Category Archives: Desserts

Desserts, Recipes

Simply Peanut Butter Cookies

I’ve seen this recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies go around a couple of times on Facebook, so I decided to try it with sugar substitute. Generally, I use a little less sugar than called for and when possible, I try to use more than one sweetener for more balance. It works pretty well although the cookies are small,  about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I don’t have a ball scoop, so I used two teaspoons to drop the cookies and it works although they are not as pretty. Check the carb counts on the peanut butter. My jar of JIF was pretty low, but when I checked to buy another jar, the carb count was higher. So I calculated the carbs on peanut butter that is 2 net carbs per tablespoon.

Peanut Butter Cookies #1

1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar substitute
1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F.) Prepare a baking sheet by putting parchment paper or a silicone mat on it.

In a bowl, mix the ingredients together until they are well blended. Use a 1-inch ball cookie scoop or a teaspoon to put balls of peanut butter on the baking sheet about 2-inches apart. You can press down on the center with your lightly sugared (in sugar substitute) thumb to make a well for a thumbprint cookie or press down with the tines of a fork one direction, then the opposite direction to get a grid pattern.

Bake for about 8 minutes until the cookies are starting to brown around the edges, but don’t overcook. Let cool and top with a little sugar-free jam if you wish.

Makes 24 cookies.

Nutrition Info per cookie:
Calories: 108 Fat. 8.2 g Net Carbs: 2.0 g Protein: 2.3 g

Now, I simply can’t leave the recipe as it is. By my very nature, I have to make a change or two in it. I like a little more of a cookie taste to it, so I added 1/4 cup of Vanilla Whey Protein Powder to the mix. You can also use Almond Flour or any low carb baking mix. Then I also added sugar-free mini chocolate chips.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar substitute
1 large egg
1/4 cup Almond Flour or Vanilla Whey Protein Powder
2 tablespoons mini sugar-free chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F.) Prepare a baking sheet by putting parchment paper or a silicone mat on it.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients, except the chocolate chip together until they are well blended, then stir in the chocolate chips. Use a 1-inch ball cookie scoop or a teaspoon to put balls of peanut butter on the baking sheet about 2″ apart. Press down with the tines of a fork one direction, then the opposite direction to get a grid pattern.

Bake for about 8 minutes until the cookies are starting to brown around the edges, but don’t overcook. Let cool a few minutes then eat warmed or at room temperature.

Makes 30 cookies.

Nutrition Info per cookie:
Calories: 95 Fat. 7.1 g Net Carbs: 1.7 g Protein: 4.4 g

For a more traditional Peanut Butter Cookie, try the Peanut Butter Blossoms or the Triple Peanut Chocolate Chip Bars.

Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Product Review, Recipes

Delicious Pomegranate & Yogurt Parfait

Copyright 2015 R. Averett

I tried this wonderful parfait for the first time over the weekend and it is so refreshing and delicious that I had to share it. The recipe came from Ocean Spray Cranberries and I’ve made the adaptations to low carb. It does require a low carb granola and I use Sensato’s Nut and Flax Granola or make my own.

Let me take a moment to praise the granola from Sensato. They have three flavors, that I know of, to choose from: Plain, Apple, and Cranberry-flavored. They are all tasty, although the chunks are a little big. They can be broken into smaller pieces when you’re cooking with them. They’re high in fiber, a good source of protein and are only 2 net carbs per 1/2 cup serving. You can eat them for a cereal or as an out-of-the-bag snack or put them in your cooking where a recipe calls for granola or oatmeal. I’ve used them in coffee cakes and in cookies. Try your health food store to see if they stock this product or ask them to order it. Or you can order online from my favorite health food supplier, Netrition.com. I am sure there are other online sources, so just Google it.

Now, on to the recipe, which is delicious for breakfast, lunch or dessert. I use Carbmasters low carb yogurt product, which is a Kroger Foods brand, but you can use Greek yogurt in place of it. However, the carbs will be about 1/2 carb higher if you use a brand that is about 5 net carbs per 6 oz. For reference, Carbmasters is 4 net carbs per 6 oz. By the way, Pomegranate arils (the fruit covered seed) are okay to eat in their entirety. You might get a bit of seed stuck in your teeth, but that’s it.

Pomegranate Yogurt Parfait

2 tablespoons Pomegranate Arils
1 container CarbMasters Vanilla or other flavor yogurt
1/4 cup low carb Granola

In two serving glasses (I use ice cream glasses or you could use brandy glasses or tall flutes), put in 1 teaspoon of granola, 2 tablespoons of yogurt, 2 teaspoons of pomegranate arils, two teaspoons of granola, then the next layer of 2 tablespoons of yogurt, 2 teaspoons of pomegranate arils and top with the remaining yogurt, granola and pomegranate arils.

You can add a little whipped cream topping if you wish, but it isn’t necessary.

Serves 2.

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories:79.8 Fat: 3.9 g Net Carbs: 4.2 g Protein: 5.6 g

Will you give this treat a try and let me know if you like it or not? I’d love to hear from you.

