If you haven’t heard of the Swig sugar cookie yet, you’re going to be in for a treat.

Swig is a very popular little soft drink shack founded in St. George, Utah. They have since opened several locations around Utah and nothing but the buzz about Swig’s drinks and refreshments is heard throughout Utah and the surrounding states. Swig is famous for their “dirty” sodas, which are just added flavor additions to favorite fountain drinks. But what they might be more famous for are their sweet, pink frosted sugar cookies.

In researching this cookie, I discovered a few key factors that make Swig sugar cookies totally unique from others. The cookies themselves are pretty plain, but are super soft and very, very dense. I think Swig intended to make this cookie less sweet than other sugar cookies so it would pair well with their ginormous soft drink concoctions. BUT paired with the sweet, creamy frosting, this cookie reaches perfection. What’s even more unique about these cookies is that the sweet frosting contains sour cream. This does nothing but create a perfect, creamy textured icing.

Swig sugar cookies are also unique in that they are not cut out. Their large rustic cracked edges give a homemade, comfy feel that is easy to make! They are also served chilled. Who wouldn’t think a chilled cookie is a brilliant idea during a hot summer afternoon?

I may be bold in comparing these Swig styled cookies to Swig cookies when I obviously changed out the sugar… but my natural changes make for a healthier treat.

• A typical Swig sugar cookie UNFROSTED has about 293 calories, 15 grams of fat and 14 grams of sugar.
• These Swig cookies WITH frosting are about 220 calories, 11 grams of fat and about 17 grams of sugar, depending on how much frosting you like to add!

Since frostings are nothing but added butter and sugar, you can imagine how the real Swig cookie stats increase when including the frosting. In trying to keep with the Swig style theme, I kept the butter and sour cream called for in many Swig recipes. These cookies do not taste exactly like the real thing, unless you’ve been off of sugar for awhile…  but when a sugar cookie craving hits, these will have you covered. Loads of vanilla, a soft bite and low calorie count make for a great natural rendition that everyone will appreciate! The cookie itself is very soft and sweet and when chilled – gives the experience of Swig cookies! In true Swig spirit, enjoy this cookie remake with a can of calorie-free Zevia soda for good measure. Enjoy!

Sugar-Free Swig Style Sugar Cookies  
Print Recipe

Sugar Cookies
1 cup Organic Butter, softened
3/4 cup Organic Non-Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening or Coconut Oil
1 cup Powdered Honey
1 cup Erythritol
2 Large Organic Eggs
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons White Wheat Flour
4 cups White Spelt Flour or Organic White Flour

What is Erythritol?

We love learning about new natural sweeteners! When we first heard about Erythritol we didn’t try it right away. A few months ago, we decided it was time to really investigate it. After we studied up on it, experimented with it (like in our Natural Sugar Cookie Bars) and tasted it, we are now ready and excited to share what we know about it!

Erythritol is actually a sugar alcohol similar to xylitol. You can read up on xylitol here. To be honest, the two sweeteners are very similar… but there are some interesting differences that make erythritol a great sugar substitute.

The biggest difference between erythritol and xylitol (and especially white refined sugar) is that erythritol has a lot less calories! It has only about 6% of the calorie content of sugar!! Yet the sweetener still tastes sweet and is a pretty white color.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that is digested in our bodies almost untouched. Because of this, it doesn’t leave our bodies with the nasty side-effects like sugar does. It can, however, upset the stomach and cause bloating or gas if eaten in excess. New consumers of this sweetener should introduce it slowly. Any signs of these side-effects lessen when introduced gradually and isn’t a problem when enjoyed in small quantities. In an effort to avoid any risks to digestive disturbance, we like to combine this sweetener with other natural sweeteners like powdered honey or coconut sugar. This not only lessens the risk for upset stomach but also creates a fantastic flavor.

A great benefit of erythritol is that, just like xylitol, erythritol is great for dental health! It is tooth-friendly by not feeding the bacteria in the mouth and not promoting tooth decay like sugar does.

Erythritol can be used in natural baking but it is a bit different from sugar and as such, it doesn’t bake exactly like sugar.

Erythritol might seem like the most perfect natural sugar substitute, (since it even looks like sugar!) but there is one slight setback. It is soluble sugar that actually melts in high heat and does not caramelize. Without caramelization, baked goods can’t become chewy and dense. Other ingredients are needed to create the right liquid ratio for erythitol so that baked goods don’t become puddles on your cookie sheet! As we have experimented with both erythritol and xylitol, we have taken out the guesswork for you with this sweetener! Our recipes are a good place to start and as you become more familiar with baking it, it’s an easy sugar substitute.

Another important note for baking with erythritol is that baked sweets with erythritol are best the day of making them. Similar to xylitol, there is a “cool” sweetness flavor effect that takes place after a day or two of baking the treat. This change is heightened if this sweetener is the only sugar in the recipe. Desserts with these sweeteners also do not stay moist for very long. Recipes that are no-bake or raw or that have other sweeteners added to them do not have these same results, so erythitol is awesome for smoothies or yogurt treats.

We want to share a few recipes that we have tried and loved with erythritol. We have tried substituting xylitol with erythitol in past recipes and the results were great.  We have found erythitol is a great sugar to have on hand! It’s perfect when combined with other sweeteners and can create tons of great tasting healthy treats!

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Avocado Buttercream

Almond Orange Poppy Seed Cake Bread

Homemade Oreo Cookies

Naturally Sweet Cinnamon Rolls

Vegan Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Classic Vanilla Ice Cream

Black and White Birthday Cake

Vegan Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Ginger Cookies

Healthy Frozen S’mores

Look how many delicious options there with natural sweeteners like erythritol!

 So where do you buy this sweetener? 

Look for this sweetener at you local health food stores or at Whole Foods. Or check out amazon. We have purchased pure erythitol on amazon a few times and loved it.

A word of caution: please make sure the erythritol you buy is pure. Some companies like to add other weird fillers to the ingredients and products can quickly become unhealthy or unnatural. Some products out there use stevia mixed in, but we have not looked into these kinds of products to know if they are really natural.

We hope you are excited to try erythritol because we’ll be sharing a super awesome recipe with this sweetener next week – a SWIG Sugar Cookie remake! What in the world is a SWIG sugar cookie??? Check out the blog to find out! :)