Category Archives: Breads

Breads, Recipes

Tea Time Is Scone Time

Typical High Tea with scones on the middle tray.

Warm days are a great time for a nice English tea, but keeping within the carb count can be challenging. I have gone to a few at one of our local Irish shops that has a yummy High Tea on Sundays, but all the little bread sandwiches and scones can be a challenge for controlling the intake. I talked to the owner and asked if I could get lettuce roll-ups instead. Most of the fillings in the sandwiches work well with roll-ups and it was a delicious solution to that problem. The scones, on the other hand, are more of an issue. I have made my own low carb ones and taken them to the tea with me, but it isn’t normally something a person wants to do. So, you either confine your scone eating to one scone (or less) or you save scones as an option you can make and eat at home.

This is my basic low carb scone recipe. While I use a combination of Carbquick baking mix and almond flour, the scones can be made with all almond flour. They are delicate and need to cool before you try to move them.

 

I made my scones in my 3″ round cake pans, so they look a lot like my bread rounds, but the taste is definitely a scone.

Cream Scones

1 cup CarbQuick
1 cup Almond flour
1/4 cup  Sugar Substitute
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1/3 cup Butter
1 Egg
1 teapoon Vanilla
1/4 cup Heavy Cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place the rack in the middle of the oven. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the two flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter, a fork or two knives or you can use a food processor. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, combine the whipping cream, beaten egg, sugar substitute and vanilla, mixing well. Add mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Batter should be thick and lumpy.

Knead dough four or five times, adding a little more Carbquick if the dough is too sticky. On a lightly floured pastry board, pat the dough into a 7″ circle. Use a 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter or glass to cut the dough into rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Gather excess dough and pat it out to about the same thickness and cut again. Shape the remaining dough into a single round. Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream.

Alternately, you can pat the dough into a 1/2 inch thick x 7″ round on the prepared baking sheet, then cut it into 4 quarters, then cut each of those in half. separate slightly to cook. Brush the tops with cream.

Bake for about 15 – 18 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Remove from oven, let cool about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Serve with Devon cream or softly whipped cream and your favorite jam. Low carb Strawberry and lemon curd work especially well.

Makes about 10 – 2 1/2 inch (6.5 cm) round scones or 8 triangles.

Nutrition Info per scone. (1/10th of recipe)
Calories: 128.2    Fat: 12.2 g    Net carbs: 2.2 g    Protein: 3.2 g
POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 7/29/2013 4:55 PM

Breads, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes

Rene’s Corn and Flax Tortillas

Corn is a high carbohydrate food and there is just no way to use masa to make a low carb corn tortilla for this reason. Still, I can do something similar by using a little bit of corn meal, flax meal, ground up baby corn (which is surprisingly low carb) and almond flour. It isn’t the same as a corn tortilla, but it does have some of the flavor. I plan to keep experimenting to try to get closer to the flavor, but in the meantime, this one is a pretty good substitute.

2 tblsp Corn Meal
1/4 cup Almond Meal
1/4 cup Flax Meal
1/4 cup ground Baby Corn
1 tblsp Shortening
2 tblsp Water
Pinch of Salt

Grind the baby corn up in the food processor until it is the texture of meal. (I used canned Dynasty baby corn, which is low in carbohydrates.) Mix the corn meal, almond meal, flax meal and salt together, then add the ground corn. Stir in the shortening and water and mix well until the grains are moist and they pull together into a dough. Add a bit more water if needed.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Heat a griddle to medium heat in preparation.

Divide dough into 6 pieces and roll each into individual balls. Spray a quart sized plastic bag with cooking spray inside, put dough in it and roll with a rolling pin or glass until it is about 4 inches in diameter. Don’t press too hard. The tortilla should be about 1/8″ thick. Very carefully remove the tortilla from the plastic bag by sliding your fingers gently between the bag and the dough. Slide your hand in to support the dough, then flip the bag and work the bag away from the other side. Continue to support the tortilla with your hand until you get it on the griddle.

Place tortilla on the griddle and cook until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip over and cook the back side another 2 to 3 minutes. Let cool. The tortillas will be delicate so handle them carefully. When cooled, they will break if you try to fold them.

I cook one tortilla before rolling out the next one to minimize the time the dough has to stick to whatever surface it is waiting on. Once the tortilla is on the griddle, you can repair any breaks by pressing lightly with a wet fingertip. Resist the urge to press down on it with the back of a spatula as it will likely stick to it. Once the tortilla is flipped, you can press on it.

As someone once said, uneven sizes and edges are a sure indicator that it’s homemade.

To reheat them, bake in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or fry them, one at a time, in a little oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and use to make tostadas or tacos. Or fry them until crisp, salt and cut into wedges for chips.

Makes about six 4″ tortillas

Nutrition Information for 1 tortilla:
Calories: 85.7 Fat: 6.1 g Net carbs:2.9 g Protein: 2.4 g

Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 5/4/2013 3:02 PM

Breads, Recipes

Savory Flax Yeast Sandwich Roll

It’s taken me a while to actually begin trying to make yeast breads with low carb flours. They don’t react the same as wheat flour, so it takes a bit of experimenting to get the recipes to work. My first success with low carb English Muffins worked out very well, so I thought I’d try a little experiment with flax muffin bread and see if I could make a crumpet. I actually got something that resembles a roll more than a crumpet. And the taste is wonderful.

