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Breakfast & Brunch, Product Review, Recipes

Spring into Easter with Waffles!

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Happy Spring, Everyone…

Well, it’s spring in the morning and winter in the afternoon several days a week now. But at least we’re getting hints!

I haven’t posted a recipe this month even though I had wanted to do a St. Patrick’s Day one and totally missed. This is my birthday month and, to be honest, I haven’t cooked much at home. Birthday celebrations in this house run the whole month and I have lots of favorite restaurants. Not really beneficial to my weight stabilization, but oh, so delicious! I’m ready to hunker down and get the excess weight I put on this month off again. So this is a special waffle recipe for your Easter morning brunch. It’s so good and checks in at about 5 net carbs.

I’m also going to review and recommend King Arthur flour company’s Keto Wheat Pancake Mix. I used it to make pancakes and to make waffles. Wonderful flavor, and they rise better than any combination I have made with the various low carb flour products in my house. I like it so much, I’ve subscribed to it on Amazon so I have a regular delivery. I love it when new products make being on a low carb diet easier.

I also used my DASH griddle for the pancakes and the waffle maker for the waffles. Since these produce larger pancakes than the 3″ ones suggested on the King Arthur instructions, I only got 4 pancakes from 1 cup of flour instead of 6, so keep that in mind.

So, here’s my recipe for your Easter Sunday (or any day you chose) brunch Pecan Waffle.

Look at the rise on this waffle! It’s almost an inch thick and so delicious!

Keto Pecan Waffle

Ingredients:

1 cup King Arthur Keto Wheat Pancake Mix
1/4 cup Almond Flour
1/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Sugar-free Sweetener
2 tablespoon Oil (Canola, Coconut, etc.)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 tablespoons Pecans, chopped
4 slices of bacon, broken into pieces
Cooking Oil Spray

Instructions:

Begin heating your waffle iron.

In a medium bowl, add pancake mix, almond flour, sweetener, almond milk, vanilla, and egg and stir well until the wet ingredients are fully incorporated. You may need to add water to get the mix to where it is thick, but loose enough to spread over your waffle iron easily when you spoon it in. It’s thicker than cake batter, but thinner than bread dough.
If you like a thinner waffle, you can thin it more with water.

Stir in the pecans until they are distributed through the batter.

Lightly spray the preheated waffle iron with cooking spray. If you’re using a small waffle maker like the DASH one, you’ll need to spray before making each waffle. For a standard one that makes four sections, this recipe should make one large waffle. But if you have extra batter, spray whatever section you will be using to cook the rest.

Close the lid and cook as per the waffle maker’s instructions. For a DASH one, it is about two minutes. If you watch, you’ll see the steam coming out of the baker. When it quits steaming, it is about done. If the lid is reluctant to lift, give it a minute or so more. When the waffle is done, the lid will lift easily.

Put the waffle on your serving plate, then top with crumbled bacon and sugar-free Maple Syrup. Several are available in the grocery store. I used Mrs. Butterworth’s but other brands are equally as good.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories 297, Total Fat 24 g , Cholesterol 103 mg, Sodium 213 mg, Potassium 215 mg, Carbohydrates 11 g, Fiber 5.4 g, Sugars 1.8 g, Protein 13 g, Net Carbs 5.6 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.

All opinions I make on products are my own evaluations and I am not given a free product or paid by the company in any way. 

Product Review

Product Review: King Arthur Carb-Conscious Pancake Mix

Photo: King Arthur Carb-Conscious Pancakes

King Arthur Flour  has a great flour product, so I was eager to try their Carb-Conscious Pancake Mix. I usually make my own batter from the low-carb flour products I have at home, but I wanted to see how this mix compares. It doesn’t.

While it is super-easy to mix up, simply measure out one cup of the mix and add 1/2 cup water. If the mixture is too thick, as mine was, add water 1 tablespoon at a time to bring it to a spreadable consistency. I live at 4,500 feet above sea level, and this sometimes affects baking. It took almost another 1/4 cup of water to get the batter thin enough to spread on my trusty waffle iron.

My iron has made hundreds of waffles over the years I’ve had it, and most of my batters have been low carb. I’ve made regular waffles and savory waffles, but I’ve never had a waffle stick to the iron…until now. I did spray the iron with baking spray before pouring the batter, in case you’re wondering.

The waffle cooked longer than a usual waffle. Since I could still detect steam coming from the iron, I let it continue to cook. Once the steam had stopped, the iron still did not want to release the waffle. I finally had to force it. The waffle was completely cooked, but it stuck to both sides of the iron.

Photo:Crumbled waffle

Once the iron had cooled some, I extracted the pieces adhered to the non-stick surface. So, I had the cake in many pieces on the plate. Nothing else wrong with it, except it was a mess.

