Category Archives: Desserts

Desserts, Recipes

Pumpkin Season with a Low Carb Pie

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Pumpkin Pie slice with whipped cream
Not the actual pie I made, but one to remind you what the full carb-loaded one looks like.

It’s the final day of November and I’m finally getting to wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving if you’re celebrating it. Here in the land of mixed up everything. we’re recovering from turkey day. I didn’t prepare anything at home except this yummy low-carb pumpkin pie. This pie is delicious. I even had a little leftover filling that I put into a ramekin and microwaved for a minute.

I know I’ve posted a pumpkin pie recipe before, but this one is using Splenda Sugar Free Condensed Milk. Easy to make. The tricky part is the pie crust.

The almond flour pie crust is a good one for any sweet pie you want to make. I’m giving you the crust first with the nutrition information for it alone, then the filling recipe.

Pumpkin Pie with Almond Shortbread Crust

Almond Flour Shortbread Crust

1 ½ cups almond flour
3 tbsp coconut flour (helps bind)
1/4 cup sugar substitute powdered sweetener like Swerve
1/4 tsp salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

Mix almond flour, coconut flour, sweetener, and salt. Stir in melted butter and vanilla until crumbly dough forms.

Press evenly into a 9-inch pie pan, making sure it goes up the sides. Use your fingers to press it in firmly and use your knuckles along the base to push it against the pan. If you get the dough over the top edge, you can trim it or shape it with yours fingers to give it a finished look.

Bake for 10–12 minutes until lightly golden. Cool slightly before adding the filling.

Nutrition Information: Calories: 204 Fat: 9.7 g Sodium: 127 mg Carbohydrates: 10 g Fiber: 1.5 Protein: 2.2 g Net Carbs: 8.6 g

Pumpkin Spice Filling

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or double to 4 tsp for stronger flavor)
1 tsp cinnamon (adds extra warmth)
1/2 tsp salt

Nutrition Information for 1/8 of the crust.

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a large bowl, whisk pumpkin puree, condensed milk, eggs, spices, and salt until smooth and creamy.

Pour into cooled crust.

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 45–50 minutes, until the center is just set (slight jiggle is okay).

Cool completely before slicing. Chill for extra creaminess.

Top with lightly sweetened whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Makes 8 slices.

Nutrition Information per slice: Calories: 304 Fat: 32 g Sodium: 38 mg Carbohydrates: 9.3 g Fiber: 1.5 Protein: 3.6 g Net Carbs: 8.8 g

TIP: If you want to skip the crust and just make a pumpkin pie custard, you can spoon the filling into 1/2 cup ramekins and bake those in a pan of water for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Alternately, you can microwave each ramekin for one minute.

Note: Nutrition information is based on the ingredients I used in this recipe and my measurements. Although they are a close calculation, your results may be slightly higher or lower. Ingredient substitutions may affect the carb count. Different brands may have other carb counts.

Copyright 2025 by Rene Averett, Skinny Girl Bistro

Desserts, Recipes

Light and delectable Cookie

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Soft as a whisper, rich with toasted butter and nutty crunch, these cookies cradle chocolate chips and granola in every tender bite. A cozy blend of sweet and savory, they’re the kind you reach for twice—once for comfort, and again for curiosity.

I love cookies. I prefer them over a lot of dessert options, except maybe pies. Pair them with ice cream and it’s like a bite of heaven.  This recipe, which is mostly created by me, but I got a little help from a friend to get the measurements just right to create a wonderfully soft and amazing cookie and still be low carb.

One of the key ingredients is Nutri-Grain pecan granola mix. I love the mix and wanted a way to work it into a cookie, so here it is. If you have another low carb granola mix you’d like to use, it will probably work just as well so long as you keep the proportion the same.  If you want to try this mix, you can get it from Amazon and at Sam’s Club.

Granola Grove Softies

Soft Batch Low-Carb Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe created by Rene Averett

Ingredients

1/2 cup low-carb flour (Carbquik or DCC All Purpose for fluffier texture; oat flour adds chew)
1/2 cup Almond Flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
⅓ cup low-carb sweetener (your preferred brand)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
½ cup low-carb chocolate chips
½ cup Nutri-Grain nut granola cereal
Optional: 1–2 tbsp unsweetened almond butter or Greek yogurt for extra softness

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl, cream butter and sweetener until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mixing until smooth.