Desserts, Recipes

Cool 4th with Frozen Strawberry Yogurt

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With the 4th of July holiday coming up this weekend, I am looking for some of the great food that I enjoyed as a kid. One of the key items from my childhood was making homemade ice cream. My brother and I shared the job of churning the ice cream and it was the old turning-the-handle method, not an electric motor doing it. We’d sit out in the back under the shade of a tree and turn it for what seemed like hours, but really wasn’t that long. When it got tough to turn, the ice cream would go into the freezer to cure. That was the best tasting ice cream ever. But things change.

Now ice cream is a rare luxury and I look for low carb ice cream. In my area, I can find vanilla Breyers Carb Smart, which is soft, creamy and has a wonderful flavor. For a while, Wal-Mart carried the chocolate Carb Smart also, but I haven’t found it recently. They also make ice cream bars.  A 1/2 cup serving of Carb Smart is 4 net carbs, so it can work easily into a strict low carb lifestyle. There are a few other brands that have ice cream that is lower in carbs, but not as low as CarbSmart. Check out your grocery store if you are looking for pre-made ice creams and be sure to look at the net carbs.

The drawback is that the flavors available are vanilla and chocolate. You can use the vanilla as a base and add other ingredients to it to create additional ice cream flavors. Or you can make your own.

Recently, we acquired a Cuisinart Soft Service Ice Cream maker and I started experimenting with it. One of the first ice creams I made was Strawberry Yogurt Ice Cream. What could be better for red in the red, white and blue for the 4th of July? So here’s the recipe. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, I’m including the instructions to make it without one.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

12 oz (2 containers) Kroger Carbmaster Strawberry Yogurt           or Oikos Plain Greek Yogurt
1 – 1/2 cups Strawberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 cup cold Water
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoon Strawberry Extract
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

Put strawberries and sugar into the food processor and pulse until the ingredients are smooth and blended together. Add heavy cream, extracts, yogurt and cold water. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until ready to make the ice cream.

Turn on the ice cream maker and pour in the ingredients. Allow to mix for 12 to 15 minutes before checking for consistency. If it isn’t frozen enough, let it freeze another 5 minutes and check again. Repeat until it is the desired consistency. Remove ice cream from the freezer bowl and put into a container with a tight lid, placing plastic wrap over the top of the ice cream to prevent freezer burn.

Freeze for at least 30 minutes. It will harden or cure into a harder ice cream. Serve and put any leftovers back in the freezer.  To serve the next time, remove about fifteen minutes before serving to allow to soften. This gets very hard.

Makes 10 servings.

Nutrition Info per serving (Plain yogurt will be a little higher in carbs.)
Calories: 144.2 Fat: 13.5 g Net Carbs: 3.4 g Protein: 2.4 g

To make without an ice cream maker, maker the mixture up as above, then pour it into a 2 to 3-quart glass pan, cover with plastic wrap and freeze until it is almost solid. This will vary with your freezer and the depth of the pan. Check it on every hour. Pour or spoon the almost frozen mixture into a blender or food processor and mix until it is creamy and thick. Pour back into the glass dish or into a container with a lid and freeze for at least four hours. It should be solid and will have to thaw a little before serving.

Looking for a potato salad substitute for summer picnics, try this Texas-Style Turnip Cauliflower Salad.

Breads, Desserts, Product Review

Product Review: Cinnamon Swirl Bread

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Product Review:  Dixie Carb Counters Cinnamon Swirl Bread Mix

I tried the LC Cinnamon Rolls a couple of weeks ago and they were good, although small and somewhat troublesome to make.  Read my review  here.  So this week, I am trying the Cinnamon Swirl Bread Mix from DCC.  These are not really a cinnamon roll, but they have more cinnamon in them than many commercially made Cinnamon Breads from the market.  They are also not a yeast bread, but more of an egg bread.

The mix goes together easily with the add-ins you need being 3 large eggs, 3 tablespoon soft butter, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon of oil and 2 tablespoons of water.  The package has two packets in it; one has the bread mix and the other has the sugar free cinnamon sugar.  You also need a 4”x 8” bread pan.  This is the smaller loaf pan you usually use for fruit bread rather than the standard-sized loaf pan.  To make it, you simply mix the first packet with the bread mix in with all the add-ins and stir, whisk or beat on a very low setting on the mixer to blend it together.  Put 1/2 of the batter into the pan and spread it smoothly, then cut open the second pack and sprinkle the cinnamon over the batter evenly.  Although it says to put all the cinnamon on this level, I saved some for the top because there is a lot of it.

Batter sitting on top of the cinnamon layer waiting to be spread.

Next you add the rest of the batter over the top of the cinnamon, smooth it out evenly.  Add the rest of the cinnamon if you save some like I did, then use a knife to pull through the batter to spread the cinnamon into swirls.  There’s really no right or wrong way to make this distribution.  Just try to spread it evenly through without actually mixing it into the batter.  Smooth the top out again and put it in a preheated 350-degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes.  I cooked mine 30 minutes and it was a lovely golden brown, but I let it go a few minutes longer and pressed against the top to get the spring back.  When it cooled, it did sink in the middle and was not completely cooked in the center.  So I would say, depending on your oven, this might take 35 to 40 minutes to cook completely.

