These top off a great Chinese meal with just a touch of sweetness and almond flavor. At only 1/2 carb each, they make a great ending to the meal or a nice snack in the afternoon. I’ve adapted them to low carb using my favorite low carb flour, Carbquick, but they will also work well with almond flour and any other low carb flour. If you’re not using a baking mix flour, add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder to the dough. Do not use coconut flour with this unless you’re experienced with using it. This recipe calls for lard, but you can also use butter.
Chinese Almond Cookies
1 1/2 cups sifted Carbquick, almond flour or other low carb flour
1/2 cup white sugar substitute
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup lard or butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
24 whole almonds
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare a cookie sheet by spraying lightly with baking spray.
Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together into a bowl. Use two knives or a pastry cutter to mix in the lard until mixture resembles cornmeal. (You can also use your fingers to do this.) Make a well and add the egg and almond extract. Mix together, then mix in the flour until it is combined well. The dough will be stiff.
Roll into 1 inch balls and set each ball about 2″ apart on a cookie sheet. Flatten cookie a little and press an almond into the center of each cookie.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes until the edges of the cookies are a golden brown.
Makes 24 cookies.
Atkins Phases 2 to 4
Nutrition Info per cookie:
Calories: 64 Fat: 6.1 g Net Carbs: .5 g Protein: 1.5 g
I love pumpkin and I love chocolate, but I had never tried mixing the two together. To be honest, it didn’t sound too appetizing, so when I saw Atkins’ recipe for Pumpkin Swirl Brownies, I was doubtful, but they looked delicious in the photo and I decided to give them a try. They were delicious, really. Of course, I didn’t make them exactly the way their recipe said. For one thing, the recipe made almost three dozen of them and that was way too many for just the two of us. So, I adjusted the recipe down and also added some pecans to the top. Some of my ingredients may have changed a little, too. To check out Atkins original recipe, go to this link.
Pumpkin Spice Brownies – Small Batch
1 oz. Sugar Free Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup unsalted Butter
1/2 tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/2 cup powdered Erythritol (like Ideal sugar substitute)
2 large Eggs
1 large Egg White (or 1/4 cup liquid egg whites)
1 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 tablespoons Coconut Flour
1 tablespoon Vanilla Whey Protein Powder (optional)
1/8 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
4 Ounces Cream Cheese
1/3 Cup unsweetened Pumpkin Puree
1/4 Cup granular Sugar Substitute (sucralose)
1 Teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/4 cup chopped Pecans
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease a 6×6-inch pan with cooking spray..
Put the chocolate chips and butter in a medium bowl, then microwave for about 20 seconds and check to see if completely melted. Run another 10 seconds if it is not . Add 10 seconds at a time until completely melted. Blend the chocolate and butter together then add in the cocoa powder and powdered sugar substitute and continue to blend until smooth. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 egg, egg whites, salt, protein powder (if using) and the coconut flour. Whisk until incorporated. Set aside.
Using a hand blender cream the cream cheese with the sucralose or other sugar substitute in a small bowl. Add the egg, pumpkin purée, pumpkin spice blend, cinnamon and 1 teaspoon vanilla; beat until smooth.
Spread 2/3 of the brownie mixture into the prepared pan. Then pour the cream cheese mixture over the top. Drop the remaining 1/3 of the brownie batter by spoonfuls over the cream cheese mixture and then take a knife and gently swirl the layers together. Sprinkle pecan chips on top of the brownies. Bake for 30 minutes until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before cutting into 16 pieces. (4×4 = 16 – 1 1/2″ square pieces)
Serve at room temperature. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container or plastic bag for up to 1 week if they last that long.
Note: The original recipe called for Baking soda, but it doesn’t add anything to the recipe. It doesn’t work on coconut flour, so I omitted it and added an extra egg white, which does give an extra lift to the brownie.
If you want to use almond flour or Carbquick instead of coconut flour, then increase the amount to 1/2 cup. Coconut flour expands 2 to 3 times its volume with liquid absorption. Add the 1/2 teaspoon baking soda when using Carbquick.
Nutrition Info per brownie:
Calories: 78 Fat: 7 g Net Carbs: 1.3 g Protein: 2.5 g
POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 12/22/2013
When I was a child, I learned to make these delicious cookies from my mother. We put the dough into a cookie press (remember those?) and out would come wonderfully shaped holiday cookies like wreaths and snowmen and stars. A little icing on top and it was a magical Christmas cookie. You can still buy these presses, although in wide assortment of prices and quality. I may actually still have a press around here somewhere, but usually I just make these as drop cookies.
You can also easily turn them into thumbprint cookies, those little cookies with a shallow well filled with jam in the middle. Smucker’s has a nice line of sugar free and low carb jams that will work fine for the filling or you can make your own low carb jam. I sometimes use my cranberry jam, which is easily made with sugar substitute, about 1/4 teaspoon lemon and a sprinkle of cloves and let it cook down after the berries pop. It has enough pectin to set up on its own.
So, here’s the low carb version of this recipe and it is wonderfully delicious, and the best part is they are only about 1 net carb each — a little higher for the ones with jam. If you ice them with powdered sugar icing made from sugar substitute, you aren’t adding any more calories or carbs!
In a large bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese in a mixer bowl. Add powdered sugar substitute* and baking powder and mix in, then add the egg and vanilla and beat until it is all mixed well and the dough is fluffy.
