sit the bowl over the pan of water and rewarm very gently. Once it's looking a bit melted around the edges, put it back on your stand mixer and turn it on low. Slowly increase the speed and whip it until it comes together.
Soupy frosting: If the buttercream is thin and liquidy, it means it's too warm. Refrigerate for 10 to 20 minutes, until it's hardened around the edges but still soupy in the middle. Then whip until it thickens and firms up.
Kristy says
Hi Carolyn,
Thank you again for your continued efforts to make re recipes with us, they are so appreciated!
My question is a kitchen equipment one:
I have a double boiler & I have a hand micet. I even have other stainless steel mixing bowls that will fit over the double boiler. The fact that I don’t have s stand mixer, do think this recipe shouldn’t be attempted if I don’t own stand mixer?
Carolyn says
Any mixer will do but you have to be prepared to stand there whipping it for a while!
Nancy says
WOW!!!! I cannot WAIT to make this!!!! Every birthday of my life, my mom would ask “what kind of cake do you want?” As if my answer might be something other than “Devils food with white frosting…”‘😃
Of course, back then it was all made out of boxes, but delicious none-the-less… how I have missed that smooth, vanilla-y frosting…❤️
Thank you for your dedication to healthy treats and living!!!❤️
P.S.
Under “Recipe Notes”, “Curdled Frosting”
That paragraph’s last sentence says “…slowly increase the temperature and whip it until it comes together …”
Did you meant to say “…slowly increase the speed and whip it until it comes together…”?
Carolyn says
I am sure I messed up… 🙂
Dee Gee Johnson says
Thanks so much! I’ve been dying to make SMBC! You are my DESERT BAKING QUEEN
Carolyn says
Hope you love it!
jillian says
Thanks as always…this sounds so wonderful. I have a dog so xylitol never comes here. I have all the swerves, monkfruit, sukrin gold, clear and golden fiber syrup. stevia liquid and powder. will any of this work without the bocha sweet? (which is 19.99 on amazon for one lb, this stuff is getting really pricey!)
Carolyn says
You could maybe try the sukrin syrup (clear) but I will say… that stuff spikes my blood sugar. Mind you, it’s only 1/3 cup for 16 servings. But without trying it, I really can’t say for sure it will work.
Ivan says
Any thoughts why you see a spike with sukrin?
Carolyn says
I don’t see a spike with their granular or powdered sweeteners, just the syrup. Because the syrups like that are isomalts and they spike many diabetics, despite the promises of low glycemic index. My honest thought is that if they are spiking me, then they are causing an insulin response in non-diabetics too. So they should be used sparingly.
Kathy Charest says
Wow, that’s really interesting info! Thanks for sharing that.
jackie m says
mmmm this sounds so good and looks fantastic. Now…can there be a chocolate version??? I am not a baker so I have to follow a recipe and am not up to experimentation. (hehe).
Carolyn says
I plan on trying that soon!
Carrie says
Do you have a recipe for those delicious looking chocolate cupcakes in those photos? I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks!!
Carolyn says
Yep. Those are my Classic Chocolate Cupcake https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/chocolate-coconut-flour-cupcakes-with-espresso-buttercream-low-carb-and-gluten-free/
Erica B says
Pardon the long-winded comment, but I’ve made the recipe and want to share my experience…and rave just a little bit. 😁
This frosting is amazing. I usually dislike and avoid keto/LC frostings that call for dissolving the sweetener to achieve a smooth texture, because I always enjoyed the subtle graininess of regular sugary buttercream and smooth icings remind me too much of depressing early millennium-era LC “frostings,” i.e. whipped cream, cream cheese, and liquid sucralose. This recipe, however, did not evoke such memories. It tasted authentic and intentional in its nature. Smooth, glossy, rich but light, slightly marshmallowy in flavor from the egg whites.
I used 1/3 cup powdered Lakanto and 1/3 cup allulose, which I hadn’t used before and am excited to use again, because it tastes wonderfully sugary to me. I used a hand mixer, and had no issues. The frosting looked a little lumpy after about half of the butter had been added, and I worried that I’d have to reheat it, but about 3/4 of the way through the butter it all started to come together nicely, and it was perfectly homogenous once all of the butter had been added. It was a touch soft, so I refrigerated it for 20 minutes and then whipped again. Perfect. One adjustment I’ll make next time: adding the salt with the sweetener. It didn’t integrate as fully as I’d like when added at the end. Otherwise, absolutely lovely. I’m entirely sure it would pipe as beautifully as the batch in the photos, but my intentions were a bit more straightforward than that, if you get my meaning. 😁 If I have time in the next day or two, I might put a chocolate cake in the oven to use the rest of the frosting properly, so to speak.
Sincerest thanks, Carolyn! And two thumbs up.
