I am working on my cookbook project, which I plan to have out in March 2015, but as a bit of a teaser and as a little Holiday thank you to all my supporters and friends, I’ve put together a low carb recipe Holiday Baking booklet, called “Holiday Cakes, Cookies and Candy the Low Carb Way”. It’s got recipes from this site and some that haven’t been posted here in a neat little booklet on a PDF file that you can download and open on your tablet or print out. It makes a 6″x 9″ format booklet, so you would have to trim and bind it to make a booklet that size, or just print and put in a binder.
This booklet is no longer available as a download. Hope you got it downloaded and have enjoyed some of the recipes in it. I will be updating it this year and it will be coming out as a Kindle Book via Amazon in October, 2015.
This cook booklet is free to you from now until January 15th. At that point, it will no longer be linked to this page, so download it right away so you can enjoy all these sweetly delicious ways to celebrate the holidays. Please do not share the booklet file itself or post it on your own pages, but feel free to direct others to this site to download it and maybe sign up to receive notices when the site is updated. Of course, I hope to add more subscribers to the site, but I also want people to enjoy a low carb, guilt free holiday.
So, click on the cover picture to download the book. If you are on your tablet, you can download the file and open it with Adobe Reader (or any other reader) or with a Kindle application.
I think having recipes on your tablet is really a great way to cook without having a bulky book in your hand or having to print out paper. I keep thinking you could make a tablet holder on one of your cabinets by putting four large clips or brackets on the cabinet positioned to hold the tablet. So, then you have it where you can see it and still be hands free. Haven’t tried this yet, but it’s on my to do list. If you do it before I do, send me a photo and tips on how you did it and I’ll feature it on this site. Or if you have other ideas for making a holder for your Kindle or tablet, send those along.
Please let me know if you try any of the recipes – and I hope you do – and how you like them.
When it comes to a festive-looking, easy to make, no-bake cheesecake, this Pistachio cheesecake is great. It’s a twist on the pudding cheesecake that is delectably delicious and low carb.
No Bake Pistachio Cheesecake
16 oz Cream Cheese
1 pkt unflavored Gelatin Mix
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 oz. Sugar-free Hazelnut Syrup (optional)
1/2 pkg Sugar Free Pistachio Pudding Mix
3/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
Crust
1/2 cup Almond Flour
1/4 cup Baking Mix or LC Flour
2 tablespoons Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground Ginger
Make the Crust:
In a small bowl, mix all crust ingredients, cutting butter through with a fork. The dough will be soft and sticky. Spray an 8×8″ cake pan with cooking spray and spread the dough over the bottom of the pan. Wet your finger tips or the back of a spoon to make spreading it easier. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool while you mix the filling.
Make the Filling:
In a small bowl, add sugar substitute and boiling water. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and let it sit a few minutes to soften, then stir it in. Continue to stir until the gelatin completely melts, about five minutes.
In a large bowl, put the softened cream cheese and vanilla extract and mix on low speed blended. Gradually add the gelatin mixture and hazelnut syrup, if using, and continue to beat until the filling is smooth and creamy.
Mix 1/2 box of the Pistachio pudding mix with whipping cream and almond milk. Us a mixer to beat the ingredients together. Let stand for about five minutes until the pudding begins to set. Add 1/2 cup of the cream cheese mixture to the pudding and stir together with a spoon.
Pour the remaining cream cheese mixture onto the top of the baked crust and smooth it out evenly. Pour the pistachio pudding over the top and smooth without mixing it into the lower layer. Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.
Cut into 12 servings, 4 slices one direction by three across the other way.
Serve with a tablespoon of whipped cream and a few chopped pistachio nuts, if desired.
Nutrition info per serving Calories:246.7 Fat: 24.2 g Net Carbs: 3.6 g Protein: 4.5 g
I admit it. Once I get hooked on something new, I have to experiment more with it and that’s exactly what I have been doing with the Madeleine cookie recipe. The basic one that I just posted is really very good and the savory one has many possibilities, and I’ll probably be doing some more of those at a later date. But for now, with pumpkin harvest upon us, I felt I simply had to try it with pumpkin and it is wonderfully delicious. The other option that also must be tried is the chocolate Madeleine. So, I am thrilled to share these two recipes with you. My friend has created a Madeleine Cookie Monster, but the beauty is that they are all low carb. Yummmm…
Pumpkin Madeleine Cookies
This recipe is figured to make 36 cakes rather than 24, mostly because my pan has 18 wells in it and I didn’t want to have to cook the second batch with just 6 wells used. If you do find yourself in the situation of cooking with empty wells in the pan, put a tablespoon of water in the well, so that it isn’t empty. Apart from that, 3 dozen cookies are always good to have around when they are so tasty.
