A Giveaway! And Sugar-Free Rice Krispie Treats and Marshmallows

Does anyone else love shopping for groceries? There's something about perusing the shelves, discovering new foods and special sale items, that makes supermarket shopping trips secretly exciting for me. The international and organic food sections are my favorite areas of the store to wander around in aimlessly, scanning the shelves for anything that jumps out at me. Today I was looking at the gluten-free grains in Kroger, and spotted brown rice "krispies." Immediately the thought of sweet, gooey Rice Krispy treats popped into my head. A reader had asked about the possibility of a low carb, sugar-free version, so I thought I'd give it a shot today.

So let's start by deconstructing rice krispie treats. Crispy rice cereal is not something I'd consume on a daily basis because of its processed nature, starchiness, and low protein content, but it lends that familiar crunch that's so essential for these kid-friendly treats. Next, we need to do something about that corn syrup filled marshmallow. It's 100% sugar! Fortunately, xylitol works well in homemade marshmallows. It's a one for one swap, with a touch of honey to keep the marshmallows moist and soft, and stevia to boost the sweetness. Finally, we need to cut back on the brown rice if we want to make these treats low carb. I replaced half of the cereal with blanched sliced almonds that I dry toasted in a skillet. They're a crunchy, high protein addition to rice krispie (krispy?) treats that I hope you'll enjoy as a healthy twist to old classic!

Now for the fun part! I'd like to share my other food find from the organic foods section at Kroger. It's organic erythritol, on sale for a Manager's Special promotion! I'm passing the savings on to you guys by giving it away to one lucky reader. Leave a comment, telling me why you eat sugar-free, to be entered into a drawing for a box of this natural, calorie free sweetener.




You have a whole week to enter! I'll ship the box to the winner as long as you're located in the U.S.
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And now, back to marshmallows! Don't be intimidated by the number of the steps for this recipe. The process is pretty straightforward. You don't even have to use a thermometer. Just set up your bowls in advance, and have your ingredients already measured out if you're trying to do this with a hand mixer, like I did. You'll be adding everything with one hand, and mixing with the other. Isn't a little bit of labor worth it for (almost) sugar-free marshmallows, though?

They look a little rustic, but taste every bit as good as regular marshmallows...



Sugar-Free Marshmallows
Adapted from this recipe at AllRecipes.com

Makes about 7 cups mini marshmallows

Ingredients:
1 cup xylitol
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water, divided
2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
1 large egg white
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (clear imitation is recommended)
Big pinch sea salt
1/8 teaspoon good tasting pure stevia extract (NuNaturals)
Organic cornstarch or toasted coconut, for dusting (optional)

Preparation:
You can find step by step photos of this process here. I use a different method, but the pictures of the beaten marshmallow are accurate.

Grease an 8 by 8 inch pan with butter or nonhydrogenated shortening. Set out a saucepan and a large stainless steel bowl, or a large pot. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together xylitol, honey and 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water. Heat xylitol mixture, without stirring, until it bubbles vigorously. Place remaining water in a large bowl or saucepan. Sprinkle gelatin evenly over the surface of this water. Heat bowl containing gelatin and water over a saucepan of simmering water to melt and liquefy the gelatin. Remove gelatin from heat. Turn down xylitol mixture to medium heat and boil solution until it turns a deep amber color, as seen in this photo. Remove immediately from heat and pour into bowl of dissolved gelatin. It will foam up considerably, thus the need for the large bowl in which to heat the gelatin. Whisk together once the foam dies down, and transfer the amber colored liquid to a glass measuring cup. In a clean bowl (preferably metal), start whipping egg white with a pinch of cream of tartar, or one drop of vinegar. Whip until the egg white is at the stage of soft peaks. Slowly stream in xylitol solution over the course of a minute or so, beating all the time. Try not to hit the sides of the bowl as you stream in the hot xylitol mixture. Turn up mixer speed to high and beat egg white xylitol mixture for 5-10 minutes, until fluffy and thick. Beat in vanilla, stevia, and salt. When marshmallow is beginning to set, it will pull on the beaters a lot and leave tracks. Pour immediately into greased dish and spread around with a spatula. Let set out on the counter for about 8 eight hours. If you are eating the marshmallows out of hand, invert the pan onto a clean surface, like a cutting board. Marshmallows should flop out onto surface after a bit of shaking. Pry them out gently with a buttered silicone spatula if necessary. If you are eating these out of hand, place sifted cornstarch into a large bowl. Chop marshmallow block into 1 inch cubes, or 1/2 inch for mini marshmallows, with a large buttered knife. Toss handfuls of marshmallows into cornstarch and shake around the bowl. Store in a ziptop bag on the counter.

