Quick and Easy Sugar-Free Hot "Honey" Recipe

This Sugar-Free Hot "Honey" Recipe only requires 5 simple ingredients and doesn't require any bee pollen!  A drizzle of Hot Honey is one of my favorite condiments to make because of how simple and delicious it is. And since I love it so much, I decided to create a "quick" version of my original Hot Honey Recipe that could come together in a fraction of the time!

Hot Honey

From serving it on a cheese board to using it as a pizza topping on either my Plant-Based Keto Dairy-Free Eggplant Pizza Crust or my Apple Cheddar Bacon Pizza (Gluten-Free, Keto), Hot Honey will take the flavor of your favourite food and bring it to the next level!

The first time I had ever heard of hot honey, I thought it was revolutionary.

It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and was being served at a pizza joint.   The pizza was topped with spicy soppressata, fresh mozzarella, and house-made habanero honey that sounded out of this world!

Being on a low-carb diet for years, I knew I had to try to attempt to make a sugar-free version of such a delightful treat!

My first Sugar-Free Hot Honey recipe is absolutely delicious.  However, I had to order bee pollen and had to take the time to extract the hot spices from peppers.  I don't know about you, but time is of the essence these days.  But since I love hot honey so much and go through it by the gallon, I had to figure out a way to get all the flavour from my original recipe but make it in a fraction of the time.

Hot Honey Ingredients

Here is what changed from the original recipe.

Sugar-Free Honey - Instead of creating the honey flavour using bee pollen, I cheated and used Lorann's honey extract flavouring.  You can buy it directly from their website or you can find it on Amazon.  You can not omit this ingredient as it is imperative to actually get the "honey" flavour.  You can also buy honey-flavoured syrup from Keystone Pantry but it is fairly expensive.  To make the Sugar-Free Honey, you simply need to boil water with some allulose until the allulose dissolves.  If you use any other type of sweetener, just be aware that certain sweeteners can crystallize as they cool which will result in a grainer hot honey. Finally, a little xantham gum is added at the end to "thicken" the sauce and create a "syrup" texture.

Hot sauce - Instead of boiling peppers to extract the spicy flavour, I cheated and used Lousiana hot sauce.  You can also use Frank's Hot sauce or any of your favourite varieties!

Apple cider vinegar - Vinegar is used to infuse a unique tart taste.  It also helps to balance the sweet and heat flavours

Crushed red pepper flakes - This is an optional ingredient.  Since I prefer spicier foods than Mr. Grumbles, I typically will not add this in the original batch.  I will add the crushed red pepper flakes only to the portion of food that I will be eating.  If your entire family loves spicy food, feel free to add as much as you like!

Salt - I used Maldon Salt for this recipe and add it at the end of the recipe so that I can taste and adjust the amount needed.  As opposed to regular salt, the taste of Maldon is considered less bitter, less salty than other salts.  If you don't have any Maldon salt, you can use any type of salt but add it slowly and to taste.

Homemade Sugar-Free Hot Honey

Making homemade sugar-free hot honey is as simple as combining the ingredients and placing them in the microwave. Just combine your water, allulose, hot sauce, vinegar, and red pepper flakes in a microwaveable bowl or in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring every minute.  Over you can bring it to a boil on the stovetop on medium heat and then cook it for 4 minutes, swirling the pan around occasionally.

Remove the dish from the microwave or stovetop and whisk in the xantham gum to thicken it and create the "syrup" texture.  Taste the mixture and whisk in additional salt and red pepper flakes to suit your taste.

Thickening the Syrup

Since this is made with water, you are not going to get the "sticky" consistency of real honey. However, to thicken the syrup, you can add as much xantham gum as you want to creat the texture you are looking for.

When you add xanthan gum, you must whisk while you add the powder; otherwise, you end up with a big clump of goo!

If for some reason, you end up with a large chunk of xantham gum or if you can not whisk in your xantham gum, use an immersion blender or a high-speed blender to incorporate or break down any remaining parts of the xantham that did not incorporate.

If you REALLY want the stickiness you get with real honey, use VitaFiber syrup. I have to warn you though that some people claim that VitaFiber syrup causes an increase in their glucose levels and therefore is not considered keto-friendly even though it is a sugar-free and carb-free sugar substitute.

Storing Hot Honey

You can store hot honey at room temperature in the pantry for up to a month. Be sure to label and date your container!

You can also store the hot honey in the fridge for up to 3 months.

Drizzling Hot Honey

There are so many foods that hot honey is delicious on. You can never go wrong drizzling it on pizza or cheese!

Some of my favorite ways to serve it are below:

• Drizzle it over Extra-Crispy Keto Chicken Quarters - Air Fryer or Oven
• Add it to Crispy Chicken Wings for a Hot Honey Wings
• Use it as a glaze for Easy Keto Ham in an Air Fryer
• Mix it into some barbecue sauce and toss your Air Fryer Pulled Pork 
• On top of whole grain buttermilk cornbread
• Drizzle it on my Low Carb Skillet Cheesy Corn BBQ-Style
• Use it as a dip for my Mini Corn Dog Bites - Keto and Gluten-Free

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