The flavor is wonderful.  It has a very strong cinnamon flavor, as one would like a cinnamon bread to have, and it is more like bread than a coffee cake.  A slice of this with a cup of coffee or tea makes a wonderful snack or light breakfast. Additional butter on top is optional.  I don’t think it’s sturdy enough to pop in the toaster, but it would warm in a toaster oven or a microwave easily.

Ingredient-wise, the mix contains unbleached flour, soy isolate, cereal fiber, fructosaccharide (a naturally occurring fructose in plants), low glycemic monosaccharide (a simple low glucose sugar), baking soda, corn starch, dried egg whites, cinnamon, ground soy, vanilla powder, sucralose and low glycemic fruit concentrate.  Sounds like a lot of chemical stuff, doesn’t it?  But most of it is extracted from plants and is commonly used in baking.

The mix costs $9.30 plus shipping from Dixie Diners  or you can buy it through Netrition.com for less (currently $7.29 plus shipping – hint, your whole order ships for $5.99 so order everything you want at one time).  One of my biggest complaints about low carb mixes is that they are pretty pricey.  In fact, almost any food mix that doesn’t use standard flours and sugar are usually more than double in price.  I appreciate that these companies have gone to a lot of work and expense to develop the mix formulas, but it seems they would sell more if they weren’t so high.

Nutrition info for 1/16 of the loaf – it makes 16 slices.  I usually cut it in eight slices, then cut each of those in half rather than trying to make 1/2-inch cuts.

Calories: 66 Fat: 0 g Net Carbs: 3.0 g  Protein: 2.0 g

You could easily make these in muffin cups, making individual cinnamon rolls.  Separate the batter into two sections, put about 1 tablespoon from the first section into each of 12 muffin cups, then sprinkle the cinnamon on top of each roll and add the rest of the batter from section 2 by tablespoons on top of that.  Swirl the cinnamon through to mix and level the tops.  Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.

You could also add chopped nuts to the cinnamon layer if you’d like.   For a dozen rolls, you would increase the net carb count to 4 nc per muffin.

On a scale of 5 spoons being the top, I would give this cinnamon bread mix five spoons and I am definitely ordering it again.

5-spoons

Tip:  If you want to make this a great dessert bread, add a sugar-free Cream Cheese Glaze to it or a Warm Cinnamon Bourbon Syrup topping. 

Cream Cheese Glaze

2 tablespoons softened Cream Cheese
2 tablespoons Cream
1/4 cup Powdered sugar substitute
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Mix the ingredients together by hand until completely mixed. If the icing isn’t thin enough to spread easily, add a little water until it is the desired consistency. Drizzle over the top of the bread.

Warm Cinnamon Bourbon Syrup

1 tablespoon Cinnamon powder
1 tablespoon Bourbon
2 tablespoons Butter
4 tablespoons Sugar Substitute

In a small saucepan, add the ingredients and stir together well. Heat over medium heat until it thickens. Remove from the heat and spoon over the bread or cinnamon muffins.

Let me know if you try this bread (or the glazes)and how you like them.

Disclaimer:  I have not received any promotional items to review and no one from any of the companies whose products I review has 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.

Desserts, Recipes

Triple Peanut Chocolate Chip Bars

What could be better than a peanut butter bar?  How about a peanut butter bar with roasted peanuts and made with peanut flour?  Triple peanuts!  And low carb to boot?  Yes, if you can believe it.  It is all that and more.  It also has sugar free chocolate chips, which you can probably purchase at your local Wal-Mart if your regular grocery store doesn’t carry them.

Triple Peanut Chocolate Chip Bars

1/4 cup Low Carb Flour or Almond Flour
1/2 cup Peanut Flour
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1/4 cup Brown Sugar Substitute
1 tablespoon Sugar Free Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Roasted Peanuts, chopped
1/2 cup Sugar Free Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F.) Prepare an 8×8 baking pan with a layer of parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter, sugar substitutes, syrup, vanilla extract and heavy cream together until well blended. In another bowl, mix the flours, a pinch of salt and baking powder together. Add the flour to the peanut butter mixture a little at a time, mixing in well before adding more. If dough is too stiff, add water a tablespoon at a time until it is easy to mix.

Stir in the roasted peanuts and chocolate chips until mixed evenly through the dough. Spoon into the prepared baking pan and smooth into the corners, making the thickness as even as possible.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Remove and let cool for about 15 minutes before cutting. Cut into sixteen pieces. Use a flat spatula to carefully lift each piece and put on a wire rack to completely cool, unless it is eaten before it gets there. The cookies may be delicate, so store in a container with a layer of waxed paper between each layer if you stack them.

Nutrition Info per cookie
   Calories: 100.3 Fat: 8.1 g Net Carbs: 3.3 g Protein: 3.9 g