All posts by Rene Averett

Desserts, Recipes

Simple Almond Shortbread Cookies

Not quite as rich as the sugary, high carb’d counterparts, these shortbread cookies are still tasty and filled with almond flavor. For a flour version, use a low carb wheat-type flour (CarbQuick, LC Flour, Bob’s Red Mill Low Carb Baking Mix) and coconut flour. For Gluten free, use almond flour and coconut flour (pictured above) or hazelnut flour. Peanut flour has a strong peanut flavor, so use it only if you want a peanut shortbread. You can use soy flour, but I personally don’t like the taste. You can also use a rice flour if you aren’t concerned with carbs.

Almond Shortbread Cookies

Small batch – Makes 1 dozen cookies.

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar substitute
1/4 cup sugar substitute
1/2 tablespoon almond extract
1/2 tablespoon sugar free Maple syrup
1 egg white (1/4 cup liquid egg whites)
3/4 cup CarbQuick or almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
2 tablespoons Vanilla protein powder (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare a 6×6 inch square baking pan by spraying with baking spray.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Add almond extract, egg white and sugar free syrup. Beat until smooth.

In a smaller bowl, mix together the flours and protein powder.

Gradually add to the creamed butter mixture and beat until flour is blended in. Turn batter into prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the edges are lightly browned.

Let pan cool, then cut into 12 pieces (4 slices across and 3 down). Carefully remove from the pan.

Nutrition Info CarbQuick version – 1 cookie:
Calories: 73 Fat: 5.6 g Net Carbs: 2.0 g Protein: 2.1 g

Gluten Free: Made with almond flour and coconut flour – 1 cookie
Calories: 87.5 Fat: 7.6 g Net Carbs: 1.5 g Protein: 2.4 g

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 12/14/2013

Desserts, Recipes

Delicious Cranberry Pumpkin Biscotti

Judging by a few friends’ comments, I really thought going into making this that biscotti would be difficult to make but it didn’t sound that complex and the reward of a low carb biscotti seemed well worth it. Initially, I made a cranberry almond biscotti with regular flour and sugar as an experiment and a plan to take some to a party. They took a little time, but they tasted great. (I had a small sample and the other tasters confirmed it.)

So the next step was to create the low carb version and I was struck with the idea of adding pumpkin to it. Pumpkin and cranberries are two of my favorite things… especially this time of year. The result was awesome. I left this not quite as dried as the usual biscotti, making them more like cookies, and the logs are a little smaller so the cookie is also a little smaller. You can make a wider log and make it about a 2 to 2 1/2 inch cookie or just eat two of the smaller ones. I’ve included the instruction to make them a crisper biscotti that will store well and dip nicely in tea or coffee.

About my ingredients… I use Vanilla Whey Protein Powder in many of my sweet baked items. It adds protein and texture as well as a little more flavor, but it is optional. Not all whey powders are created equal in carbohydrates, so look for a low carb one. I use Vitasport Vanilla Protein Synthesis, which I buy at a health food store and is 1 net carb for 3 tablespoons. Jillian Michaels Vanilla Whey Powder (available at Wal-Mart) is about 2 net carbs per tablespoon. If you don’t want to hunt around for additional ingredients like these, then omit them and the recipe will still work. The texture may be grainier.

If you use almond flour instead of CarbQuick or LC Foods flour or another low carb wheat based flour, then the cookie will be more delicate and needs to cool quite a bit before you handle it. Try to use two flours, like almond flour and coconut flour to get a better mix and texture. Coconut flour is a little tricky to use and does not replace cup for cup in recipes. It expands, absorbing moisture. Also, you need more eggs, which provide the rise when using coconut flour. So, try to keep it to the amount used in the recipe for the second flour.

Cranberry Pumpkin Biscotti Bites

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup sugar substitute
2 tablespoons brown sugar substitute
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 tablespoon sugar free Pumpkin spice syrup (optional – add 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice)
1 large Egg
1/3 cup Pumpkin puree
1 1/2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground clove
3/4 cup Carbquick Baking Mix or other low carb flour
1/4 cup Coconut Flour or almond flour
3 tablespoons Vanilla Whey Protein Powder (optional)
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 cup Cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup Pecans, walnuts or almonds, chopped

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).

In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and pumpkin syrup, then beat in the eggs. Add the pumpkin puree and seasonings and mix. Combine flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda in another bowl; gradually stir into egg pumpkin mixture. Mix in cranberries and nuts by hand.


Drop dough by tablespoons into six mounds…. then shape into the logs and smooth.

Divide dough in half. Form two logs (12×2 inches) on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper sprayed with cooking spray. Dough may be sticky; wet hands with cool water to handle dough more easily. It’s easiest to put about six tablespoons of dough in a line down the pan with their edges touching so they can be shaped into the log. Even them up as much as possible along the sides.

Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until logs are light brown. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Cut logs into 3/4 inch thick slices. A slight diagonal exposes more surface to air.

For softer cookies, stop here and just let the cookies cool on a rack, then put into a plastic baggie to store.

For drier cookies, reduce oven heat to 270 degrees F (135 degrees C) when you remove the cookies from the oven.

After cutting, turn the cookies on their sides on a parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake approximately 8 to 10 minutes, or until dry; cool. Store in baggies or a container with an airtight lid.

Makes 24 cookies

Nutrition per cookie
Calories: 46.9 Total Fat: 3.9 g Net Carbs: 1.0 g Protein: 1.3 g:4

Desserts, Recipes

Happy Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving is upon us… the start of the winter holiday season where many challenges face those of us trying to maintain weight loss while still enjoying the season. I am thankful for many ways to do just that and I will be sharing a few of those over the next few weeks. For starters, I have up a few recipes on this site that will work well for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Typically, you’ll want to stuff a turkey or even a pork roast over the holidays, but normal stuffing is loaded with carbs. Make your own stuffing bread with low carb flours. Find the recipe for the one I use here.

Those mashed potatoes are also loaded with carbs but you can make a combination mash with turnips and cauliflower that will be just as tasty and not nearly as high carb’d. Try this recipe for Smashed Turnips with Leeks. Or as another alternative, try the Irish Style Celery and Kohlrabi. Or maybe you’d like a nice alternative for the sweet potatoes?  Butternut Turnip Mash is excellent.

One of my favorite desserts is Pumpkin Cheesecake and it’s really easy to make as a low carb option. I am so thankful for 0 calorie 0 carb sugars that taste good! I remember making a cheesecake many years ago with a sugar substitute before aspartame came in and it had a not really great flavor, but also had that awful after taste. This version is almost identical to a fully sugared version.

And while I’m being thankful, I am thankful for my friends and all of you who read and share my blog. This holiday is all about being thankful for what we have and have been blessed with and all of you are included in that definition. Thank you.

Pumpkin Panna Cotta Is Light

Sometimes a big holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas features a big meal that leaves you feeling as stuffed as the bird started the day. With several side dishes and stuffing, you may find yourself looking for a lighter dessert than pumpkin pie or cheesecake. That’s where this simple to make and very delicious Pumpkin Panna Cotta comes in. It’s low in calories and carbohydrates but still has the pumpkin pie taste without the heaviness. Serve it with a bit of whipped cream and a few nut sprinkles and you have a satisfying, delicious dessert that won’t overload your stomach.

While this on takes about 15 minutes to make, allow enough time for the panna cotta to set at least four hours. Or make it the night before the big meal.

Pumpkin Panna Cotta

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar substitute
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
2 tablespoons sugar free brown sugar
1/2 cup Canned Pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tablespoon vanilla whey powder (optional)
1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
whipped cream (optional)
chopped pecans or walnuts(optional)

Sprinkle 1 envelope unflavored gelatin over 1 cup whipping cream in a medium bowl and let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. While it is softening, bring almond milk to a simmer just below boiling point. Slowly whisk the milk into the gelatin mixture with pumpkin puree and add sugars, vanilla whey powder (if you are adding), vanilla extract and Pumpkin Pie Spice. Pour into six dessert dishes, cover each with plastic film that is loose enough to touch the top of the mixture so that it doesn’t form a film. Refrigerate for at least four hours until firm.

Panna cotta in the ramekin, ready to chill.

To serve, lightly dust with pumpkin pie spice, then top with whipped cream and a few chopped nuts if you like.

You can also un-mold it by running a knife around the edge, then putting it in a shallow bowl of hot (not boiling) water for about 20 seconds to melt the gelatin a little, then flip it onto the dessert dish. Sprinkle with a little pumpkin pie spice and sugar free (or reduced sugar) brown sugar.

Nutrition Info (without topping):
Calories: 116.4 Fat: 10.6 g Net Carbs: 2.5 g Protein: 2.8 g

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 11/27/2013

Desserts, Recipes

A Coffee Sweet Treat

Sometimes your after dinner coffee takes on a more solid form. This is a light, delicious espresso custard that will satisfy your dessert craving and not add much to your daily carb count, or calorie count for that matter. Add a bit of sugar free chocolate syrup – I use Walden Farm’s 0 carb, 0 calories chocolate sauce, and a punch of chopped hazelnuts, topped with a bit of whipped cream for a really special, and easy to make, treat.

Espresso Custard with Chocolate and Hazelnuts

Based on a recipe from the South Beach Diet

1 1/2 cups almond milk or cream
2 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons sugar substitute
2 teaspoons espresso powder or instant decaffeinated coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar free chocolate syrup
Topping:
Sugar free chocolate topping
Chopped hazelnuts
Whipped cream

Prepare a 10″ skillet by filling it partially with water and placing four 6 ounce custard cups, ramekins or or small coffee cups in the water.

