News flash, you can enjoy a few treats this Easter without the guilt. And yes, I mean eating chocolate, real chocolate…can anyone say AMEN?  Whether you have quit sugar, or just want to contain the damage, here are my top 5 tips for your best ever sugar-free Easter!

 One a penny, two a penny…

Easter isn’t Easter without a warm hot cross bun dripping with butter. But traditional hot cross buns have up to 5 teaspoons of sugar and, lets face it, who eats just one? Lucky for us, the team at I Quit Sugar have come up with a kick ass recipe for choc-chip hot cross buns, with only ½ a teaspoon of refined sugar-free sweetener per serve. You won’t believe how close they are to the real thing. Seriously YUM!

Take a walk on the dark side…

If the thought of Easter without chocolate is too hard to bear, just keep it dark. I’m talking quality, organic dark chocolate 85% cacao or more. Not only is it very low in sugar, it’s a powerful source of disease fighting antioxidants, and contains vitamins and minerals….seriously, its healthy! And Easter Bunny can keep his extra kilos this year. Dark chocolate is so rich, its pretty much impossible to overindulge the same way you do with the dairy milk stuff.

Drop a hint to the Easter Bunny…

Real life sugar-free Easter eggs exist…I’m not even kidding. In Australia Coco Chocolate makes a range of organic chocolate that has no sugar or sweetener. Its just 99% cacao mass, vanilla and natural flavours. Plus, you can choose from a range which includes hazelnut and sea salt, hot cross bun, and blackberry and lime. Yep, its pretty much a candy store for sugar quitters. Coco Chocolate ships all over Australia for $15, and if you’re in Sydney check out their stores in Mosman and Kirribilli.

And for those relatives that insist on buying you chocolate, spread the word that you would prefer 85-90% dark chocolate. It’s sold everywhere these days including the confectionary aisle in the supermarket. And don’t let them be fooled by the sugar-free chocolate in the health food section. It may have zero sugar, but is generally filled with nasty artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols that cannot be digested. That ends up causing bloating and gas, so go there at your own peril (or your partners ).

Your gonna hear me raw…

For an Easter treat without the nasties, why don’t you whip up some raw chocolate using coconut oil, cacao and rice malt syrup. Why cacao and not cocoa? Cacao (pronounced ka-cow), is produced by cold pressing un-roasted cocoa beans. This process maintains the nutrients and antioxidants in the cocoa bean, unlike cocoa, which is made by roasting cocoa beans at a high temperature. If you are looking for some inspiration check out this peanut butter and jelly raw chocolate Easter egg recipe for a quick and tasty sugar-free Easter treat.

Free yourself from fructose…

.If you want to enjoy some sugar this Easter, ditch the fructose and opt for fructose free sweeteners like rice malt syrup or stevia. Ordinary sugar is made up of 50% fructose and 50% glucose. The difference? The body metabolises fructose in a different way to glucose. While glucose can be used by every cell in the body, fructose can only be processed by the liver and is more likely to end up as fat….eek! If that wasn’t bad enough, there are studies which show fructose is highly additive and makes us eat more. Thats because, unlike other foods, it does not send a signal to the brain when we have had enough. So that time you ate that whole block of chocolate…it was so not your fault. *Cue collective sigh of relief.*  The good news? This chocolate pudding is fructose free and perfect for Easter lunch with the family.

If you have any tips for keeping it sugar-free this Easter, I would love to hear about them!