A low carb and sugar free take on the traditional English Christmas pudding. My easy gluten-free, diabetic Christmas pudding is ready in just over 10 minutes!
This keto Christmas pudding recipe has been on my website since 2017 and I make it every year without fail.
One serving is 8 net carbs per person and the recipe comes together in just over 10 minutes.
10 minutes? Yes! I made it in the microwave. We're talking instant Christmas gratification.
Alongside my keto mince pies, this low carb Christmas pudding recipe is a holiday fave of many readers. Here are a couple of reviews:
"This is the best Christmas pudding I have ever eaten! I baked mine in ramekins in the oven for 35 minutes and they turned out perfectly." (Kristy)
"Tried this recipe today, added some dried cranberries as well as the other fruit and baked in the oven at 150c but it did take around 50 minutes, but was well worth the wait, it was absolutely delicious & so very moist." (Vanessa)
Ingredients
The single main ingredient of a Christmas or plum pudding is, as we all know, mincemeat. Dried fruit and candied peel are a tricky ingredient for people on a sugar free and low carb diet, as it's, well, high in sugar and carbs and basically off the menu.
This moist Christmas pudding uses some clever substitutions. Are you ready?
Here are the ingredients I used:
- Almond flour. First of all, I replaced the flour with blanched ground almonds. This was the obvious one - I've made LOADS of desserts low carb by making this simple swap.
- Sweetener - Instead of sugar, I used my go-to sweetener erythritol. Monk fruit, allulose, Bocha Sweet or Swerve all work as well.
- Egg
- Butter and heavy cream
- Blueberries and cherries. Frozen. I'm using these in place of the mincemeat or raisins. Both have plenty of natural sweetness and we're keeping close to the traditional Xmas pud colour scheme.
- Carrot. To bulk up the recipe. Needs to be shredded. Carrot is lower in carbs and sugar than apple, which is often used in traditional recipes.
- Cocoa powder. I threw in a spoon of cacao powder to make the pud nice and dark. Coffee would work nicely here, too. In one of my earlier attempts I had added double the amount of cacao, but found the result too chocolate-cakey.
- Spices and flavor. This cake is brimming with Christmas flavours! I added orange zest, cinnamon and pumpkin spice mix (includes nutmeg, allspice, ginger).
- Baking powder - Check that it is fresh.
- Walnuts - Crushed. Pecans would also work well.
- Brandy. A glug of brandy takes the recipe to the next level.
A tiny word of wisdom here: I made this particular specimen late morning and had a slice for breakfast. This might NOT be a good idea depending what you have planned on doing after eating your pudding.
I am a lightweight when it comes to alcohol and felt wonderfully warm and fizzy for a while. I cannot rule out that I imagined this, but perhaps 6 minutes in the microwave is not enough to burn off the booze.
Instructions
It's just a few simple steps to make a sugar free Christmas Pudding. You don't even need to use an electric mixer - a fork is enough:
Step 1: Grate the carrots. Add the chopped fruit, orange zest and optional brandy. Set aside.
Step 2: In a second bowl, whisk the egg, then add the melted butter and cream.
Step 3: Mix the dry ingredients - almond flour, sweetener, spices, baking powder. Then, add to the egg mixture.
Step 4: Last, stir in the carrot and fruit mix.
Step 5: Grease a separate bowl with butter and fill in the Christmas pudding batter. Microwave at 700W for 6 minutes.
Katrin's Tips
Option to soak the walnuts in Brandy overnight - this softens the nuts.
In recent years, I have also added sugar free dried cranberries to the recipe. These are also wonderful soaked, because it makes them lovely and plump.
Recipe FAQs
Low carb Christmas pudding does not taste exactly like a traditional Christmas pudding. But it does come pretty close.
Of course. The best option are my sugar free dried cranberries. Or go for prunes. They are lower in carbs than dates, sultanas or currants. I think if you would add 1 prune per person you could probably taste a difference without sending your blood sugar sky-high.
Yes. Bake the pudding at 180C / 350F and around 30 minutes. Some readers have doubled the batch and baked a larger version which took 50-60 minutes.
I have not tried steaming it myself. But a reader used her metal pudding basin and steamed it in the pressure cooker, which worked well.
Microwave Timings
I cooked the pudding at a low power level (700 watts) because I wanted to give the carrots time to soften.
If you cook it at 800 Watts, reduce to 5 minutes. I tested this with another mug cake recipe, this keto carrot cake.
Don't cook it at full power (1000 or 1200 Watts). The carrots may still be crunchy then.
