Tag Archives: low carb recipes

Desserts, Recipes

Chocolate Tops A Peanut Butter Blossom Tastily

peanut-butter-blossoms
This delicious-sounding recipe arrived in my mailbox over the weekend and I thought it would be fun to adapt to a low carb version.  With a little mixed-flour magic, this turned out to be one of the best cookies I’ve ever had, regular or low-carb.  It does use several different flours and that might be a factor, but I think it would still be good if it was made all from almond flour.  I did use Whey Protein Powder also and it adds a really nice texture to the cookie.  You can buy small containers at most grocery stores and Wal-Mart.  Just check the nutrition information for the lowest carb one you can find.  I also added a little cinnamon to the recipe.

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie 

(original recipe by Hershey, adapted by me)
 
24 to 28 Sugar-free Candy Kisses or 12 to 14 Russell Stover’s chocolate miniatures*
1/2 cup Butter Flavored Shortening
3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 cup Sugar Substitute
1/3 cup Light Brown Sugar Substitute
1 Egg
1 tablespoon Whipping Cream and 1 tablespoon Water
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 cup Carb Quick
1/4 cup Almond Flour
1/2 cup Coconut Flour
1/2 cup Whey Protein Powder (optional)
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
Additional granulated sugar substitute
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Remove wrappers from chocolates.  Beat shortening and peanut butter in a large bowl until well blended.  Add both sugar substitutes, beat until fluffy.  Add egg, cream, water and vanilla; beat well.  Stir dry ingredients together and gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.
 Shape dough into 1 inch balls, about the size of a walnut in the shell.  Roll in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
 Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Immediately press a chocolate into the center of each cookie.  Cookie will crack around the edges.  Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  Cool completely.
2 dozen yield = 1.8 g per cookie  calories = 96
(I actually got 27 cookies from the recipe, but you may get more or less, but you should get about 24.)
 *I used Russell Stover’s sugar-free miniatures solid chocolate candy cut in half.  It is the lowest carb that I’ve found for chocolates with 0 net carbs in a serving of 5.  Calories for 5 are 190.  You only use 1/2 chocolate piece per cookie.
Desserts, Recipes

Rich Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

October and November equal pumpkin-fest! Time to enjoy all the wonderful, flavorful items you can make with pumpkin. I stock up for the year on canned pumpkin because I love it in pies, cakes, pancakes and cookies! Our local Smith’s Food (Kroger) sells pumpkin chocolate chip cookies year round, but they aren’t low carb. Must work on a recipe for those in the future. But for now, here’s a great adaptation of a favorite recipe to the LC version.

This is a low carb, super-charged version of the Libby’s recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. I added 1/3 cup vanilla why protein powder to give it a little extra texture and energy, but you can use almond flour in place of the protein powder if you prefer.

1/3 cup low carb flour (CarbQuick, LC Foods or Bob’s Red Mill)
1/3 cup Vanilla Whey Protein Powder
1/3 cup Almond Flour
1/3 cup Brown Sugar Substitute (or Splenda/brown sugar mix)
5 tablespoons Butter, softened
1/2 cup finely chopped Pecans or Walnuts

1 pkg (8 oz) soft Cream Cheese
3/4 cup Sugar Substitute
1/2 cup Libbys solid pack Pumpkin
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Seasoning
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Bottom cookie crust:

Combine flour and brown sugar in med. bowl Cut in butter to make a crumb mixture. Stir in nuts. Set aside 1/2 cup mixture for topping. Press remaining mix into bottom of 8x8x1-1/2″ baking pan. Bake in preheated 350 oven for 15 minutes. Cool slightly.


Cheesecake topping:
Combine cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, allspice and vanilla in large. mixer bowl. Blend till smooth. Pour over baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved topping. Bake an additional 30-35 min.

Cool before cutting into bars.

Makes 32 1×2″ bars.

I prefer to cut mine into 36 squares. That’s six cuts each direction – cut in the middle, then cut each half into thirds, turn the dish and repeat.

Splenda Version Nutrition: Calories 68 Net Carbs: 1.1g Fiber: .8 g

Liquid sucralose and sugar alcohol version: Net Carbs: .7 g

Related Pumpkin Recipe Posts:
Mah-valous LC Pumpkin Pancakes
Rene’s LC Pumpkin Cheesecake

Desserts, Recipes

Rene’s LC Pumpkin Cheesecake


Halloween is just around the corner, which means it’s time for pumpkin! I usually stock up on canned pumpkin in the fall because I like to have it year round. I’ve already put out my recipe for pumpkin pancakes, but one of the real stars with pumpkin is cheesecake. This is a basic low carb crustless cheesecake recipe and is easy to make. A pan of water in the oven while it bakes helps to keep it from cracking.