Whisk the milk, eggs, sugar substitute, espresso powder or coffee, chocolate syrup and vanilla extract together until well-blended. Use a measuring cup to pour into four prepared cups. Add enough water to bring the water level in the pan to 1/4″ below the top of the cups. Be careful not to splash water into the cups.

 

Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the custard is set. Carefully remove the cups from the skillet using tongs or a glove, then cover eacjh cup with plastic wrap touching the surface of the pudding, and refrigerate for 3 hours, or until chilled.

To serve, you can un-mold or leave the custard in the cup. Put a heaping teaspoon of whipped cream on top, then drip about a spoonful of chocolate sauce over that and sprinkle on hazelnuts.

 

Nutrition Information: (using liquid sucralose or Ideal sugar & Almond milk)
Calories: 77.8 Fat: 5.9 g Net Carbs: 0.9 g Protein: 4.1 g

(using Splenda & Almond milk)
Calories: 81.1 Fat: 6.2 g Net Carbs: 2.2 g Protein: 4.1 g

(using liquid sucralose or Ideal sugar & heavy cream)
Calories: 77.8 Fat: 21.9 g Net Carbs: 2.2 g Protein: 4.7 g

(using Splenda & heavy cream)
Calories: 224.5 Fat:21.9 g Net Carbs: 3.5 g Protein: 4.7 g

Desserts, Recipes

Persimmon Cookies for Halloween

Baby pumpkins? No Persimmons! Everyone thinks of pumpkin cookies at Halloween and there’s not a thing wrong with that. I love pumpkin cookies, but these lovely, luscious persimmons were sitting there begging to be taken home with me and I recalled PK’s mom’s wonderful persimmon bread. So I grabbed a few, then grabbed a few more at a different store because they were on sale.

Then I began searching for the basic persimmon recipes and I learned something right off. I had purchased Fuyu persimmons, which are normally an eating variety. What you want for cooking is the Hachiya variety, which “they” say is the more common one. So why didn’t I see any of those in the grocery? The Hachiya are the more astringent one and needs to ripen until it feels like a water balloon before you use the pulp inside. It’s got kind of a pear shape in that it is longer than it is wide. The Fuyu are more squat and can be eaten when they are barely softened. You can just peel and eat them like an apple and they are sweet and tasty. So like an apple, I decided to use my Fuyu’s in a cookie recipe, just as I would a golden delicious instead of a Granny Smith in a pinch.

The result is one delicious cookie and although it is low carb, I have to say that it is not an approved fruit on the Atkins Phase I, II or III sections, although I think they are like a mango in sugar and you’ll need to see how your body reacts to it.  Like  peaches and pears, it is high in natural sugars. I’ve used a lower quantity in the cookie recipe to keep the carbs per cookie down to under 2 carbs a cookie. The trick is to keep from eating more than one cookie at a time.

You only really see fresh persimmons in the fall, so grab them now. For this recipe, I used three small persimmons that were feeling pretty soft, peeled them and then put the pulp in the food processor to make a puree. They made almost exactly one cup of puree. The purees can be frozen for later use. For a bread recipe, dice the persimmon, par boil and put in a freezer bag with as little air in it as possible.

Spiced Persimmon Cookies

1 cup Persimmon, Fuyu
3/4 cup Shortening,  – I use butter flavored
1 large Egg
1 1/2 cups Low Carb Flour
1/4 cup Almond Flour
1/4 cup Protein whey powder* (optional)
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1/2 cup Brown Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon, ground
1/2 teaspoon Clove, ground
1/4 cup Pecans, chopped
1 teaspoon Cardamom spice

* If you don’t use the whey protein powder, then increase one of the other flours by 1/4 cup.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Prepare two cookie sheets by either spraying with cooking spray or putting a sheet of parchment paper over each and spraying that. One advantage of parchment paper is that you can slide the paper, with the cookies on it, off the pan and use the pan again for another batch without having to wait for the cookies to completely cool.

In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, sugar substitutes, persimmon puree and egg together. Add the seasonings and mix well.

In a smaller bowl, mix the flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda together. Gradually add to the creamed shortening mixture until all the flour is mixed in. Add the chopped nuts and mix them in to distribute well.

Drop dough by the spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet, allowing about 2″ between cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the cookies are lightly browned. Let cool completely before moving them. Low carb flours are delicate and break apart easily when they are warm.

Makes 36 cookies

Nutrition Info per cookie:
Calories: 70.6 Fat: 6.5 g Net Carbs: 1.4 g Protein: 1.3 g

For those who don’t care about the calories or carbs in the cookies, you can make the recipe with regular all purpose flour and sugar. The rest of the recipe is the same.

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 10/25/2013 8:29 PM