Serve With
I ate my low carb Christmas pudding with extra-thick double cream.
On Christmas day I swirl a teaspoon of Brandy into the cream and make a sugar free hard sauce or "brandy butter".
You could also add sugar free whipped cream or serve it with sugar free ice cream.
Storage
Fridge: If you add the brandy, keto Christmas pudding will keep for 1 week. Store it in the refrigerator.
Freezer: You can also store it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Related Recipes
Don't miss these keto Christmas recipes:
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Recipe
Keto Christmas Pudding
Ingredients
- 100 g / 1 cup almond flour
- 1 egg rom temperature
- 100 g / ½ cup shredded carrot
- 50 g / ¼ cup blueberries, frozen
- 50 g / ¼ cup cherries frozen
- 10 g small handful crushed walnuts
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream double cream
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cacao powder unsweetened
- 2 tablespoon powdered sweetener or more to taste
- 2 teaspoon mixed spice pumpkin spice ***see notes
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- orange zest from ½ orange grated
- optional: glug of brandy
Instructions
- Grate the carrots. Add the chopped fruit (I used frozen blueberries and cherries), orange zest and brandy, if using. Your carrots and fruit combined should fill 1 US measuring cup.
- In a second mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the melted butter and cream.
- Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add to the egg mixture. Last, stir in the carrot and fruit mix. Adjust sweetener, if needed.
- Grease a pyrex glass bowl with butter and fill in the Christmas pudding batter. Microwave at 700W for 6 minutes.
- Turn out upside down onto a plate and serve with thick cream.
April
Oh! I cannot wait to get to the store to get the ingredients I don't have. It has been SO MANY years since I've had a piece of my grandmothers Steamed Christmas Pudding. Using the microwave is genius! Thank you for making this recipe.
Julie Webster
Can I use fresh berries?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, I think that should work just as well.
Deanna
I made it! Delish!
Thank you!
Deanna
Total British Bake-off fan here in California. We decorate large, commercial Christmas trees for a living and when we’re finished, I let myself watch the latest season of Bake-off and totally go off diet! But I just found your website and have everything I need to make this tonight when I watch the finale. I’m so excited to try this!
Julie
Absolutely perfect.
I wish I could post a picture.
Used a small pyrex bowl and decorated the top with Holly. And the taste....WOW
Loretta
This looks like a wonderful recipe! I have fresh figs, and wondered how they can be incorporated into this recipe to make it Keto friendly? What other modifications might be needed to make it work? Thank you in advance for addressing this.
Katrin Nürnberger
I bet fresh figs would be delicious in this recipe. They could work as a replacement for the berries as they hav a similar consistency. I'm excited to hear how the Christmas pudding turns out with figs!
Janet
I made this last Christmas and it was delicious. This year I can't use almond flour as it causes my husband's arthritis to flare up. Would this work with ordinary flour?
Katrin Nürnberger
It should do, although you may need to use less as regular flour is finer and therefore more absorbent. You could also try it with another nut flour (cashew, for example) or with a blend of sesame and sunflower seed flour.
Lucy
I have just made this as Christmas was too hectic to do it. Delicious and much lighter than Christmas pudding. I will need to make some brandy hard sauce to go with it which is keto friendly ( butter replacement sugar, ground almonds and brandy.
Yet again thank you for the delicious recipes where I can enjoy the taste of some traditional dishes.
Judie
It’s my job to make the puds every year… I usually use Jamie Oliver’s gf recipe and it’s quite well liked. We do use different fruits to his suggestions and a few more spices. I made this for me and was skeptical about the microwave but it was perfect. Too much cinnamon though so I halved the spice mix addition and omitted the extra and it was lovely. I’m a huge fan of the little hint of ginger.it was lovely to spend my carbs elsewhere in the meal and still have a yummy dessert I’m a Queenslander so I swapped the nuts for macadamias too.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hello Julie, I'm really happy that you enjoyed the pudding! Feeling honoured that a Sugar Free Londoner recipe made it onto your Christmas table.
Carol Hewison
Can you bake this recipe in an oven. If so, what temperature and how long for?
Katrin Nürnberger
I answer this in the FAQ section. I would try 180C / 350F and around 30 minutes. Some readers have doubled the batch and baked a larger version which took 50-60 minutes.
Cathy
This was amazing- only needed 4.5 mins in my more powerful microwave and I used allulose wirh a few extra drops of liquid stevia. Even my carb loving parents thought it was fantastic. Used a small square corningware successfully.