How to Make Lo-Sugar Snow Cones
Snow cones are a great summer treat. On a hot day, they are a refreshing alternative to a soda or even ice cream. Snow cones don't cost a lot to make and there are many flavors to choose from. Of course, one downside to most snow cones you buy at local snowball stands in your neighborhood is that the snow cone syrup is almost purely sugar. This isn't healthy and adds unwanted calories to your daily diet. Explore some low sugar alternatives for snow cone flavorings. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Shaved ice (such as from an ice shaver or snow cone machine, or even cheese grater and block of ice)
- Xylitol sweetener
- Real fruit
- Blender
- Powdered drink mix packet without the sugar already added
Instructions
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Shave the ice. You can either purchase an inexpensive snowball machine at Wal-Mart or another discount store, or make the shaved ice yourself. One way to make great shaved ice is to use a cheese grater over a block of ice, making sure to collect the shavings as they come away from the ice. To make the ice easier to shave, you can add a bit of xylitol sweetener before you freeze the ice.
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Purchase low sugar flavorings. There are many websites that sell snowball flavorings, especially for those who wish to start a snowball selling business or snowball stand.
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Make your own low sugar snow cone flavoring. One easy way is to use unflavored drink mix packets and add xylitol instead of sugar as the sweetener. Xylitol is a sugar substitute, which actually helps prevent and reverse cavities, so you get an added bonus if you use xylitol to sweeten your syrup. When making a syrup, use less water than the drink mix recipe calls for. Add water until you get the syrup thickness you desire.
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A second way to make your own low sugar snow cone flavoring is to use real fruit. Try taking some strawberries and raspberries and placing them in the blender. Add some water to get a syrupy mixture. If the syrup isn't sweet enough, you could add some xylitol as a sweetener.
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Tips & Warnings
You can put marshmallow topping on your snow cones as an added bonus. The marshmallow has less sugar than the traditional toppings and will add some sweetness to the snow cone.
Xylitol can cause reactions in some people, such as an upset stomach. Monitor yourself for any symptoms.
