Category Archives: Desserts

Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Recipes

Yummy Crunchy Peanut Butter Bars

Unless you can’t eat peanuts, who doesn’t love peanut butter bars?  They are so tasty and satisfying.  And they can be low carb as well.  Incidentally, if you happen to be one who can’t eat peanuts, but you can eat almonds, you can make this with almond butter also.

I’ve seen several recipes for these bars, but this one is based on the one from Dixie Diner(tm). Of course, they would like you to use their sugar substitute and flour in it, but it works with any of the options available. I used CarbQuick and  Ideal Sugar in mine. If you aren’t concerned about the quantity of carbs in your food, lucky you, then go ahead and make these with regular flour and sugar.

Crunchy Peanut Butter Bars

1 cup Skippy Peanut Butter or other 4 nc per 2 tablespoons
1/4 cup Peanuts, chopped
1/4 cup Low Carb Flour
1/4 cup Sugar Free Chocolate Chips (optional)
1/4 cup Sugar Substitute
2 Egg Whites (boxed will work)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F.) Prepare an 8×8 inch pan by spraying with baking spray or putting parchment paper on the bottom and spraying the sides with baking spray.

In a bowl, mix the peanut butter, egg whites, flour, and sugar substitute together until you have a nice, thick dough. Stir in the sugar-free chocolate chips if you are using them.

Spoon the dough into the baking pan and smooth with the back of a spoon. I used a 6×6 inch pan to get thicker bars, but it does make only eight bars, so higher carb’d ones.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the bars are golden brown. Let cool so they set up before cutting them into bars. To cut into twelve, cut across the middle of one side, then cut each section into three equal cuts. Then turn the pan and cut through the middle of the uncut side and you’ll have six long bars on each side of the middle cut.

If you chill them in the refrigerator, they will come out of the pan easier. You can also melt the sugar free chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons butter and use it as an icing on the top, if you wish.

Makes 12 bars.

Nutrition Information per bar:
Calories: 161.3 Fat: 13.3 g Net Carbs: 3.5 g Protein: 6.6 g

If you add in the chocolate chips, it adds about .2 grams of carbs to each bar.

Note: I specified Skippy Peanut Butter because I know that the carb count is 4 net carbs per 2 tablespoons and others are not. Some of the store brands (such as Wal-Mart, Raleys) are the same count. So check the net carbs to see that they are as low.

Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Product Review

Product Review: DCC Carrot Snacking Cake

 

Dixie Carb Counters puts out a big assortment of low carb mixes and meals. Previously, I’ve tried and really like several of their breads. So, I picked up a package of their Carrot Snacking Cake and one of their Cinnamon Swirl Snacking Cake. Last week, I made the carrot one, but instead of making it a cake, I made cupcakes – mainly because I didn’t have the correct size cake pan. It calls for a 9×9 inch pan.

The cake goes together quickly and easily. You need to add water, eggs, melted butter, and oil. Once mixed, pour it into the cake pan and bake. Add their topping flavorings to the cream cheese and once the cake is cooled, spread the icing over it. Simple and it makes nine servings, each about 2 net carbs each. The instructions say that you can add nuts and/or crushed pineapple, water-packed with the liquid drained off, if you wish and it will add about one net carb to the count.

As I mentioned, I made cupcakes and got a dozen normal-sized cupcakes from the mix. Nice surprise for me. They looked great and so delicious. Then PK and I tasted them. They are not sweet, came out somewhat dry, and there is an aftertaste. I went back to look at the instructions thinking that I should have added sugar substitute to them, but it didn’t call for it. The added spices for the cream cheese also didn’t have much sweetener in it, so that didn’t help either. If you don’t like your carrot cake sweet, then you might enjoy this, but to be honest, the dried carrots in it didn’t seem to have much flavor and it didn’t have the moist rich texture that carrot cake usually has.

I took the last six of the cupcakes, broke them into bits and added more sugar substitute, eggs, cream, vanilla, and a little whiskey and made bread pudding out of them. I got six individual cups of bread pudding. It tastes much better, but the after taste still lingers. This uses soy flour, which I don’t care for, but I think the low glycemic mono-sacharide is the culprit producing the after taste and I suspect it is saccharine, from which I’ve always detected a bitter aftertaste.

I think if I was to try these again, I would add more oil, at least 1/2 cup sugar substitute, and pineapple to help increase the moisture. I would also add about 1/2 cup powdered sugar substitute to the cream cheese. Incidentally, I had at least half of the cream cheese left over, so it could be made with 4 ounces of cream cheese instead of the whole 8 ounce block.

On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the top of the flavor profile, I would give this a 2 when prepared as stated on the package.

Disclaimer: I have not received any promotional items to review and no one from any of the companies whose products I review have asked me to do so. I have purchased the product and am giving my honest opinion about it. Should any company send me a product to try, I will state it up front and will still give my honest opinion.

Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Recipes

One more Irish cake recipe

I couldn’t resist posting one more Irish recipe even though we’re past St. Patrick’s Day.  But we have National Tartan Day coming up on April 6th and this would work for a nice tea cake to celebrate your Irish or Scottish tartan. Besides, it’s a very tasty tea cake.

I’ve adapted this Irish Whiskey Cake recipe from a little booklet called Favorite Irish Teatime Recipes to make it a smaller cake and low carb. The original recipe calls for sultanas or golden raisins, but those are very high in carbohydrates, so I substituted in sugar reduced craisins and it works very well, if I do say so. I hope you’ll give this a try for a nice afternoon tea. (Also works for a simple dessert and you can top with a a little fruit and a bit of whipped cream.)

Irish Whiskey Cake in a 6″ square pan makes 8 servings. Cut into quarters, then slice each quarter down the middle lengthwise.

Irish Whiskey Cake

1/2 orange
2 tablespoons Irish Whiskey
1/4 cup Sugar Reduced Craisins
6 tablespoons Butter
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1 Egg
2 tablespoons Egg Whites
1 cup Low Carb Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt

The night before you make the cake, cut the orange in half and peel one half into thin strips. Squeeze out 2 to 3 tablespoons of orange juice and put in a bowl with the peels. Stir in the whiskey and craisins, cover and soak in a cool place overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F.). Cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of a 6″ cake tin, either round or square.

Beat the egg and egg whites together in a small bowl.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, then add the beaten eggs, a little at a time.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together and fold into the mixture, then stir in the whiskey and fruit mixture.

Turn into the cake tin. Bake for 20 minutes and test for doneness. If it doesn’t bounce back when touched, cook another 5 minutes and test again.. If it browns too quickly, cover the pan with foil. Cool for at least 10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Make a simple syrup to pour over the top and add moisture. In a saucepan, add 1/2 cup sugar substitute and 1/2 cup water. Cook and stir until the sugar melts completely, let it come to a boil, then turn it off and add 1 tablespoon Irish whiskey and a couple of orange peels to make a flavored syrup. Remove the orange peels when it cools, then drizzle over the cake.

Cut into 8 slices.

Nutrition Information per slice
Calories:140.3 Fat:13.4 g Net Carbs: 3.8 g Protein: 2.8 g

Note: When using low carb flours, I like to use more than one type in my cakes. LC Foods has a cake quality low carb flour, but I used CarbQuick, which is like Bisquick without the carbs. I also used a little Coconut Flour and Vanilla Whey Protein Powder. You can use Almond Flour or Soy Flour. 

Desserts, Recipes

Layered Chocolate Vanilla Cheesecake

For Valentine’s Day, I wanted to put out something a little special and heart-shaped that is delicious.  I ran across a recipe for Marbled Cheesecake Hearts in an old Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk recipe booklet and thought about how I would adapt it to a low carb recipe.  Right off, the sweetened milk is a problem, but one you can work around.  LC Foods offers a substitute version mix and although I’ve got one on hand, I haven’t tried it yet. But I wanted to try making this just using extra sugar substitute and heavy cream instead.

I followed the original recipe instructions (see them here), but cut them in half to make a smaller cake.  It came out more like a layer of chocolate and vanilla than a marble swirl. I concluded a few things while doing this:

  1. The recipe says to use half the cream cheese mixture as vanilla and add the chocolate to the rest and swirl it in. It’s too much chocolate, which is why mine came out with an almost solid chocolate top. I didn’t have enough vanilla to pull through. So I’ve changed it to 1/3 mixed with the chocolate to swirl through.
  2. The top got a little dry in the oven, which gave it a flaky appearance. Adding a pan of water underneath will help to keep it moist and prevent the drying out.
  3. Using heart cookie cutters results in a quite a few small pieces of your cheesecake being left over and not so pretty.
    So I suggest making it in heart-shaped molds or cutting it into bars and putting a sugar-free candy heart on top. You can also cut a strawberry down the middle and place it face down on the top to make a strawberry heart if you can to use it for a special occasion. When you do this, you’ll have less mess, less work, and eight servings.
  4. You also don’t need to put it in the foil liner. Just put a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of your pan and spray the sides with baking spray so it will come out easily.

Layered Chocolate and Vanilla Cheesecake

1 Chocolate Shortbread batch (recipe below)
12 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 oz Unsweetened Chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 300 degrees (F.) Line a 6″ x 9  1/2″ (or close to it) deep-sided baking pan with heavy foil (see note 4 above), cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom, and set aside.

Make the chocolate shortbread crust as described below.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is fluffy. In a small bowl, combine the cream and sugar substitute and mix together. Beat into the cream cheese until it is smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until blended. Pour 2/3 of the batter over the crust and smooth with a rubber spatula.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler until it is smooth. Stir the melted chocolate into the remaining batter until it is mixed in. Spoon this in six mounds over the vanilla batter in the pan. Use a table knife or spatula to gently swirl the chocolate batter through the vanilla batter so it looks marbled.  Put a pan of hot water under the rack in the oven, then put the cake above it.