Gradually add dry ingredients to wet, stirring until just combined.

Fold in chocolate chips and granola cereal. If using almond butter or yogurt, mix it in now.

Scoop dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on baking sheet. Slightly flatten for even baking.

Bake for 8–10 minutes, until edges are set but centers are soft. Let cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring.

Makes 10 cookies, about three inches in diameter.

Nutrition information per cookie:
Calories: 255 Fat:12 g Sodium: 8906 mg Carbohydrates: 9.7 g Fiber: 7.9g Protein: 5.8 g Net Carbs: 1.8 g

If you’d like a little more sweetness, you can drizzle a Vanilla icing on top. I like them without it, but here’s the recipe for a quick drizzle.

Vanilla Drizzle for Granola Grove Softies

Ingredients

½ cup sugar-free powdered sweetener
1–2 tbsp heavy cream or unsweetened almond milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract

Optional: pinch of salt or cinnamon for depth

Instructions
In a small bowl, whisk powdered sweetener with liquid and vanilla until smooth.

Adjust thickness: add more liquid for a thinner drizzle, more sweetener for a thicker glaze.

Drizzle over cooled cookies using a spoon or piping bag.

Let set for 10–15 minutes before serving or storing

This drizzle is so low in carbs, you don’t need to worry about them.

Optional Flavor Twists

Try one of these for a slightly different flavor:
• Maple extract for autumn warmth
• Espresso powder for a mocha vibe
• Orange zest for brightness
• Almond extract to echo the almond flour base

Coming in October:  Pumpkin Recipes!

Note: Nutrition information is based on the ingredients I used in this recipe and my measurements. Although they are a close calculation, your results may be slightly higher or lower. Ingredient substitutions may affect the carb count. Different brands may have other carb counts.

Content Copyright 2025 by Rene Averett

Desserts, Recipes

Sweeten Up Your Valentine!

Here’s an easy to make dessert for your Valentine’s Day or any other time you want to give your sweetie a heart. While it is simple, you need to allow time for the baked cookies to cool down before cutting, then allow them to chill before you top it off to serve. This works best when you assemble just before serving.

Initially, I made these by cutting the valentine shape from the raw dough, but I think you’ll have fewer breaks if you cut them after the dough is cooked and is still cooling. Use a valentine-shaped cookie cutter or cut out a pattern, place it on the dough, and cut around with a knife. Then let the cookies cool until firm before putting the valentine ones in the ‘fridge to get completely cold.

These look pretty and taste fantastic!

Valentine Cookie With Cocoa Swirl and Strawberries

Sugar Cookie Base
1/2 cup Low Carb All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Almond Flour
1 teaspoon Almond Extract
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
Pinch Salt

In a medium bowl, beat the Butter and the sugar substitute with a mixer until creamy. Add the almond extract and beat to incorporate. Add the flour 1/4 cup at a time until it is all combined. It may look like lumps, but use your clean hands to pull it together into a ball.

Heat oven to 350 degrees (F.)

Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Cover a bread board or pastry board with parchment paper. Put the dough on the board and press it into a circle. Place another piece of parchment over the top and roll it into a circle about 1/4-inch thick.

Remove the top paper and place the dough and the bottom parchment paper onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. The cookie dough should be lightly browned. Let cool for about 5 minutes, then take a 2-1/2 to 3 inch valentine cookie cutter and cut out four cookies. If you don’t have a cutter, then cut a valentine pattern and use a sharp knife to cut around the pattern placed on the dough.

Allow the cookies to cool complete, then remove the excess dough from cut cookies and place the valentines in the refrigerator to cool while another 30 minutes. This allows the butter to set again and makes it easy to handle the cookies.

Eat the pieces you removed from around the cookies or save for topping ice cream.

Next, make the filling.