Carolyn says
So glad to hear how well it worked!
JAH says
For those of us outside the US who can’t get Bochasweet, what should we use instead? Sukrin doesn’t work for me either, so I was wondering if powdered Swerve might be an option?
Carolyn says
I gave you options to the Bocha Sweet in the recipe itself.
hangga says
as professional keto chef SMBC is my fav buttercream
my recipe little bit different from yours
i use 3 egg white and bring temperature to 180 F
i use powdered erythritol
i use SMBC for my custom cake such as keto GEODE cake
you can check the photos on my instagram ketowithchefhangga
Vita says
Could i have your recipe please. How much butter do you use?
Kandus says
I love all your recipes that I have tried and am looking foreword to making this one.
I have your homemade version of THM gentle sweet. Would it work as a substitute for the sweeteners listed here? Maybe 1 cup or 3/4 cup?
Carolyn says
You must be getting me mixed up with someone else, I don’t have a homemade version of Gentle Sweet. However, no, it won’t work. You really need some of the Bocha Sweet for this to stay soft.
Aimee Shugarman says
Such a great flavor, and perfect for a keto friendly treat.
Toni says
This is really perfect! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Julie Blanner says
This is a great recipe! I love that its low carb.
Steph says
I’m definitely trying to eat better this year so I can’t wait to try this no sugar recipe. I think it’s time to whip up a batch of cupcakes. Thanks!
Allyson Zea says
Oh this frosting is soooo delicious I use it on everything!!!
Chelsea says
Wow I just made this today, and I must say this was the best sugar free frosting I ever tried. Definate keeper thank you!!
Chelsea G
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Suzanne says
Looks great! I have a quick question. I have been hoping for a frosting that I can put on a cake or cupcakes the day before a party and leave it out at room temp. Do you think this would be ok? I’m thinking like how you can leave store bought cupcakes out at room temp. I hate baking great cakes and then having to refrigerate them because of the frosting…it’s just not the same. Thanks! I can’t wait to try it!
Carolyn says
As long as you don’t live in a really hot region or have your thermostat up too high, it should be fine for a day.
Tonya says
Can you use all Bocha Sweet for this frosting?
Carolyn says
My experience thus far with Bocha Sweet is that used full strength, it tends to make things TOO soft. So i haven’t tried in this buttercream but I would worry it would be goopy.
Tonya says
Does the Swerve need to be powdered? In normal sMBC it is granular and dissolved into the egg whites.
Carolyn says
should work with either, I would think. Because of the dissolving process.
Tonya says
I made this today (1/4 batch) with the mini german chocolate cake recipe and it turned out excellent. I didn’t have to make any substitution for the powdered swerve as I had enough on hand. I love this recipe. Please post move variations and cakes. Thanks much.
Emily says
I never post on these but I make a ton of your recipes. I just wanted to say this one really was a game changer!!! Now I need a cake recipe taken to the next level to match this perfect buttercream.
Heather says
Amaizing! Hands down the BEST low carb frosting I have ever had. Worked like a charm, no issues following your instructions. I didn’t have unsalted butter, so I used regular and left out the salt. I also didn’t have boca sweet, so I used a mixture of Erythritol and xylitol. Thank you!
Sue says
Thanks for sharing the substitutions Heather!
Michelle says
Could I use only Lakanto (monkfruit) powdered sweetener in place of both the Swerve and Bocha?
Carolyn says
Yes… but it will recrystallize and that kind of defeats the purpose here.
Rachel says
I love this recipe. I was about to experiment with sugar substitutes with a standard SMBC recipe, but I figured why reinvent the wheel and I googled 🙂 I actually felt it needed to be a bit sweeter, so I added some additional powdered sweetener at the end and it turned out fine.
Thanks so much for all your great recipes.
Kat d says
I love your recipes. Thank you so much. But I would like to ask that you mention the ingredient for the sweeteners. Swerve andBocha are both brand names and don’t tell you what the actual ingredient is. I found when ordering online that often there are several sweeteners by swerve for example.
Carolyn says
When I say “Swerve” it means granulated. When I say “powdered Swerve” it means powdered. Since Swerve is a specific formulation, I can’t call it by anything else. Also as far as I know, there is no other sweetener exactly like Bocha Sweet. So I have to call them by the brand name.
Leslie Ange says
Absolutely fantastic! I could not tell that this was a sugar free frosting, nor could my hubby. Delicious perfection!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Dawn says
I’d like to make this icing but the area that I’m in, I’m very limited for keto products. Would this icing work with liquid stevia?
Carolyn says
No, I am sorry it won’t. It needs a bulk sweetener.
Nicole says
I used this to fill my Neapolitan macarons for a diabetic BBQ. To die for!
Thank you
Carolyn says
Nice!
