Sometimes when you move to a sugarless lifestyle you have to come up with replacements for store bought items like sweetened condensed milk, white flour and other staples, here is my version of Sugarless Sweetened Condensed Milk.
I’m actually going to label this in my Make Ahead Series, because you can make this and keep it on hand for about 2 weeks in the fridge without a problem.
One thing about this recipe that is different from store bought condensed milk is that it uses egg whites, sadly I couldn’t get this mixture to thicken up without them. I tried.
It’s very important that when you put the half and half on to reduce that you use low to moderate heat, or you will scorch the milk solids and it won’t taste very good. You could probably use heavy cream (whipping cream) in place of the half and half but I went with 1/2 and 1/2 for budget reasons.
This recipe can be made dairy free by using any nut milk or even coconut milk in place of the 1/2 and 1/2. The higher the fat content of your ‘milk’ the thicker and creamier this will be.
This Sugarless Sweetened Condensed Milk is also a great base for flavored coffee creamers if you are missing those in your Trim Healthy Mama journey.
I personally broke my addiction to flavored creamers and now enjoy my coffee with on plan options such as almond milk and heavy cream.
- Serves: 6
- Serving size: ¼ cup
- Calories: 160
- Fat: 15g
- Carbohydrates: 3g
- Sodium: 40mg
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 45mg
- 14 ounces half and half
- ½ cup THM Super Sweet Blend
- 3 tablespoons egg white
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ⅛ tsp or less of xanthan gum or gluccie, optional
- Place half and half in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. When half and half begins to steam lower heat to warm. Do not allow to boil or scorch.
- When half and half has reduced by about ½ add sweetener and egg white, whisk well to combine. as mixture thickens.
- When half and half mixture reaches a thick consistency, remove from heat and add vanilla extract and unsalted butter. Whisk vigorously to combine.
- Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Use in place of canned sweetened condensed milk per recipe.
This is one of those replacements that has a wide variety of options and recipes that are out there. If you happen to try this recipe I’d love to hear your feedback!
Cwise says
Hi I am a drive thru Sue, any chance this condensed milk can be frozen?
Judy says
I haven’t frozen it, but it might work, I’m not sure.
Menaka says
I have heavy cream (33%), would that work in place of half half half?
I have to wait until tomorrow to go to town lol.I am dying to make t creamy oatmeal bar today, ha!
Judy says
yes it will 🙂
Danine Guerrero says
I made this, but could not remember why I did. Found a recipe for Magic Cookie Bars and made those, they are in the oven now. While looking for the recipe I wanted to use this for, I came across recipes to make caramel from sweetened condensed milk either on the stove top, or in a crockpot. I think I will try the crockpot version tomorrow with the leftover milk from the cookie bars and see how it turns out. Thank you for the recipe!
Kelly says
How did it turn out?
Judy says
I have good luck with this all the time 🙂
Danine says
The Magic Cookie Bars were a hit, took them to church and they were gone! The caramel in the crockpot, not so much. Used it as creamer/sweetener for my coffee.
Becky says
Would it be possible to substitute almond milk for the half and half? I am looking for a dairy free dessert for my niece.
Judy says
sure or you can use coconut milk 🙂
Nikki says
oops! It boiled! What can I do? Continuing on anyway….
Judy says
it should still be okay… just really thick
Nikki says
Actually, it thickened completely, like custard, after being in the frig. I made another batch (no boiling this time) and it also thickened completely. Maybe I’m cooking it too long? The second time, I added no gluccie or xantha gum (I added that to the first batch and thought that might also be an issue).
Judy says
it sounds like it is cooking too long, I normally take it from the heat when it seems like it’s still really loose (the consistency of regular milk, and it thickens as it cools.
Nikki says
Maybe I’m cooking it too high? about med low. In the first batch the egg whites cooked a bit and had to strain those out. The second batch, I let it cool a bit before adding egg whites. Maybe I can leave out the egg whites?
Hmmmm…..I’m not much of a cook, so can’t really go by instinct on this one.
Judy says
you can leave out the egg whites , you may need to cook a bit longer to get it thicker though.
Josie says
How would I use this as the base for a coffee creamer? Sorry…I’m nearly illiterate when it comes to creating things with food products-like it’s brain surgery or something! 🙂
Judy says
Just add the flavor extract of your choice, like 1 tsp of caramel, or 1 tsp of vanilla to the recipe 🙂
Amy Carroll says
I don’t cook elaborate enough that I make reductions. How long should it take for the half & half to reduce? Should I be stirring consistently so it doesn’t scald? It’s been about 30 minutes and it’s only reduced by about 10-15%, not 50%.
Judy says
Stirring constantly is important. To prevent scorching. The reduction by 10 – 15 % is enough, you just want it to thicken slightly. It will thicken more as it cools
Amy Carroll says
Judy, thank you for your response. I continued stirring while it cooked and I added the sweetener, egg whites and gluccie. I even turned up my heat from low and ended up cooking it for a total of 45 minutes, stirring regularly. I then added the butter and vanilla and whisked vigorously. Then I let it cool on the counter for an hour. It was still thin, so I’ve had it in the refrigerator for an hour and still thin. No idea what I did wrong.😔 Unless I overlooked it, I didn’t see in the directions when to add the gluccie, so I added it while it was still over the heat (like in the THM Syrup recipe). Any way to salvage it now and get it to thicken once everything has been added and it has cooled?
Judy says
Im not sure why it didnt thicken up… mine is normally a bit thinner than canned swc milk… but works in recipes without an isaue
Sarah G says
i just stumbled onto your website thanks to pinterest. can maple syrup, honey, agave or stevia be used in place of the sweetener you mentioned? im trying to use what i have on hand.
Judy says
You can use stevia extract. I just do not have the conversion for how much