Monthly Archives: November 2015

Desserts, Recipes

Introducing Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cupcakes

The other night I wanted to do a pumpkin cake that was a little like a cheesecake but was still more like a cake. I came up with this option which has a cake texture but keeps the cream cheese and pumpkin flavors blended together. Like a cheesecake, they come out of the oven nice and puffy, then sink in the middle when they cool. This is an excellent place to put a tablespoon of whipped cream or even a scoop of low carb ice cream. One of the extra ingredients in this is Sugar-free butterscotch pudding. I use one tablespoon of the dry mix, which keeps the net carb count on these low at a total of 2.5 net carbs per cupcake. Making them cupcakes controls the serving size and they cook quicker.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cupcakes

4 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup Sugar Substitute
1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
1 large Egg
2 tablespoons Sugar-free Instant Caramel Pudding Mix
2 tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 teaspoon Cinnamon, ground
1/4 cup Vanilla Whey Protein Powder
2 tablespoons Low Carb Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

Preheat Oven to 365 degrees (F.) Spray a 6 cup muffin pan with baking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, add cream cheese and sugar substitute. Beat with a mixer until the sugar is creamed into the cream cheese. Add pumpkin, egg, pudding mix, whipping cream, vanilla, and seasonings and mix together until thoroughly blended.

In a small bowl, stir together the lc flour, baking powder, and vanilla whey powder. Add to the creamed cheese mixture about 1/3 at a time, mixing with the mixer until all the flour is incorporated.

Spoon into the muffin pan, filling to about 2/3rds full. Bake for 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before serving with whipped cream on top. The cake will collapse, but it makes a nice well for the whipped cream.

Makes 6 cupcakes.

Nutrition Information per cupcake:
Calories: 136 Fat: 5.1 g Net Carbs: 2.5 g Protein: 7.6 g

Tip: Don’t like pumpkin?  Try this with baked and mashed butternut squash or sugar-free applesauce.  Or you can omit them altogether and make the recipe without the added puree,  You may need to add a little water to the mix.  Unsweetened applesauce will raise the net carbs to 4.5 g.  You could use sweet potato puree, but it will add about 3 net carbs to the count, bringing it to 5.5 nc.

Breads, Breakfast & Brunch, Recipes

Biscuit Based Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

5 Comments

 

SONY DSC
Interior at Tian Sing Restaurant in San Francisco.

I missed posting last week, although I did pop a recipe in over the previous weekend. I went to San Francisco for a few days to see the incredible Josh Groban in concert at the Masonic Theater. It was the first time I’ve had the pleasure of hearing him sing in live performance and it was a wonderful evening. Getting a cab back to the hotel was not so great, but that’s the city for you. While my roomie and I were there we went to a really good Chinese Restaurant near the hotel. Wonderful food and if you’re in San Francisco I highly recommend Tian Sing. In fact, I wrote a review about the experience for the Chinese Quest blog. You can read it here.

It’s November and I’m still on a pumpkin kick because it’s that time of year and pumpkin is really more versatile than you might have imagined. A couple of months ago I posted reviews for a couple of low carb cinnamon roll mixes and I said then that I was going to try making one from scratch. As I was making low carb biscuits the other day, I figured out how I would make the biscuit version of cinnamon rolls and since it is pumpkin season, I added some puree to the dough. They are delicious. This recipe is entirely my own concoction so do let me know how you like it if you try it.

Pumpkin Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls

1 cup Low Carb Flour
2 tablespoons Shortening
1 tablespoon Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 tablespoon Ricotta Cheese
3 tablespoons Pumpkin Puree
2 tablespoons Vanilla Whey Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

2 tablespoon Butter, softened
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar Substitute
1 tablespoon Sugar-Free Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F.)

Prepare topping:   In a bowl, place butter, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar substitute and maple syrup and mix together to form a paste.

Mix the biscuit dough: Put flour, protein powder, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar in a bowl and cut in the shortening until tiny crumbs form. Add the vanilla extract, ricotta cheese, pumpkin and cinnamon. Add 1 tablespoon cold water and mix until the mixture forms a stiff dough. If necessary, add more water a little at a time. The dough should be stiff and not too sticky.

Roll out biscuit dough into a rectangle about 6″ x 8″.

Spray a sheet of waxed paper with baking spray and turn the dough onto the paper. Pat into a rectangle about 6″x 8″ and about 1/2 inch thick. Spread the topping over the rolls evenly, going to the edge on all sides except for about 1/2 inch on one short side. Sprinkle the pecans on top evenly.

Spread filling almost to the edge on all sides, leaving 1/2″ on the short side.

 

Using the wax paper to lift, roll the dough from the short side with toppings and finish with the opposite side with no topping. Seal the dough where it meets and place the roll seam side down. Cut the roll into 6 rolls. Place on a sprayed baking pan and bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

Rolls in oiled pan and ready to bake.

While dough bakes, make an icing with 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar Substitute, 1 tablespoon softened Butter and enough water to make a spreadable icing.

Let rolls cool for a few minutes, then spread with the icing and serve. Makes 6 rolls.

Nutrition Information per roll:
Calories:176 Fat: 15.2 g Net Carbs: 2.5 g Protein: 6.3 g