Evie says
I wanted something besides a cream cheese frosting for my husband’s birthday cake and stumbled across this recipe yesterday. Let me just say that I am pretty much an amateur when it comes to something with this many steps and finicky processes and it came out PERFECTLY thanks to your instructions. I used a combination of powdered lakanto and allulose and it was silky smooth today, after being in the fridge overnight. This recipe is fantastic and I will absolutely make it again.
Carolyn says
I am so delighted to hear that! It’s definitely a multistep recipe but it’s also rather forgiving since if it doesn’t turn out, there are ways to correct it.
Corinna says
Wow, I’m hoping you see this that you may be able to help me out with my gorgeous yet too salty icing. My birthday is tomorrow (soon to be today – the 12th) and it’s my first birthday cake on keto. I made your icing and the consistency is like magic (I used allulose, by the way, and I whipped the butter for about 6 minutes before I started, so it’s really dreamy). Trouble is I didn’t realize that my butter was salted and so I added the salt. Now it’s too salty. I also had doubled the recipe so it’s a whole lot of icing that I don’t want to waste. Any ideas for how I can rescue it? I tried blending in a little more swerve (a couple tablespoons more) but it’s still too salty. I left out some more butter in case I need to start over in the morning, but I’m hoping that instead I’ll wake up and find – maybe from your response, if you see this by then – a good idea to save the giant bowl of icing I made tonight. Thank you for sharing this recipe, and for writing such fun pieces with each one of your recipes!
Carolyn says
Oh no! I think what you’re going to need to do is make more and blend them together to reduce the salt factor. You will end up with a lot of frosting but the good news is that you can freeze it for future use.
You could also try just adding in something like chocolate to overpower the salt but then I worry that you’d end up with salty chocolate frosting. One final thought is to leave out all salt in your cake and offset the icing, even if you make more to blend them together.
Corinna says
Thanks so much for your input!
I ended up making a new frosting the next morning and the cake was delicious.
I also saved the giant amount of salty-sweet frosting I’d made the day before and with about half of it I tried adding chocolate, and the other half vanilla. Over the following week I used both flavors straight outta the fridge for adding to other baked goods that I made without salt. That worked perfectly and I used every drop (eventually).
Thanks again for helping me make (& save!) a phenomenal birthday treat!
Carolyn says
So glad it worked out!
Stakean says
Would powdered Bocha work better than the granulated?
Carolyn says
Either works. It’s perfect the way it is, there is no “better”.
Melissa H. says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’m an avid cupcake baker and I mainly use Swiss Meringue Buttercream. My brother-in-law requested Keto almond cupcakes for our Thanksgiving get-together. This recipe turned out absolutely PERFECT. Added amaretto and almond extract to mine. Thank you so, so much!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it and YUM on the amaretto!
Veronica says
I used to love making Italian meringue buttercream and it’s one of the things I really missed when I went keto. This recipe is exactly the same consistency and just the right amount of sweetness. Thank you for making the keto lifestyle so much easier to stick with!
Carolyn says
Glad you liked it!
Christy Scott says
Wonderfully perfect recipe – the texture is unbelievable! I never thought I could enjoy a birthday cake again, at least without the guilt. I used xylitol instead of the Bocha Sweet, because there was no time to order it. I made it last night and left it out to see what it would do. It was just like it was last night when freshly made. Thank you for doing all that experimenting on our behalf!
Carolyn says
Hooray so glad to hear it!
maria brent says
Can I use all bochasweet and no swerve/erythritol? Will it work?
Carolyn says
I honestly can’t say for sure, but my experience with BochaSweet is that too much can make things overly soft. I have some ice cream in the freezer that is soft-serve consistency because I overdid the BS.
lisa says
question! I bought the new blend High Key has out.. it has the trifecta sweeteners and it includes allulose .. Im curious if you think this may work.. like would it be enough allulose to keep it from forming crystals.
Carolyn says
I haven’t used it but probably….the whole heating with the egg whites should dissolve it.
Kat says
Made this with 1/2 cup of splenda, 1/3cup xylitol. As I started to add butter it started to have the curdled look so I warmed rest of butter in microwave til warm but not melted and it all came out beautifully. Fabulously pip-able. Everyone was raving about it – even the skeptics. Nicely done and thanks so much!
Carolyn says
Glad it worked out! The temp of both the egg whites and the butter are crucial but it’s almost always salvageable!
Jody Kirk says
Thank you so much for this recipe and all your work on everything! I know that you put so much more time in it than we can see or even imagine!
Do you use the powdered bochasweet or regular in this swiss buttercream! Please forgive me if you have already answered this.
Carolyn says
I made this recipe before BochaSweet came out the powdered, so the regular… but you could really use either.
Shayna says
What is the max amount of time you think this can be left at room temp?
Carolyn says
Several hours.