4 large Eggs
1/4 cup liquid Egg Whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar substitute
1/4 cup granulated brown sugar substitute
1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Low Carb Flour (CarbQuick, LC Foods or others)
1/4 cup Coconut Flour
1 tablespoon Pumpkin Pie spice
1/2 teaspoon Clove, ground
3/4 cup Pumpkin puree
1/2 cup Butter (1 stick)
1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
3 tablespoons Water
Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F.) Melt butter in a small saucepan or microwave in a bowl. Set the butter aside.
In a medium bowl, break the eggs and add the sugar and vanilla. Whisk together until foamy, then add the pumpkin and seasonings and whisk them in. Add the flours and baking powder and stir together with a spoon until well mixed. Let rest a few minutes, then add the water. The coconut flour will absorb liquid, so if it seems too stiff, add a little more water.
Use a silicon Madeleine cake pan or spray a metal pan with baking spray to make it easier to release the cakes.
Fill the wells to 2/3 full, about 1 level tablespoon of batter per well and smooth batter into the mold. Bake at 425 degrees for 4 minutes, then lower the temperature to 385 degrees and bake an additional 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, then turn out of the pans. Makes 36 cookies.
Nutrition Info per cookie:
Calories: 43.2 Fat: 3.6 g Net Carbs: 0.8 g Protein: 1.5 g
Pumpkin Marshmallow Cookies
Low Carb Pumpkin Marshmallow Madeleine Cookie
Another simple way to dress up a Madeleine cookie is to take two pumpkin Madeleine cookies and spread a layer of sugar free Marshmallow Creme* on top of one, then top with the other. Both of the cookies have the shell side out with the smoother side in.
You can also put whipped cream between them.
Or take 1 oz of Cream Cheese, add a teaspoon of whipping cream, 1 teaspoon of sugar substitute (more or less to taste) and a 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla and mix well to make a cream cheese filling to make two filled cookies.
* I buy Walden Farms Sugar Free Marshmallow Creme , which is 0 calories and 0 carbs. Sometimes grocery stores carry it or you can order it online.
Chocolate Madeleine Cookies
Orange Syrup or orange extract adds just a light citrus taste to these chocolate cookies.
3 Eggs
1 Egg White
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar Substitute
1/2 cup CarbQuick or other low carb flour
2 tablespoons Coconut Flour
2 tablespoons Cocoa
1 tablespoon Orange Syrup
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 cup Butter
Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F.) Melt butter in a small saucepan or microwave in a bowl. Set the butter aside.
In a medium bowl, break the eggs and add the sugar. Whisk together until foamy. Add the flours and baking powder, chocolate powder and mix together. Let rest a few minutes. If the batter is a little too thick, add a tablespoon of water. The coconut flour will absorb liquid.
Use a silicon Madeleine cake pan, if possible.
Fill the wells to 2/3 full, about 1 tablespoon and smooth batter into the mold. Bake at 425 degrees for 4 minutes, then lower the temperature to 385 degrees and bake an additional 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, then turn out of the pans.
Makes 24 cakes.
Nutrition Info per cookie:
Calories: 53 Fat: 4.9 g Net Carbs: 0.5 g Protein: 1.5 g
Chocolate Madeleine Cookies with Cherry Yogurt Dessert
Chocolate Madeleine cookies topped with cherry yogurt, Cool Whip and tiny sugar free chocolate chips.
For quick, yet elegant-looking dessert, take two Madeleine cookies and arrange them on a plate, add 1 oz of low carb Cherry Yogurt on top or partially on top and top with a tablespoon of Cool Whip or whipped cream and a couple of sugar-free chocolate chips.
Tip: If you don’t have Madeleine pans, you can bake these in mini-cupcake molds and they won’t taste much different. They just won’t have the distinctive shape. Be sure to spray the molds with cooking spray to make it easier to release the cookie and allow it to cool completely.
The house in Texas had two huge pecan trees in the back yard and we always had an abundant crop of pecans. One of my chores as a child was picking up the pecans that fell from the trees and then shelling them. It wasn’t that much of a chore at all, especially when it led to a wonderfully delicious treat like Pecan Pie. We used pecans a lot in cookies, jello salads, cooking and I use them interchangably with walnuts. When I moved to California, walnuts were more readily, and less expensively, available, but the pecan has always remained my first choice of nut.
Pecan pie isn’t a low carb, low calorie food usually, but when counting carbs and making a few substitution in the ingredients, it can be a great dessert for a low carb lifestyle. I made these as tartlets rather than a big pie because it makes it easier to make a small batch for two or three people and it controls the portion size. I used silicon tartlet molds, which hold about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of ingredients and come in different shapes. They are also easy to unmold.
Cinnamon Pecan Tartlets
Filling
1 Egg
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar free maple syrup
1/3 cup Sugar Substitute
1/2 cup pecans, broken into pieces
6 pecans halves for topping
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon Cinnamon, ground
1/4 teaspoon ground Cloves
Pinch salt
Prepare tartlet molds by spraying with cooking spray. Put on a baking sheet.
Make Crumble Dough:
Mix flour, sugar and butter together with a fork, cutting through to make a crumbly dough. Press 1/6th of the mixture into the bottom of each tartlet pan.