~17g net carbs for the whole recipe, depending on how you count xylitol (add 7g net carbs for each tablespoon of cornstarch you toss the marshmallows in)



Low Carb Rice Krispy Treats

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:
4 cups sugar-free mini marshmallows
3 tablespoons regular organic butter or nonhydrogenated shortening
2.5 cups sliced blanched almonds
2 cups GF organic crisped brown rice cereal
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt (if you use shortening; just a pinch if you use butter)

Preparation:
Toast almonds in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant and crunchy. Do NOT let them brown, or they will taste burned. Set aside to cool.

Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add salt and mini marshmallows, and stir until melted and thoroughly blended into a smooth mixture. Cook 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add cereal and almonds. Stir until well coated. Using buttered spatula, press mixture evenly and firmly into a buttered 8 by 8 inch pan. Cut into squares when cool.

~7g net carbs per 1/12th of a recipe



Don't forget to enter the contest with a comment! It closes Friday of next week, July 12th.

Healthy Cake with a Secret, Part 2- Gluten-Free Low Carb Yellow Cake!

First off, check out this article in which the research on dietary fat is discussed. Our nutrition philosophy is getting more and more positive press!


(Please ignore the robots on the paper liners. They were on sale!)

Since posting my chocolate cake made with black beans last month, I've received quite a few requests for a vanilla version of this incredibly moist, easy recipe. You ask, I deliver! These gluten-free sugar-free low carb (grain-free!) yellow cupcakes are made with coconut flour in place of the cocoa powder, and white beans instead of black beans. Cocoa powder and coconut flour seem to work interchangeably! It's a pretty cool discovery that I hope y'all can make use of in your own gluten-free low carb baking pursuits. And because someone will ask: These cupcakes do not taste like beans or coconut! Just butter and vanilla and moist yumminess. Using beans and coconut flour in place of almond flour is budget-friendly, so you can experiment with this recipe by adding cinnamon, nuts, sugar-free chocolate chunks, different extracts... have fun!

But wait, looks like Kelly over at The Spunky Coconut beat me to the punch! Her yellow cake with chocolate frosting looks scrumptious. Be sure to check out her take on this cake (and all other tasty recipes!) at her beautiful blog.

As for the frosting (a.k.a the ONLY reason for eating cake)? I've got you covered there. Professional bakery icing, the kind made with shortening and white sugar, always appealed to me. It's something about the pure whiteness of the frosting, the supercharged vanilla flavoring, and memories of cupcakes from a bakery in my hometown. The almost artificial taste that you know means it can't be good for you!

Fortunately, tweaking this type of frosting to be low carb and healthful is only challenging with respect to the sweetener substitution. Even using transfat free organic palm oil shortening, the problem lies in getting rid of the gritty, "cool" quality that xylitol and erythritol (my preferred naturally occuring sugar substitutes!) can lend to heavily fat-based recipes. And stevia alone has no texture to provide structure or cut the greasy mouthfeel of the fat.

Enter swiss meringue buttercream, the ultra smooth egg white based frosting that is commonly found on wedding cakes. Dissolving xylitol in the egg whites seem to fix the texture issues beautifully. Adding a pinch of stevia rounds out the sweetness perfectly. The clear vanilla extract I found at the grocery store maintains that blindingly white hue, and that fake vanilla taste lends a certain authenticity that can't be achieved with the real deal. The clear vanilla is also ideal for the cake part of the recipe--it doesn't muddle the golden coloring.

Regarding the sweetener, I'm not positive that erythritol wouldn't become gritty. I am out of it right now, and have only tested this recipe with xylitol. The great part about working with xylitol is that it forces you to have portion control if you are sensitive to it! Finally, the question of whether to use butter or shortening in this recipe can only be answered by you. I honestly don't enjoy the "buttery" taste of frosting made with real butter, but it works well here if you'd like to use it. The positive aspects of making this frosting with nonhydrogenated shortening are that a) the vanilla flavor comes through better, and b) it's dairy-free! This sugar-free low carb icing will taste so real that I advise you make a very small batch if you're a frosting fiend like I am.