Mix the flours and the whey powder (if you are using it) together and add it to the cream cheese mixture, about 1/3 at a time and beating in each addition before adding the next. Put it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes for drop cookies or at least an hour for rolled cookies.
About 10 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 365 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop cookies by rounded teaspoons and roll each cookie ball in granulated sugar substitute (like Ideal or Splenda or Stevia). Place on cookie sheets.
Thumbprint cookies with apricot jam and cranberry jam in them.
For cut out cookies, roll dough out on a lightly floured with coconut flour or other low carb flour pastry board into a 1/3 inch thick square. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Reform the dough and roll again until you can no longer cut any shapes. Place cookies on the baking sheets and sprinkle with granulated sugar substitute.
For thumbprint cookies, after the dropped cookies are placed on the cookie sheet, use the back of a spoon or your clean thumb to press a small well in the middle of each cookie. Fill with about 1/4 teaspoon of sugar free, low carb jam, such as Smucker’s Apricot Jam or Smucker’s Raspberry Jam or homemade low carb jam or cranberry sauce.
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes. Check at 5 minutes and shorten or extend cooking time if needed. Cookies should be lightly brown around the edges. Cool for a few minutes on cookie sheets to allow them to set up, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
* If you can’t find powdered or confectioner’s sugar substitute, you can make it by putting a granulated sugar substitute in a food processor and processing until it turns to powder. Measure after it has been processed.
Makes about 12 to 16 cookies.
Nutrition Info per cookie (14 cookies)
Calories: 69.6 Fat: 6.1 g Net Carbs: 1 g Protein: 2.2 g
Thumbprint Cookies
Calories: 70.3 Fat: 6.1 g Net Carbs: 1.3 g Protein: 2.2 g
As soon as I saw this recipe from MORDAVIA on AllRecipes.com, I knew I had to adapt it for low carb. It combines the berry of the winter holiday, cranberry, with the refreshing taste of orange. It’s a wonderful combination and this cookie is absolutely delicious, one of my favorites already. To keep the carbs down, I used orange extract in it instead of orange juice, but if you want to use orange juice, feel free. I’d still add a little extract to really get the orange flavor in it. I also used sugar free orange syrup in the icing, but you can use either the extract or orange juice in it if you don’t have orange syrup.
Cranberry Orange Cookies
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1/4 cup Brown Sugar Substitute
1 Egg
1 Egg white
1 teaspoon grated Orange Zest
1 tablespoon Orange Extract or Orange Juice
1 cup CarbQuick
2 tablespoons Coconut Flour
2 tablespoons Vanilla Whey Powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup chopped Cranberries
1/4 cup chopped Pecans or Walnuts (optional)
Icing (Optional, but recommended)
1 teaspoon grated Orange Rind (optional)
1 tablespoon Orange Sugar Free Syrup or Orange Juice
1/2 cup Confectioners’ Sugar Substitute*
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F . Line baking pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray or just spray the pan directly.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and egg white until well blended. Mix in 1 teaspoon orange zest and 1 tablespoon orange extract. Combine the flour, coconut flour, protein powder (if you are using it), baking soda and salt; stir into the orange mixture. Mix in cranberries and nuts, if you are using them, until they are evenly distributed.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be spaced at least 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are golden. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.
Icing:
In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, 3 tablespoons sugar free orange syrup and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Spread over the tops of cooled cookies. Let stand until set.
* To make your own low carb confectioner’s sugar, put crystal sugar substitute, such as Ideal or Splenda, into a food processor and pulse until it turns to a powdered sugar. Measure out after processing the sugar.
Makes 18 cookies.
Nutrition Info per cookie:
Calories: 79.2 Fat: 7.4 g Net Carbs: 1 g Protein: 1.7 g
These are tasty and quite a lot like the regular Coconut Macaroons with sweetened coconut, but are much lower in calories and carbohydrates. The drawback is that the unsweetened coconut doesn’t have the rich taste that sweetened coconut has so the cookie tends to be a little dry and not as rich in flavor. But they are still very good and pretty easy to make.
This is actually the third batch that I made. The first batch used just an egg white as the base, beaten to a stiff meringue, then adding the sugar and coconut. But it didn’t hold up well and came out flat. The second batch, I added 2 tablespoons coconut flour and tried to make them as bars. It worked better, but came out drier and not too pretty. So this batch used CarbQuick along with a little less coconut flour and it worked better, making a stiffer dough that could be rolled into balls. The overall flavor is much better and closer to the ones made with regular shredded coconut.
Cranberry Coconut Macaroons
Small Batch makes 14 to 15 cookies
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut, shredded
2 teaspoons coconut extract
3 tablespoons water
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoon granulated sugar substitute
1 egg white
2 tablespoons carbquick or other low carb flour
1 1/2 tablespoon coconut flour
1 tablespoon egg white powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped cranberries
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare a cookie sheet by spraying with a cooking spray.
Put the coconut in a bowl and add water , coconut extract and 1 tablespoon of sugar substitute and stir until mixed. Let sit until the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Stir to fluff.
Beat egg white and salt until soft peaks form. Add vanilla and mix in. Gradually add sugar, then fold in flour. Fold in coconut and cranberries.
Drop by rounded teaspoons about 2″ apart on cookie sheet and shape into balls.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until set and lightly browned. Move pan to a cooling rack and let cool. The cookies will firm up as they cool.
Makes 1 dozen cookies.
Nutrition Info per cookie:
Calories: 51.5 Fat: 3. 7g Net Carbs: 1.4 g Protein: 2.3 g