1 15 oz can Pumpkin Puree
1/2 cup granulated sugar substitute
2 8 ounce packages Cream Cheese, softened
1 tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 large Eggs
2 tablespoons Heavy Cream
1/2 cup ground Pecans
1/2 cup Butter (1 stick)
1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Heat oven to 350°F.

Prepare small spring form pan by spraying with baking spray, then cut and place parchment paper on the bottom to make removal easy. Put the form together and cover the outside with aluminum foil to help prevent any leakage.

Mix the butter, cinnamon and pecans together to form the pie topping. Spread into the bottom of the spring form pan.

In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar and eggs together until creamy. Add the pumpkin puree, spice and heavy cream and mix well. Pour into the spring form pan.

Put in the preheated oven.

Fill a oven safe pan halfway with water and place on a rack below the cheesecake pan. This will help to prevent cracking.

Bake for about 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Turn oven off and allow to cool about 30 minutes before removing from the oven.

When completely cooled, run a knife around the edge, then turn out onto a plate or cake dish.

Makes 12 slices, made with liquid sweetener or sugar alcohol
Net carbs 3.0 g, calories 316, protein 9.2 g

Made with powdered sweetener
Net Carbs 4.0 g, calories 316, protein 9.2 g

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 10/27/2012 10:38 PM

Desserts, Recipes

Chocolate Chip Cookies You Can Eat!


One of the first recipes I posted on my Facebook account and then moved to my LJ blog on June 19, 2012 after I’d had a chance to make them a few more times. These started out as a low carb variation on a paleo recipe made only with almond flour, but they quickly evolved. If you want to make a cookie that is gluten-free, then you can make this with just almond flour.

When I first made these lovely low carb chocolate chip cookies, I was reminded of an episode of “Remington Steele” in which Laura Holt was caught up in a plot involving no-calorie chocolate chip cookies (Steele In The Chips), delicious light cookies that would not equal ugly fat on the hips. Well, these cookies aren’t no calorie or no carb, but they are darn close. In fact, they are about 1 carb each. The key is to use the lowest net carb ingredients you can find. If you don’t, then the carbs will be higher. I’ve put the brand names I used in parentheses next to the ingredient, so you can check for them. CarbQuick and Now almond flour are available through Netrition.com.

I first made a version of these a couple of months ago that were made with only almond flour and they were good, but not quite what I was hoping for in taste. This batch was made with a mixture of almond flour and CarbQuick flour and they are much more like the cookies I was expecting. So, this is my recipe for low carb chocolate chip cookies. If you aren’t worried about carbs or calories, feel free to substitute in regular flour and sugar.

Rene’s LC Choc Chip Cookies

1/4 cup almond meal flour (Now)
1 cup Carbquick (Tova CarbQuick)
1/4 cup Vanilla Protein Powder (look for 0 net carbs on this)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup Butter, softened
3 tablespoons sucralose (Splenda) (I use a combination of liquid sucralose and granulated Splenda)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.4 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup sugar free chocolate chips (Hershey’s Sugar Free)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, add the butter and sucralose and cream together until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract.

Combine flours, protein powder and baking soda together and mix well, then add to the creamed butter mixture. Add a little water if the dough is too stiff. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips.

Form tablespoons of dough into balls and put on a baking sheet covered with a silicone mat or sprayed with cooking spray. Flatten each ball and bake for about 8 minutes. Remove when lightly browned and let cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Whenever using almond flour, the cookies tend to be delicate and easily broken so allow the cooling time and remove with a spatula for support.

Makes about 18 cookies <1 net carb each, about 115 calories per cookie and about 4.2 g Protein.
POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 9/10/2012 1:32 AM

Desserts, Main Dish, Recipes

Crepes Are Easy

I first posted this on May 20, 2012 on my LJ blog.

I have a couple of dear friends who are in France this past week on a well-deserved vacation and I celebrated by making crepes — those lovely little French pancakes that are so thin and light. And they can be low carb since the main ingredient in them is egg. If you’re under the impression that they are difficult to make, that’s not true. They may take a little practice to get just right, but they are worth it. I haven’t made them in quite a few years so it was almost like starting over for me.

I have a gas range, so it takes a little experimenting with the controls to get the right flame under the pan. You want a medium hot flame, not too hot to burn, but hot enough to cook them fairly quickly and evenly. I use an omelette pan, non-stick and I spray it with cooking oil between each crepe although some instructions say you don’t have to do that.
So to the basics.