Healthy Yellow Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1-15 oz can white beans, rinsed (I used cannellini beans, white kidney beans)
5 large eggs plus 1 yolk
6 tablespoons unsalted organic butter OR nonhydrogenated shortening
3/4 teaspoon good-tasting pure stevia extract (NuNaturals brand)
3/4 cup erythritol OR 2/3 cup xylitol OR 1/3 cup honey
4 teaspoons vanilla extract (clear imitation vanilla is recommended)
6 packed tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Rise beans in a fine mesh sieve and shake off the water. Blend beans with the eggs, vanilla, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream softened butter and sweetener until light and fluffy. Beat in pureed mixture. Measure out the coconut flour like you would cocoa powder, by spooning it straight from the bag, packing it down a bit, and sweeping the top of the spoon level. Add to the batter along with the rest of the dry ingredients, and whip together for another minute or two until fluffy. Spoon batter into paper liners sprayed with extra virgin olive oil spray. I use a 1/4 cup measure to distribute batter. Fill cupcake liners a little more than 3/4 way full. Rap muffin pan on the counter a few times to pop any air bubbles. Bake cupcakes for 25 minutes, or until springy to the touch. I set my oven to 325 degrees because it runs hot, but 350 degrees should be just right for accurate, calibrated ovens. The cupcakes will be golden brown around the edges. Let cupcakes sit for 2-3 hours, preferably OVERNIGHT, so that all of the bean flavor disappears. They are even better 24 hours after baking.

~4g net carbs per 1/12th of a recipe, using erythritol



Sugar-Free Buttercream Frosting

Makes enough to frost 3-6 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 large egg white
1/4 cup xylitol (honey might work as well)
6 tablespoons unsalted organic butter or nonhydrogenated shortening, cut into chunks
Pinch good tasting pure stevia extract (optional, for best flavor)
Big pinch sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (clear imitation vanilla recommended)

Preparation:
Step by step photos for making a swiss meringue buttercream icing can be found here.

Whisk egg white together with xylitol in a stainless steel bowl set over a small saucepan full of water. You don't want the bottom of the bowl to touch the water. Set heat to medium-low to bring water to a simmer. Whisk egg white with xylitol 3-5 minutes, or until xylitol is completely dissolved. Dip clean fingers into egg white mixture, and pinch for any undissolved granules. Mixture will appear white and foamy. Remove steel bowl from water, and beat egg white mixture until it has about doubled in volume, and is room temperature (cool to the touch). Beat in vanilla and salt. Add chunks of softened butter or shortening, one at a time, beating for 3-5 minutes until mixture is smooth and no longer curdled. Beat in a tiny pinch of stevia and taste for sweetness, making adjustments if necessary. Don't fret if your buttercream doesn't look smooth for awhile--it will eventually come together!

If after incorporating the butter the icing is too "loose" and soupy, sit the mixing bowl in an ice bath to cool, or stick the bowl into the freezer for a few minutes, and try beating again. If the mixture is chunky like cottage cheese, heat the bowl over the simmering water again and try beating until it comes together into a smooth icing. Use a spatula to smooth out the consistency. Finally, if you think the frosting tastes too "greasy," trying cutting back the butter by one or two tablespoons. Leave out the stevia. It will be considerably sweeter, though.

Transfer frosting to a piping bag, or just spread directly on cupcakes. To revive refrigerated frosting, microwave it for 5-8 seconds, and stir around bowl with a spatula until smooth and creamy again. Or whip until fluffy with beaters.

~0-26g net carbs per batch of frosting, depending on how you count xylitol

Recipes from other blogs you might enjoy:
Sugar-Free Swiss Meringue Buttercream @ Domestifluff
Lemon Meringue Cupcakes @ Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried (SCD-friendly)
Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting @ Elana's Pantry
Fluffy Cupcakes @ Comfy Belly

Fluffy, Diner-Style Healthy Pancakes... Low Carb and Gluten-Free!

Going to keep this post short and sweet. It's been a busy weekend! Summer term is already wrapping up, with only a couple weeks of class left.



This morning, I got a craving for pancakes! I've been searching for a healthy low carb version of those fluffy white stacks of carb-fog-inducing bliss ever since I saw my friends chowing down on flapjacks at my favorite breakfast diner, The Golden Griddle. It's a mandatory stop on our annual trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the end of the school year. Every May, Dukies take over this quaint restaurant for a weekend, and get served by the likes of our super friendly waitress Kathleen, and other purveyors of Southern hospitality. We've had Kathleen as our server for two years running, so going to Golden Griddle now feels like a special welcome from the small beach town.