Hearts cut out with a cookie cutter. They can be decorated with icing, whipped cream, or berries.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the cake is set. Cool for about 10 minutes, then put into the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour. Lift out of the pan using the foil to slide onto a cutting board. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut hearts. Or you can just cut into bars. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

This makes 6 heart-shaped cakes and the rest is pieces that you can cut into pieces and mix with whipping cream in a bowl for a not so special-looking dessert for two more servings.  (See note 3 above.)

Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition Information (Filling Only)1 serving
Calories: 428.4 Fat: 43.4 g Net Carbs: 3.4 g Protein: 7.9 g

Chocolate Shortbread Crust

3/4 cup low carb flour
1/4 cup Almond Flour
1/2 cup Butter
3/4 cup Sugar Substitute
2 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Pinch Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix the baking mix, almond flour, whey powder, sugar substitute, and salt together. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until you have a soft dough.

Press into the bottom of your prepared baking pan.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Nutrition Information (Crust Only) 1/8 recipe
Calories:150.6 Fat: 15.1 g Net Carbs: 1.2 g Protein:2.8 g

Desserts, Recipes

Fruit Cobblecakes are a Nice Change

We bought a bag of apples for the holidays and still had a few remaining toward the end of January, so I’ve been looking for recipes that use apples. I ran across one for an Apple Pudding and I tried it using low carb ingredients. It’s very good, but I wouldn’t call it a pudding. I’ve dubbed it a cobblecake because it’s more like a cobbler and cake combination.

It’s also a flexible recipe that you can easily substitute different fruit into it. So far, I’ve tried cherries as well as the apple version. But I’ve given you some other options like peaches and berries to try.

You can make it gluten-free by using almond flour, soy flour, or a gluten-free flour of choice. The only one I wouldn’t use is coconut flour, primarily because it won’t rise without an egg in the recipe. If you decide to try it, add 1/4 cup liquid egg whites and 1/4 cup coconut flour to replace the flour in order to get a puffy cake. The almond milk makes it a good choice if you’re lactose intolerant, although you can make it with cream or milk instead of almond milk if you prefer.

Apple Cobblecake
Apple Cobblecake

Basic Apple Cobblecake

1 cup Apple slices (about 1 medium apple)
1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground Cloves
1 tablespoon Sugar-free Gingerbread syrup (optional)
1/4 cup Butter, melted
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1/2 cub Low Carb Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk or 1/4 cup Cream plus 1/4 cup Water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put the apple slices, cloves, and cinnamon into a microwave safe bowl and add syrup and mix. Microwave for 2 minutes.

In a bowl or the blender, mix the rest of the ingredients until they are completely blended and smooth.
Pour the batter into 1 quart casserole dish. Put the apples slices in the middle. Do not stir in.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Let cool about 10 minutes and serve with whipped cream or low carb ice cream.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Information per serving with almond milk:
Calories: 151 Fat: 13.4 g Net Carbs: 4.2 g Protein: 4.2 g

Nutrition Information per serving with cream:
Calories: 199 Fat: 18.6 g Net Carbs: 4.5 g Protein: 3.6 g

Peach Cobblecake

Use the same recipe, but use only 3/4 cup of peaches.

Nutrition Information per serving with almond milk
Calories: 154.5 Fat: 14.2 g Net Carbs: 3.9 g Protein: 2.7 g

Cherry Cobblecake with whipped topping. Photo at the top is the whole cake in a casserole dish.
Cherry Cobblecake with whipped topping. Photo at the top is the whole cake in a casserole dish.

Cherry Cobblecake

3/4 cup fresh or frozen Cherries (Cranberries or Blueberries)
1/4 cup Butter, melted
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1/2 cub Low Carb Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk or 1/4 cup Cream plus 1/4 cup Water
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (for blueberries, try Almond Extract)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the cherries in halves or quarters and mircowave with a tablespoon of water for 1 minute to soften them.

In a bowl or the blender, mix the rest of the ingredients until they are completely blended and smooth.
Pour the batter into 1 quart casserole dish. Place the cherry pieces and any juice in the middle. Do not stir in.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Let cool about 10 minutes and serve with whipped cream or low carb ice cream.

Makes 4 servings.

Cherry Cobblecake
Nutrition Information per serving with almond milk:
Calories: 159 Fat: 14.1 g Net Carbs: 4.7 g Protein:2.8 g

Cranberry Cobblecake
Nutrition Information per serving with almond milk:
Calories: 152.5 Fat: 14.1 g Net Carbs: 2.8 g Protein:2.6 g

Blueberry Cobblecake
Nutrition Information per serving with almond milk:
Calories:160.4 Fat: 14.1 g Net Carbs: 2.8 g Protein:2.6 g