Note on flours used: I used a combination of CarQuick baking mix from Tova Foods and Atkins baking mix. You can make it completely from either mix. A combination of mixes sometimes brings a better result, but I don’t know if that is the case with crepes. This is the first time I’ve made them using the baking mixes. It is essential that you use a low-carb baking mix or flour to make these as low carb as possible. If you use regular flour, reduce it to one tablespoon and expect an eggier-tasting crepe. If you’re not worried about the carbs, then use regular flour.

2 eggs
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
2/3 cup CarbQuick baking mix
1 pinch Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup Water
1 tablespoon Sugar Substitute  (optional for sweet crepes. Omit for savory ones.)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Spray a non-stick omelette pan (approximately 6″ in diameter) with cooking spray and heat on a medium high heat. Put a little less than 1/4 cup of batter in the pan and swirl around until it coats the entire bottom of the pan. The batter is thin and will spread thinly on the pan. As the crepe cooks small bubbles will form in the cake. Watch the edges for the slightest browning and for the surface to appear almost dry. Carefully slide a flat, long spatula under the cake and flip it to brown the reverse side. This should only take a few minutes. Remove the crepe to a plate with either wax paper, parchment paper or plastic wrap on it and place a layer over the top of the completed crepe. This will prevent the crepes from sticking to each other.

Repeat the process for the next crepe. There should be enough batter to make 8 to 10 crepes.

Makes 8 crepes Each crepe is about 1.2 net carbs and 95 calories.

Crepes can be filled in hundreds of ways. The recipes below are a couple of my own favorites. You can make them with ham and asparagus covered with cheese. Or make a vegetable filled crepe with sauteed squash, onions and tomatoes.

Filling for Mushroom and Chicken Crepes:

A really tasty crepe filling that goes together easily. Use the basic crepe recipe to make your crepes.

Makes 6 crepes. I usually use 2 per serving.

Ingredients:
Cooked chicken 6 ounces, cubed or shredded
1 tablespoon Carbquick or other low carb thickener
1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 cup of water
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 cup Mushroom pieces or slices
2 oz. Cream Cheese, cut into cubes
1/3 cup Italian Cheese tri-mix, shredded

In a sauce pan or skillet, melt the butter, add onion and sauté until the onion turns translucent. Add the CarbQuick or thickener and stir to make a roux. Add the whipping cream and stir well. Remove about 1/2 cup of the sauce. Then add the creamed cheese and Italian seasoning and stir until it is mixed well. Then add the chicken and mushrooms and cook until heated thoroughly. Add 1/2 of the Italian cheeses and stir well.

On a plate, place a crepe and put about 2 1/2 tablespoons of filling in the middle. Fold over and secure with a toothpick. Place in a shallow pan or broiler proof dish. Repeat with the remaining crepes. Pour the reserved sauce over the top and sprinkle with the rest of the Italian cheese. Place in the broiler for about 5 minutes. When the top is lightly toasted, remove from the broiler and serve with a salad or fresh vegetables.

Each crepe is about 2.2 net carbs and 250 calories.

Sweet Strawberry Filled Crepe

I love cream cheese and this is an easy way to make a strawberry cream cheese crepe that is still low carb and delicious. You can substitute any low carb fruit for the strawberry, such as blueberries or raspberries.

Makes two servings, one crepe in each serving.

2 sweet or regular crepes
1/2 cup of sliced strawberries
2 tablespoons whipped cream cheese
2 tablespoons whipped topping or whipped cream
2 drops of liquid sweetener
Sugar free, carb free chocolate sauce
Low carb vanilla ice cream (optional)

Mix the cream cheese and whipped cream together with a spoon in a small bowl and add liquid sweetener. You can also add a teaspoon of flavoring such as strawberry, orange or raspberry sugar-free syrup at this point and mix it in. Spread almost half of the mixture on each crepe, saving just about two teaspoons.

Place the strawberry slices on top of the cream cheese mixture and fold the crepe over them. Use a little of the reserved mixture on one side of the crepe to act as a “glue” to hold it together. Spread the remainder of the mixture on the top of the crepes and place a couple of strawberry slices on top.

Crepes with cream cheese mixture and berries before rolling.

Spoon a little whipped cream on top or top with a scoop of low carb ice cream. Drizzle a little chocolate syrup over the top and voila’, you have an elegant dessert!

Net carbs: About 6 per serving

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 9/9/2012 11:54 PM