These pancakes are just perfect--fluffy, light, and lacking that musty whole grain flavor that tends to be associated with "healthy" bread products. In other words, they taste every bit as good as high carb white flour pancakes! They're not grain-free, but they are dairy-free and gluten-free if made with certified gluten-free oats. I grind mine into a fine meal in my Magic Bullet or coffee grinder. If you're looking for grain-free pancakes, check out this recipe using almond meal from Laura Dolson's low carb about.com site. The blend of coconut and oat flours used here is much more budget-friendly (and low in calories, if you're interested) than a nut meal based dish. Stay tuned for a recipe for all natural sugar-free "maple syrup"! If you don't mind sucralose/Splenda sweetened products, the Maple Grove Farms brand sugar-free syrup is a satisfactory replacement for the carb filled "real thing."

I eat a small serving of two flapjacks as an accompaniment dish to my standard breakfast of scrambled eggs and nitrate-free bacon, not as a main meal. Double or triple the batch to share the love!

Topped with real buttah. Viva la low carb!



Healthy Low Carb Pancakes

Makes 2 medium flapjacks. Serves 1.

Ingredients:
1.5 tablespoons organic heavy cream OR 2 tablespoons coconut milk
1 large egg
3.5 tablespoons water (use only three if using coconut milk)
1/4 cup sifted oat flour (made from GF oats)
2 tablespoons sifted coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon good tasting pure stevia extract OR 2 tablespoons sugar-free sweetener

Preparation:
Heat a nonstick pan (yes, I use nonstick and refuse to apologize) to medium heat, or until a drop of water sizzles and "dances" around the skillet. You don't have to grease it. When measuring oat or coconut flour, sift a bit of it (or whisk it until the lumps are broken up), and lightly spoon the amount called for into a tablespoon or quarter cup measure. Level off with a knife. Whisk together egg and cream, and add dry ingredients. Whisk batter very well until there are no longer lumps. Let it sit for a minute or two to thicken up. Pour or scrape batter on to skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on surface of pancake. Flip and cook other side for about 30 seconds. Serve with butter and sugar-free maple syrup, or a bit of honey, if desired.

~12g net carbs per serving



What is your favorite healthy breakfast? Leave a comment and share it with us!

Recipes from other blogs you might enjoy:
Grain-Free Coconut Flour Pancakes @ Organic and Thrify
Gluten-Free Flapjacks @ Elana's Pantry
Low Carb Almond Ricotta Pancakes @ Denver Low Carb Examiner
Purely Pecan Pancakes @ Local Forage

Healthy Coconut Cake Bites... Grain- and Dairy-free!

Since y'all enjoyed the chocolate cake (made with beans!) so much, I'm going to create more desserts that don't rely heavily on almond flour a.k.a. powdered gold for low carb bakers! Does this sound like a good plan? Leave some feedback and let me know what you think.



These moist little cake bites contain all of the decadence of a classic Southern coconut cake, with none of the highly refined ingredients that make the original only an occasional treat. You could eat these sugar-free gluten-free low carb (dairy-free!) treats every day if you wanted, getting the benefits of coconut, almonds, and eggs without the grains and sugar to spike your insulin. Us low carbers can enjoy saturated fat laden coconut products precisely because we maintain a diet free of foods that release a lot of insulin. The same goes for butter, cheese, cream, bacon... basically, everything delicious in life! That is what makes this healthy lifestyle so luxurious. Embracing it for the long term is not difficult if you focus on what you CAN have!

If a low insulin diet is healthy, then what about so-called "natural sweeteners"? If you believe that saturated fat is part of a healthy paleolithic style diet, then you should also recognize the dangers that concentrated sweeteners in any form, natural or not, pose. When combined with saturated fat, high levels of carbohydrates--found in maple syrup, evaporated cane juice (Sucanat), agave, honey, brown rice syrup, molasses, etc.--release insulin, a hormone that promotes fat storage. This insulin response can lead to insulin resistance down the line, which is associated with a host of problems, including elevated triglycerides, heart disease, and diabetes.

A higher carb, lower fat diet can also be healthy, if you're committed to it. Overall caloric restriction has shown similar benefits to a low carb diet. Find the way of eating that suits your lifestyle, and go with it!

With my recipes, it's all about insulin. That's my justification for using erythritol, xylitol, and even artificial sweeteners once in a blue moon at Starbucks. And for giving guidelines for using various noncaloric sweeteners in these recipes. Not everyone agrees on these points, and that is okay! That's what so wonderful about the blogosphere--there are recipes for all dietary plans. Just do your research before accepting "natural" options automatically as the best for your body.