Nonetheless, I buttered it, added sugar-free syrup, and ate it. It tasted okay but lacked a little in flavor. My recipe is much more flavorful. Like many low carb flour products, the Carb-Conscious product doesn’t have as much flavor as the real deal.

Photo: Waffle with apples.
To dress up the waffle pieces, I added a compote of cooked apples with cinnamon. Big improvement.

The next time I used it, I made pancakes. 1/4 cup of the flour plus about 1/3 cup of water makes three cakes. I added 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract to the batter to add flavor. They worked fine, browned up nicely, and tasted okay. Still not as flavorful as they could be. If you add cinnamon along with the vanilla, you might get a better pancake.

Bottom line. The mix comes together easily but lacks flavor compared to a homemade mix or some other low-carb mixes. I’d give it three spoons – not the best, but okay if you add a little spice to it.

Nutrition information indicates that two pancakes use 1/3 cup of mix to make and contain 4 net carbs.

Try my pancake recipe. This one is for Pumpkin Pancakes.

This evaluation is the first of several low-carb or Keto flour mixes or products I will be reviewing this week. Keep an eye out for more as I try the goods and report back to you, so you don’t have to waste money on those that aren’t up to the flavor.

I will also be getting to the promised tiropitas recipe this week.

Please note: I am not receiving anything from the makers of the products I review. I purchase the item, make it when needed, and give it my honest review. The opinions expressed are mine. Other people may have different thoughts on the product.

Breads, Breakfast & Brunch, Sandwiches

Low Carb Pancake Chicken Sandwich

I recently saw a post that featured pancakes used in various ways, including the “dutch baby” pancake, which is like a giant popover. For some reason, it hadn’t occurred to me to use a pancake to make a sandwich. By making the batter savory, you can easily cook a pair of sandwich-bun-sized cakes and make a delicious and satisfying sandwich. I made two–a chicken sandwich and a ham sandwich to test out the recipe. Wonderful and easy to do!

So, if you’re looking for an easy bread substitute, you might want to try this one. I used DCC Baking Mix, Carbquick, and flax meal in mine, but you can also use almond flour, coconut flour, soy flour or any other low carb flour to make them. I suggest at least two varieties of flour to give them more strength. Coconut flour breaks easily, almond flour a little less, so combining them makes it sturdier. You also need to let them cool before using them to make your sandwich as that allows them to set up better.

Pancake Chicken Sandwich

A twist on the chicken sandwich adds a savory pancake in place of the bread.

For pancakes:
1 Egg
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Low Carb Flour
1 tablespoon Golden Flax Meal
1 tablespoon Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/8 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/8 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/8 teaspoon Onion Powder
Pinch Red Pepper
Pinch Salt
1 Tablespoon Heavy Cream or 2 tablespoons Almond Milk
1 tablespoon Water (don’t add if using Almond Milk)
1/4 teaspoon Sugar Substitute
1 tablespoon Butter

For the sandwich:
2 slices Bacon, cooked until crisp
Sliced Chicken (however much you prefer)
Piece of Lettuce
1 slice Cheese of choice (optional)
2 slices Tomato (optional)
Mayonnaise or Mustard to preference.

In a small bowl, add egg, olive oil, and sugar substitute and mix well with a whisk or a spatula. Add the cream and water (or almond milk) and stir or whisk. Add the flour and flax meal along with the Parmesan cheese and seasonings. Mix together.

Put a skillet over medium heat burner and heat until a drop of water skitters across it. Add butter and melt it, then put three tablespoons of batter in the pan. If there is room for two, do the second one, otherwise, cook them one at a time. The batter should spread out to form about a 4″ thin circle. It will be thicker than a crepe, but not as thick as a regular pancake. Let cook until the top looks dry around the edges and little bubbles break through. Turn and cook another couple of minutes until lightly browned.

Put on a plate, then do the rest of the pancakes. This recipe makes about three, but you only use two for the sandwich. Put the other one away to use with your morning eggs.

Assemble your sandwich. Put mayonnaise or mustard on both pancakes, then put lettuce on one, topped by the cheese and the chicken. Put the bacon on top of the chicken, then the other pancake on top. It will hold together pretty well while you’re eating it. I had uneven slices of chicken that tried to escape, so this would work better with even slices. You can also make a ham sandwich with it.

Makes one sandwich.

Nutrition information per sandwich;
Calories: 526 Fat: 31.6 g Net Carbs: 4.7 g Protein: 19.2 g

Per Pancake only:
Calories: 139.4 Fat: 13.3 g Net Carbs: 0.8 g Protein: 4.1 g

Ham and cheese sandwich. This could probably be popped into the microwave for about 20 seconds to melt the cheese.

The only thing that changes for the ham sandwich is a slice or two of ham, depending on the thickness, instead of the chicken and no bacon.