Bake for about 5 minutes until just lightly browned. Let cool while you prepare the filling.
Make the Filling:
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients, except reserved pecans, and mix well by stirring. No mixer needed.
Spoon the filling over the dough and top each one with one of the reserved half pecans Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Check to see if the pie is fully set and done.
Tartlets in silicon molds.
Let cool, then remove from the molds. Serve warm with a dollop of whipped cream.
Makes six tartlets.
Nutrition Info per tartlet:
Calories: 134.3 Fat: 13.1 g Net Carbs: 1.2 g Protein: 3.1 g
Tip: These little tarts keep in the refrigerator for up to a week and they also freeze well. To serve, thaw them out and reheat them in a microwave for about 15 seconds.
I was about 20 when I first discovered the delight of making meringue shells from a Betty Crocker Cookbook, which I still have and use. The first time I was on a low carb diet, I quickly adapted the recipe to sugar-free. Sadly, the sweeteners in those days weren’t as good as they are now and the shells, as well as all the other sugar-free desserts I made back then, tended to have a not-so-pleasant aftertaste. With present day sweeteners tasting and behaving like sugar without the aftertaste, desserts are easier and tastier than ever. Meringue cookies and shells are easy to make and melt in your mouth like magic and don’t add inches to your hips.
The original recipe I used was called “Cherry Berries On A Cloud” and the meringue was shaped into a bowl with raised sides to hold a wonderful filling of cherries and whipped cream. Since cherries are very high in carbohydrates, I replaced them with fresh strawberries. Yummy! The bonus is the meringue is easy to shape into whatever design you might want for the dessert, be it a circle, a diamond, or a heart, so it’s pretty versatile. I’ve included my updated recipe for this below that now incorporates chocolate chips and nuts as well as low carb yogurt. Please note that it is important, and essential, to let the meringues dry out in the oven. If you don’t give them at least two hours to dry, you’ll have, as my most recent batch attested, a cookie that is more like a meringue on a pie than a crunchy, melt away cookie.
Strawberries on a Cloud
Meringue shell:
2 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
½ cup sugar substitute of choice (I usually use a combination of Splenda and liquid sucralose)
½ cup sugar free chocolate chips
½ cup chopped pecans, almonds or walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
Filling:
1 pint of fresh strawberries, halved
2 cups of CarbMaster’s flavored yogurt of choice (strawberry white chocolate is delicious!)
½ cup sugar substitute
1 cup of whipped cream or whipped topping
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with a layer of parchment paper, spray with cooking spray or use a silicon mat. Draw an 8 inch circle or other shape about the same size on the paper. Or just make eight 2 inch rounds on the tray.
In a clean small bowl, whip egg whites until they are foamy, add cream of tartar and continue to beat until peaks begin to form. Gradually add the sugar substitute and continue to beat until stiff. Fold vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts into the whipped egg whites carefully.
Spread the meringue over the circle you’ve drawn and build the edges of the shell as you hollow out the center. If you would like, you can make a ¼ inch layer of meringue on the paper, then put the rest of the meringue into a plastic bag, cut the end with a small hole and make the sides of the shell with this. If you’re doing individual shells, then just hollow the centers out and build up the edges for each shell. I’ve pictured an individual serving.
Bake in oven for 10 minutes, then turn the oven off and let shells dry out in the oven for at least two hours.
Beat whipped cream in a bowl until it begins to get stiff, then add in sugar substitute gradually and continue to beat until stiff.
Fill the center of your pie shell with the yogurt, arrange berries on top, then add dollops of whipped cream around the edge. For individual ones, put in about two tablespoons of yogurt, top with several berries, a dollop of whipped cream and a berry or two on the top. I also used blueberries with mine. You can assemble the large shell, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate before serving, but don’t do it more than a couple of hours before serving. For individual ones, assemble just before you serve them.
Makes 8 servings, approximately 110 calories, 4.5 net carbs per serving.
Meringue Cookies
The same recipe for meringue will make about 40 to 48 cookies. Simply drop by a teaspoonful, using another teaspoon to push the meringue onto the baking tray (be sure to spray with cooking spray so they won’t stick to the parchment paper or silicon mat). For variety, fold in chopped craisins or other chopped dried fruit to the mixture. They will add about 1 carb to the net carb count, but they are delicious in the meringue.
You can also make cocoa meringues by adding 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (check for a low carb count on the can) to the egg whites as you are mixing in the sugar. You can omit the chocolate chips and nuts if you wish and just have a plain meringue.
Experiment with other flavorings like orange, almond, banana, etc. for different flavors in the meringue. You can also make a sandwich cookie by putting a tablespoon of whipped cream or a whipped cream and cream cheese combo, flavored with mint, orange, banana, or whatever you’d like to try, between two of the cookies. Have fun! Meringues are a fun, tasty low-carb treat!
So, click on the cover picture to download the book. If you are on your tablet, you can download the file and open it with Adobe Reader (or any other reader) or with a Kindle application.