For more information about this, see Good Calories, Bad Calories. Check out the Google Books preview here. Taubes is apparently coming out with a version of this tome for mass public consumption. It's a very large, dry compendium of research, which needs to be simplified for easier reading. It is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to eat a diet based on past and current nutrition research. I'm not any sort of healthcare professional--just a student and an avid reader.

And finally, the recipe! It's a moist, tender cake, with a loose crumb. You could definitely amp up the coconut flavor with coconut extract used for half of the vanilla. Bake it into a layer for a coconut layer cake! My cream cheese frosting flavored with a bit of coconut extract would be perfect for it.



Grain-Free Coconut Cupcakes

Makes 20 mini cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons organic coconut oil OR unsalted butter
1/4 cup blanched almond flour, packed
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (may replace 1 tsp with coconut extract)
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut, ground to a meal
1 tablespoon sifted coconut flour (sub with 2 tablespoons brown rice flour or 1 tablespoon protein powder)
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup erythritol OR 1/4 cup honey OR 1/2 cup Splenda
1/2 teaspoon good tasting pure stevia extract
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

With a Magic Bullet or food processor, grind shredded coconut into a fine, powdery meal. Scoop almond flour into measuring cup, and pack it in firmly with your hands, like you're measuring brown sugar. Sweep it level. Add to coconut and the rest of the dry ingredients. Melt butter, and beat in eggs, vanilla extract, and coconut milk. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, and beat together for a couple of minutes. Line a mini muffin pan with mini muffin papers, and spray with extra virgin olive oil spray. Alternatively, grease mini muffin wells very well with coconut oil. Pour batter almost to the top of mini muffin cups. Rap muffin tin gently on the counter to pop air bubbles. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until springy and firm to the touch. You might have to bake these longer since my oven in this apartment runs hot. Remove cakes from muffin tins as soon as they are cool to the touch, and cool on a wire rack. Dip cakes into glaze. Serve at room temperature.

~1.1g net carbs per mini cake (unglazed)
~1.3g net carbs per mini cake (glazed)

Actual size!



Coconut Milk Glaze

1 cup full fat coconut milk, chilled
4 teaspoons coconut flour OR a tiny pinch xanthan gum
Stevia and powdered erythritol, to taste
Tiny pinch sea salt

Whisk together coconut milk, and sift in coconut flour. Whisk in coconut flour until no lumps remain, then add a pinch of salt, and sweeteners. Taste and adjust sweetness level if necessary. Dip cakes into glaze and sprinkle with unsweetened coconut.
~3.5g net carbs for the whole batch of glaze

Healthy Chocolate Cake with a Secret

Cake.


Chocolate cake!

Chocolate cake made without flour, sugar, or dairy. Low carb and gluten-free, of course. Cake made out of a surprise ingredient, one that will make you wrinkle you're nose upon hearing it. This cake is good. So good, in fact, that I had to have a mug of stevia-sweetened pomegranate tea and go to bed, so I'd stop shaving off "test" slices.

You know those feelings that come over you when you play around a bit with a recipe, adding a pinch of this and a tablespoon of that? The nervousness as you put the batter in the oven, the fiddling around with the baking time, the checking and rechecking for doneness? The anticipation as you're cutting the cake, hoping upon hope that's it's not too dry, too mushy, too crumbly?

It's always a rollercoaster of emotion... this time, with a very sweet ending. Why was this particular culinary journey so nerve-wracking?

The cake is made out of black beans. Beans, seriously!

Even if you're the fiercest of bean haters (like I am), you'll fall head over heels for this moist chocolate cake. I haven't have a flour- and sugar-based chocolate cake in a very long time, so my roommates had to confirm this cake's rockstar status. Safe to say they agreed with me, and hungrily polished off the slices I provided for them. Served with a cold glass of almond milk, it was all the more refreshing after a day spent soaking up the Carolina sun.

Happy birthday to my sister, Melanie, and my Dad! This cake is to celebrate their May birthdays. I love you two!


The best part about this cake is that it's totally budget-friendly. It's basically beans, eggs, and cocoa. That gives you no excuse to not try it, ya hear?

Healthy Flourless Chocolate Cake
Adapted from a recipe at LowCarbFriends

Makes a single 9" layer cake, which can be halved and stacked for the taller cake you see here!