Cocoa Cream Cheese Fluff
4 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Heavy cream
2 to 3 tablespoons of Hershey’s sugar free Chocolate Syrup
Or 1/4 cup Unsweetened Powdered Cocoa
1/4 cup Powdered Sugar-free Sweetener

In a small bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Spoon 4 tablespoons into a cup.

In another bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and sweetener until light and fluffy.

Add half of the whipped cream and mix well.
Use a silicone spatula to fold in the rest of the whipped cream, excluding the 4 tablespoons you set aside.

Topping
20 Strawberries, sliced in half and sprinkled with sugar substitute
Whipped cream, save from the earlier step.

Assembly to be done before serving:
Take one of the valentine cookies and place on your serving plate. Spread a thick layer of cocoa fluff over the top and smooth it out.

Place 1/2 strawberry in each top curve of the cookie, two more on the sides, and a 1/2 strawberry inverted in the point at the bottom.

Use a small spoon to spread whipped cream between the strawberries.

Drizzle some chocolate syrup over the top and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories 494 , Total Fat 45 g , Cholesterol 119 mg, Sodium 281 mg, Potassium 349 mg, Carbohydrates 17 g, Fiber 8.9 g, Sugars 4.5 g, Protein 11 g, Net Carbs 8.1 g

Note: Nutrition information is based on the ingredients I used in this recipe and my measurements. Although they are a close calculation, your results may be slightly higher or lower. Ingredient substitutions may affect the carb count. Different brands may have other carb counts.

Desserts, Recipes

A New Year is Knocking

Who’s ready for the new year? I really hope 2024 turns out well and we somehow stumble into peace.

As promised, here’s my recipe for the apple cranberry crumble that I made for Christmas. It’s a really simple recipe. If you have leftovers, wrap the dish in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator.

You can use any apples, but remember if you use tart ones, add more sugar substitute to offset the tartness of both the apples and cranberries.  It will keep a few days.

Apple Cranberry Crumble

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped peeled and cored Gala Apples (about 4 small)
2/3 cup Cranberries
2/3 cup Sugar Substitute
1 tablespoons Whiskey (optional)
2 tablespoons old-fashioned or quick-cooking Oats
2 tablespoons Swerve Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 cup Low Carb All-purpose Flour
3 tablespoons Butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

Instructions:
In a buttered 8-in. square baking dish, combine apples and cranberries; stir in whiskey if using, and sprinkle with sugar. In another bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, flour and butter; sprinkle over apple and cranberry mixture. Top with pecans if desired.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 55 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.

Makes 6 servings

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories 127 , Total Fat 6.6g , Cholesterol 16 mg, Sodium 46 mg, Potassium 74 mg, Carbohydrates 13 g, Fiber 4.1 g, Sugars 4.7 g, Protein 5.4 g, Net Carbs 9.2 g

Note: Nutrition information is based on the ingredients I used in this recipe and my measurements. Although they are a close calculation, your results may be slightly higher or lower. Ingredient substitutions may affect the carb count. Different brands may have other carb counts.

Book News, Desserts, Recipes

Happy Holidays 2023!

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Wow! Here we are at Christmas 2023! Where did the time go? For me, it seems like I was busy from the end of October all the way to now. While I did some cooking, not much of it was anything new to post on this page! Sorry for my absence in that regard.

I was working diligently on my new Low Carb Asian cookbook and working on getting the recipes right. I am still struggling with a low carb eggroll, but I have a couple of things yet to try to get it like the real deal. Hoping to get that out about mid-March.

As I mentioned previously, I have obtained a DASH mini-Bundt cake maker and it is really great to use. I made lovely Chocolate Kalua Cakes for my dinner group of friends and Chocolate Hazelnut cakes for the lunch group. None of these were low-carb, but of course, I have a low carb version. These are pretty much the same recipe, simply changing the alcohol or syrup used. You can get sugar-free coffee syrup, which is close to Kahlua and you can also get sugar-free hazelnut syrup. If you want the almond taste, then you can use sugar-free Amaretto. Guess what? You can also make it more festive by using sugar-free Peppermint for a Chocolate Peppermint cake!