Jackie says
This is by far the BEST Keto approved frosting I’ve made and I’ve tried them all! I used Monk fruit and Allulose and it was spot on! It never crystallized, stayed smooth and soooo creamy and held shape beautifully! I will be using this for the frosting on a wedding cake I’m making at the end of the month for my friends! I made a test cake for them using this recipe and they raved over it! Perfection!!! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe….it truly is wonderful!
Carolyn says
Yay! Have you checked out the chocolate version that’s on my marble layer cake? So good too!
Linda says
Hi Carolyn,
I’m SUPER excited to try this for a cake I’m planning to make tomorrow (your chocolate mayonnaise cake). I was discussing it with my mom and she asked me if it was like 7 minute frosting and I said no but it seems similar. I ‘dwondered if you’d ever attempted 7 minute frosting and if so, did it work?. I’m wondering if it requires ‘real’ sugar to do its magic. If you haven’t had it, it’s amazing – it’s almost marshmallowy in its consistency. It’s sweet but not cloying.
Thanks,
Linda
Morgan says
Any chance this would work with granulated swerve (instead of the bocha sweet) with the powdered swerve? I want to make this this weekend, and that’s all I have on hand.. with social distancing, I’d rather not head to the store unless absolutely necessary! If it won’t work though I’d head out. Hopefully you’ll see this in time!
Carolyn says
Technically yes it will work… but then it will re-crystallize quite badly when refrigerated. I don’t recommend.
monika says
Will this hold up without Bocha?
Carolyn says
Sure, but it will likely re-crystallize again as it cools. Who wants gritty frosting?
Dani says
This is literally the best frosting I’ve ever had. So light and just perfect. I added cocoa powder and a bit of instant coffee and it’s absolutely spectacular. Thank you!
Anu says
This was a mission and a half, but in the end it all turned out alright! 🙂 The instructions are fantastic and very clear, and I really enjoyed the whole process. although my arm was aching at the end of it (no stand mixer here, just a handheld electric whisk, and no bain marie, so I used a glass bowl on top of a saucepan with simmering water). I have a very trusty instant read thermometer so I thought I was measuring everything carefully, but I think my egg whites and sweeteners may have still been a few degrees too hot when I added the butter, as the result was a bit soupy when all the butter was added in. No matter though, I left it in the fridge for about 30 minutes, but I guess my fridge runs a bit too cold as it came out solid and greasy… oops! Still not one to give up, I put the bowl back on top of my makeshift bain marie and let it melt at the edges and then whipped it again. This time it was perfect! Just the texture I had hoped for, and no graininess or soupiness… phew! I would love to try this as a chocolate flavoured buttercream, but I have no idea where to begin. Thank you so much for this wonderfully written recipe, it was most satisfying to make. I used this frosting in your margarita cake for my husband’s birthday this weekend, and it went down a treat 🙂
Carolyn says
If you want a chocolate version, see my marble cake recipe. The thing about SMB is that it is tricky to get the temp perfect from the get-go but you can adjust and it still works out!
Anu says
Oh my goodness, you mean this one right?
https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/keto-marble-cake/
I will absolutely make this soon, weekend after next – this looks incredible! Thank you so much, you made my day.
And yes, I’m delighted to discover how forgiving SMB is 🙂
Carolyn says
Yes, that’s the one!
Lindsay Lingenfelter says
Holy crap. Absolutely fantastic. First time making it and I managed to pull it off and I could eat the entire batch with a spoon. I had mine too cold, so I mildly heated it and it whipped up perfectly in seconds. Unbelievable. Granular erythritol and granular xylitol is what I used.
Jenny says
This recipe was a lifesaver for my toddlers birthday party! We don’t let her have sugar, but I still wanted to have a cute birthday cake. We ended up going with a Beauty and the Beast themed birthday party and this icing worked amazingly as the dress swirls for a stand up Belle cake! They also made adorable little red roses for the mini cupcakes I made. I was SO IMPRESSED at how well this frosting worked!! Thanks for saving the birthday party Carolyn!!
Bernadette says
I almost chickened out, but I’m so glad I tried it! I looked through all of the comments to see if anyone had tried carton egg whites but I gave it a go and it worked perfectly! I just hate having to figure out what to do with extra yolks and I hate to throw food away, so I was anxious to see if this would work with egg whites from the carton. Yahoo! Delicious cupcakes for our son’s birthday!
Yolan says
I’m so excited to make this recipe! I have swerve confectioners sugar and plan to use either xylitol, allulose or wait for an amazon order of bocha because I can’t find it in stores. If I use xylitol or allulose, do I use granulated or powdered? I’m guessing powdered but since you mentioned something about the texture I want to be sure. Thank you for sharing this!!
Carolyn says
You can use the granular since it gets whisked into and dissolved in the egg whites.