Breakfast & Brunch, Recipes

Light and Delicious Ricotta Pancakes

A light and delicious breakfast treat, these little pancakes are satisfying in the way toast and jam is. I used homemade sugar-free cranberry sauce as a filling, but you can also use strawberries or blueberries in them. The carbs come out about the same.

1 tablespoon Butter, melted
1 Egg
3 tablespoons Ricotta Cheese, whole milk
1 tablespoon Sugar Substitute
1 tablespoon Cream
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 tablespoons Low Carb Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 cup chopped Nuts (Pecans, Walnuts, Almond)

In a medium-sized bowl, add the melted butter, egg, ricotta cheese, cream, vanilla extract and sugar and whisk together well. Mix baking powder and flour together and gently stir into the egg mixture. Add chopped nuts and stir them through the batter. Add a tablespoon of water if the batter is too thick.

Heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium high heat until a drop of water sizzles on it. Reduce the heat a little. Put two tablespoons of batter on the griddle for each pancake. They should be about 3 inches across. Unless you have a large griddle, you can cook two at a time easily. Cook for about 2 to 2-1/2 minutes until bubbles break through the pancake and the batter appears to be set. Turn to cook the other side for 1 to 2 minutes until it is lightly browned.

Remove to a warm plate to keep warm. Prepare the remaining batter into two more pancakes. Butter and serve with syrup or jam.

Makes 2 servings.

Nutrition information per serving:
Calories: 246 Fat: 21.9 g Net Carbs: 3.4 g Protein: 8.9 g

With Cranberries/no nuts
Calories:252.6 Fat: 22.0 g Net Carbs: 4.4 g Protein: 9.0 g

 

 

Breakfast & Brunch, Recipes

Tastes of the Season: Honey Ginger Pancakes

Looking for a special breakfast meal this holiday season? How about something with a yummy honey flavor along with the seasonings of gingerbread? I came up with this recipe and just loved it. It’s not the lowest carb’d breakfast you can serve, but it is still about 8 net carbs and is really filling. Add a couple of slices of bacon or sausage and it will last you until dinner.

Honey Ginger Pancakes with Pecan Sauce

2 tablespoons Ricotta Cheese, whole milk
2 tablespoons Coconut or Vegetable Oil
1 teaspoon Cinnamon, ground
1/2 teaspoon Cloves, ground
2 teaspoons Ginger, ground
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg, ground
1 teaspoon Ginger paste
1 teaspoon Ginger, Crystallized, chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon Sugar Substitute
2 tablespoons Sugar–free Honey
2 large Eggs
1/4 cup Bakesquick or Carbquick Mix or other Low Carb Flour
2 tablespoons Vanilla Whey Protein Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

Honey Ginger Pecan Sauce

1/4 cup Butter
2 tablespoons Sugar Free Honey
1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Ginger paste
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon (optional)
1/2 cup Pecan pieces

In a medium bowl, add ricotta cheese, oil, and eggs and beat together with a whisk or a rubber spatula. (I use the small end of my double-sided spatula for this.) Add the seasonings — cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and ginger paste– and add the sugar substitute and sugar-free honey. Hold on to the ginger crystals for now. Mix it into the egg mixture well.

In a small bowl, add the low carb flour of choice, the vanilla whey powder, baking powder and baking soda and mix together. Add to the egg mixture and stir until fully mixed in. The batter should be thick, but easy to spread in the pan. Chop the candied ginger into little bits and stir into the batter. If the batter is too thick, thin with a little water.

Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle until a drop of water skittles across it. Lower to a medium high head and spoon two heaping tablespoons of the batter into the skillet. Spread to form about a 4 to 5 inch pancake. If there is room, add a second pan cake. Cover and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes until the top no longer looks wet and the spatula slides easily under the cake. Flip and cook for another 2 minutes until browned on the bottom.

Remove to a warm plate and keep warm in a low oven while you prepare the rest of the cakes.

Look at how thick these pancakes are!

For the Ginger Pecan Sauce:
In a non-stick pan, melt the butter. Add the ground ginger, ginger paste, and cinnamon and mix well. Stir in the chopped pecans and honey and toast for a couple of minutes. Be careful not to burn them. Pour over the pancakes and serve.

Makes 2 servings of 2 pancakes each.

Pancakes only:
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories: 286.7 Fat: 21.5 g Net Carbs: 6.1 g Protein: 15.6 g

Sauce Only:
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories: 418 Fat: 44.9 g Net Carbs: 1.9 g Protein: 3.0 g

Note: Want to cut the calories some? Just use sugar-free maple syrup in place of the Ginger Pecan Sauce or use 1/4 cup of pecan pieces instead of 1/2 cup. That will lower the calories by 100 per serving. Or only eat one pancake and 1/4 of the sauce.