You can bake these in mini-Bundt pans in the oven if you don’t have an electric mini-Bundt maker.

Chocolate Kahlua Mini-Bundt Cake

For the cake:
3/4 cup Sugar Substitute
1 cups low carb All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup Almond Flour or other low carb alternate
1/3 cup Cocoa Powder
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Egg, room temperature
1/2 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
1/4 plus 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/4 cup drip (or espresso) coffee
1/3 cup Kahlua or other coffee liqueur or syrup

For the glaze:
3/4 cup (160g) Confectioner’s Sugar Substitute
1 or 2 tablespoons Kahlua or other coffee syrup

INSTRUCTIONS
To make the cakes:
If you’re using mini-molds in an oven, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If you’re using an electric cake maker, plug in to preheat.

Butter and flour your molds for the oven.

In a small bowl, add sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk to combine. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add egg, almond milk, vanilla, and oil and beat for about a minute.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ones in three batches. Beat on low speed so the flour doesn’t go flying. Mix each addition completely before adding the next.

Heat coffee until almost boiling. Mix with Kahlua and slowly add to batter while mixing.

For the electric Bundt baker, spray with cooking spray. Add enough batter to come just below the top of the electric cooker. Close the lid and cook about 4 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see if the cake is done. The cook time may vary depending on the thickness of your batter.

When the cake is done, remove to a parchment or foil covered pan, let cool a few minutes, then invert to remove from the bottom plate. If it doesn’t come off easily, run a thin knife (or a plastic knife) between the plate and the cake to release it. Let cake cool complete before turning it over.

Repeat until you’ve used all the batter. It should make about five cakes.

For the oven:
Pour into molds to about 3/4ths of the capacity. Use a measuring cup to pour the batter. Put molds on a large baking sheet and bake about 25 minutes. Use a toothpick inserted in center to test doneness. It will come out clean when cake is done.

Cool in the pans on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. invert the pan to release the cakes. If they don’t come out easily, use a thin knife or a plastic knife to slide around the edges gently and around the center post. Tap the bottom after you invert it and try again. If the cake still does not release, let it cool another 15 minutes. If it still won’t release, slide the knife down the side and gently pry under the cake.

To make the glaze:
In a small bowl mix a confectioner’s sugar with 1 tablespoon or more of coffee liqueur. Less liquer or syrup will give a thicker glaze. Spoon glaze over the cooled cakes and let it drip down the sides.

For a Hazelnut or Peppermint Cake, replace the Kahlua with hazelnut or peppermint syrup or liqueur. (Omit the coffee for these cakes. The batter will be thicker and the cooking time may be a little shorter.)

Tips: Alternate flours you can use are almond flour, hazelnut flour (for the hazelnut one), coconut flour (use 1/2 the recipe amount and add an egg), Oat Flour (the low carb one) Carb Counters All Purpose Flour and Carbolose. If you use Carbquik, your cake may be more like a biscuit. It already has some oil and baking powder in it.

These recipes make five or six mini Bundt cakes. Nutrition information is based on five cakes and using sugar-free syrup. I used Ghirardelli’s Dark Cocoa Powder, DCC Carb Counters, and Blue Diamond Almond flour.

Nutrition Information Per Cake:
Calories 256 , Total Fat 17g , Cholesterol 77mg, Sodium 620 mg, Potassium 145mg, Carbohydrates 14 g, Fiber 9.4 g, Sugars 1.7 g, Protein 19 g, Net Carbs 4.6 g

If you use Kahlua, it adds 65 carbs for 1/4 cup, so roughly 11 carbs per cake. I usually eat half a Bundt cake for a serving.

Christmas Dessert

For my Christmas dessert this year, I am making a Cranberry Apple Crumble. It’s a wonderful combination and I’ve made it before. I will post the recipe next week, so maybe you can make it for New Year’s!

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and to those who don’t, have a wonderful week! You can eat cake for any occasion!

Note: Nutrition information is based on the ingredients I used in this recipe and my measurements. Although they are a close calculation, your results may be slightly higher or lower. Ingredient substitutions may affect the carb count. Different brands may have other carb counts.