I would recommend actually getting a low carb flour, such as CarbQuick baking mix, Bob’s Red Mill low carb baking mix or LC Foods English Muffin and Bagel flour, which I only used a small amount of in combination with other flours. I don’t think the yeast would work well with almond, peanut or coconut flour alone. Most of the flours are available from Amazon.com or Netrition.com or at some health food stores. Bob’s Red Mill might be in your grocery store.

So, on to the bread! By the way, you can add 1 tablespoon of wheat bran to give this more of a wheat taste. Remove 1 tablespoon of the flax meal.

Savory Flax Yeast Sandwich Roll

1 2/3 cups Carbquick
1/4 cup Flax Meal
1.5 teaspoons Baking Powder
3 tablespoons Oat Fiber (0 carb, 0 calorie)
1 teaspoon Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoon Salt
1 packet Active Dry Yeast
1/3 cup Buttermilk, warmed
1 tablespoon Dried Onion Flakes
1/4 cup Olive Oil
3 Eggs, large

In a small glass bowl or cup, add 1/4 cup hot (not boiling) water and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Stir in  sugar substitute. Set aside for about 30 minutes to let the yeast activate. They will get bubbly.

In a bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder and oat fiber, onion flakes and salt. In a large bowl beat the eggs, then add olive oil and buttermilk. Lastly, add the yeast mixture to this and mix it all in.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and use a wooden spoon to mix or use the paddle blade on your mixer or food processor. (I prefer mixing by hand.) When the flour is incorporated, add another third of the flour and mix it in, then the final third. The batter should be thick enough to drop from a spoon but not stiff.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

When the dough has doubled, prepare your baking pan. Use a baking paper (like parchment paper) or silicone mat on the bottom. I use eight English muffin rings — 3 inches in diameter– for containing the rolls. ( You can make your own from empty tuna cans or pet food cans by cutting out the bottoms.) Place the rings on the baking tray and spray the insides and bottom mat or paper with baking spray.

Sir the dough down, then spoon it into the muffin rings. It should take about two tablespoons in each ring. The dough will rise to fill the ring. Cover the rings with the plastic wrap or kitchen towel and place in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place rolls, which should be just about doubled in size, in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Check to see if they are lightly browned. If so, remove from the oven. If you are going to heat these again, either in the toaster or a sandwich maker or toaster oven, then you want them slightly undercooked.

Makes 8 sandwich rolls

Nutrition Info per roll:
Calories 170   Fat: 13.6 g   Net Carbs: 2.9 g   Protein: 7.6 g

Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 4/19/2013 11:45 AM

Breads, Recipes

Low Carb English Muffin


I’ve always loved a good English muffin and it is a “must have” in making Classic Eggs Benedict, but like all regular wheat breads, it isn’t low carb. After three years of doing without, I finally decided to try to adapt Alton Brown’s English Muffin recipe to low carb flours. They cooked up surprisingly easily and the taste is pretty darn good. Maybe not quite the standard English muffin, but very close and very much a yeast bread.

Alton’s English Muffins

Adapted for low carb by Rene
Yields: 8 muffins

Ingredients
1/3 cup Heavy Cream plus hot water to make one cup
1 tablespoon Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Shortening
1 envelope Active Dry Yeast
1/8 th teaspoon Sugar or Sugar Substitute
1/3 cup warm Water
1 1/2 cup Carbquick baking mix or your favorite low carb baking mix
1/4 cup LC Foods pizza & bagel flour or other fine low carb flour
2 tablespoons Coconut Flour
2 tablespoons Oat Fiber (optional) – use more CarbQuick if you don’t use
Non-stick Vegetable Spray

Special equipment: electric griddle, 3-inch metal rings * See my note

In a bowl combine the powdered milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, shortening, and hot water, stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Let cool. In a separate bowl combine the yeast and 1/8 teaspoon of sugar in 1/3 cup of warm water and rest until yeast has dissolved. Add this to the dry milk mixture. Add the sifted flour and beat thoroughly with wooden spoon. Cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

Preheat the griddle to 300 degrees F.

Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt to mixture and beat thoroughly. Place metal rings onto the griddle and coat lightly with vegetable spray. Using #20 ice cream scoop, place 2 scoops (not quite two tablespoons) into each ring and cover with a pot lid or cookie sheet and cook for 5 to 6 minutes.

English muffins rise in their rings on the griddle.

Remove the lid and flip rings using tongs. Cover with the lid and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack, remove rings and cool. Split with fork and serve.

Remove to cooling rack and remove rings.

* The electric griddle isn’t required, but it sure makes these easier to make. You can use a cast iron skillet or griddle on the stove, but it isn’t as easy to control the heat. Cook them about medium hot heat, but keep a close eye to make sure they don’t burn or cook too fast. You need at least 5 minutes per side to get them cooked all the way through.
Nutrition Info in one English Muffin
Calories: 130   Fat: 10.7 g   Net Carbs: 2.5 g   Protein: 5 g

With a decent muffin recipe in hand, it’s on to the Classic Eggs Benedict!

Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 4/6/2013 10:00 AM

Breads, Breakfast & Brunch, Recipes

Big Delicious Cream Cheese Biscuits

Recipes are always evolving as a new idea strikes or something that worked well with something else sounds like a good possibility with an existing recipe. That’s the case with this biscuit recipe. The Oopsie Roll or Atkins Roll uses cream cheese and eggs to achieve a bread-like texture. My version added in some Carbquick or almond flour to give it a little more texture and strength. So when I started to make a quick bread for a sandwich, I decided to combine the cream cheese with my standard roll and the result is fantastic. It’s more like a biscuit with a bit of cheese taste. Here is the basic recipe with a couple of variations. You can add cheese, peppers, onions, olives or whatever you might like into the dough for variety.

Just a note: I use about a tablespoon or two of oat fiber in my bread recipes. It adds texture without adding calories or carbohydrates and helps keep the rolls fresh longer. You can purchase it at health food stores or from Netrition.com.

Cream Cheese Biscuit

Delicious, tasty muffin-like biscuits. Use them for sandwiches or as a biscuit.

3 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 large Eggs
1/2 tablespoon Dried Onion Flakes
1/2 tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder
Pinch salt
1 drop Sucralose or 1 packet of Splenda
3 oz. Cream Cheese
3/4 cup Carbquick
1 tablespoon Oat Fiber

Heat oven to 360 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix dry ingredients together.

In a larger bowl, use a mixer to mix the cream cheese, then add eggs and sucralose or sugar. Add dry ingredients gradually. When mixture gets thick, clean off the egg beaters and stir in the rest with a spoon with enough water to make a sticky dough.

Spray a baking pan or round molds with cooking spray and divide equally into the molds or drop about two tablespoons on the baking pan and shape into rounds.

Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 3 large rolls or 4 to 5 biscuits

Rolls Nutrition: Calories 352 Net Carbs 4.6 g Protein: 12.3 g

Flax Meal Cream Cheese Biscuit

Lower carb’d version with more grain-like texture.

2 oz. Cream Cheese
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 large Eggs
1 drop Sucralose or 1 packet of Splenda
1/2 tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder
1/2 cup Carbquick, 0.5 cup
1/4 cup Flax Seed Meal (ground flax), 4 tbsp
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon Oat Fiber (optional – use low carb flour)

Follow mixing instructions for regular biscuits above.

Makes 3 sandwich buns or 4 to 5 biscuits
Nutrition Info: Calories 341 Net Carbs 3 g Protein 12 g
Variation: Chile Cheese Biscuit

Chile Cheese Flax Biscuit

2 oz. Cream Cheese
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 jumbo Eggs
1 drop sucralose or 1 packet of Splenda
1/2 tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Pepper Garlic powder
1/2 cup Carbquick (or other low carb flour)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Flax meal
2 tablespoons oat fiber (optional – replace with more low carb flour if needed)
2 tablespoons diced green chiles
1/2 cup cheddar jack cheese

Makes 6 biscuits.
Nutrition Info: Calories 211 Net Carbs 1.7 g Protein 8.7 g

 BLT Sandwich

BLT with Cream Cheese Bun

Ham and egg sandwich

1/2 lb Bacon
3 leaves Romaine Lettuce
2 slices Red Ripe Tomatoes, medium, 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup Mayonnaise, regular
1 Cream Cheese Bun

Simple and satisfying. I’ll warn you that it is high calorie, but actually pretty low carb and it is very filling. Fill the rest of your day with low carb, low calorie choices so you can enjoy this every once in a while. You can also make the cream cheese bun skinnier by not making it quite as thick. But you need thick enough to hold up to the sandwich.

I prefer to bake my bacon. Spread the slices out over a rack set on a jelly roll pan. The rack keeps the bacon out of the drippings and the pan catches the bacon drippings which you can store in a jar for other uses. Cook in 400 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes until bacon is crisp.

Slice a tomato in 1/4 inch slices. Use two slices per sandwich.

Use cream cheese buns from above and cut each in half through the middle. They can be warmed in a microwave or toasted in a wide slice toaster, toaster oven or under the broiler if you want it warmed and a little crunchier. Toasting does change the taste of breads plus actually adds to the firmness, but it isn’t required.

Spread mayonnaise or whatever sandwich spread you prefer on each inside half of the bun. Place a lettuce leaf on top of one mayo’d bun, then the tomato on top of that and arrange the 1/3 of the bacon over the top of that. Place the other bun half on top and enjoy!

Complete sandwich:

Calories: 715 Net Carbs: 6.3 g Protein: 23.4 g

Also try a ham and egg sandwich by preparing your egg any way you want it, piling it on the roll, topping it with ham slices and spreading on a tablespoon of mayonnaise or whatever dressing you like with it.

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 3/7/2013 5:44 PM