Ingredients:
1-15 ounce can of unseasoned black beans
OR 1 1/4 cup cooked beans, any color
5 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons unsalted organic butter OR extra virgin coconut oil
3/4 cup erythritol plus 1/2 teaspoon pure stevia extract OR 1/4-1/3 cup honey plus 1 teaspoon stevia
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon water (omit if using honey)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9" cake pan with extra virgin olive oil cooking spray, or just grease it with a thin layer of butter. Dust cocoa all over the inside of the pan, tapping to evenly distribute. Cut a round of parchment paper and line the bottom of the pan, then spray the parchment lightly.

Drain and rinse beans in a strainer or colander. Shake off excess water. Place beans, 3 of the eggs, vanilla, stevia (if using) and salt into blender. Blend on high until beans are completely liquefied. No lumps! Whisk together cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat butter with sweetener (erythritol or honey) until light and fluffy. Add remaining two eggs, beating for a minute after each addition. Pour bean batter into egg mixture and mix. Finally, stir in cocoa powder and water (if using), and beat the batter on high for one minute, until smooth. Scrape batter into pan and smooth the top. Grip pan firmly by the edges and rap it on the counter a few times to pop any air bubbles.

Bake for 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Cake is done with the top is rounded and firm to the touch. After 10 minutes, turn out cake from pan, and flip over again on to a cooling rack. Let cool until cake reaches room temperature, then cover in plastic wrap or with cake dome (I use an overturned plastic chip bowl). For BEST flavor, let cake sit over night. I promise this cake will not have a hint of beaniness after letting it sit for eight hours! If you are stacking this cake, level the top with a long serrated knife, shaving off layers until it is flat and even. Frost immediately before serving
~57.6g net carbs for the whole cake using erythritol/stevia.
~5.7g net carbs per 1/10th
~125.6g net carbs for the whole cake using honey/stevia.
~12.56g net carbs per 1/10th



Healthy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Makes enough to thickly cover one layer, or fill and frost a halved stacked layer

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted organic butter, softened, OR 7 tablespoons nonhydrogenated shortening
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon erythritol, powdered, OR 1/4 cup xylitol, powdered
5-6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons half and half OR coconut milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
Good-tasting pure stevia extract, to taste

Optional addition for a glossy finish:
1 fresh organic egg yolk

Preparation:
Cream the butter in a small bowl until fluffy. Powder erythritol or xylitol in a coffee grinder or Magic Bullet for a minute or two, until extremely fine in texture (reminiscent of powdered sugar). Let sweetener settle in grinder before opening the top. Stir powdered sweetener into butter with a spatula, then beat until smooth. Slowly blend in the cocoa powder (unless you want to redecorate your kitchen), vanilla, and sea salt. Beat in the half and half and egg yolk, if using. Add stevia, starting with 1/16 teaspoon. You'll probably use less than 1/4 teaspoon. Just keep tasting and adjust sweetness to your liking.

~7g net carbs for the frosting, using erythritol

Related content from other blogs:
Purple Velvet Torte @ Elana's Pantry
Spicy Chocolate Bean Cakes @ The Salty Cod
Amazing Black Bean Brownies @ 101 Cookbooks

Leave a comment telling me your favorite kind of cake! Inquiring minds want to know. :)

Coconut Flour Brownies, revisited--Gluten-free and Delicious!

Coconut flour is so much fun to play with! It's so much easier to measure out versus grinding up almonds each time I want to bake. Get some and I promise you'll be hooked on the richness of this gluten-free, low carb "flour."

Interjection to share some science nerdiness. Check out this study on LDL in heart attack patients. Who knew that lower LDL is associated with increased mortality? And more of the low LDL patients were diabetic. Curious, very curious...

Remember these brownies? They're delicious when undercooked, but turn cakey and dry if you leave them in the oven a minute too long. I know how annoying it is to waste these expensive natural ingredients on recipes full of fail, so I am sorry if you have been caused grief by moisture-sucking overcooked brownies. This new and improved version of sugar-free low carb coconut flour brownies is MUCH less temperamental, and pretty much foolproof in terms of the baking time. Thanks to Buffy at Low Carb Friends for bringing this inspiring recipe to my attention! These brownies are not gooey or chewy, but fudgy and dense. They're more milk chocolate than most chocolate treats I've made, which is refreshing. If you enjoy these brownies as much as my roommates do, you'll want to stockpile coconut flour for many more batches!

A note about ingredients: Use the highest quality pastured butter you can find for optimal results. I bought a bunch of Kerrygold butter on sale, and have found that it lends such a pleasant buttery taste to everything I use it in. So worth the not-on-sale price! I'll be using Kerrygold in the recipes you see here from now on. When baking with no sugar and no flour, it's recommended to use the best of the ingredients we CAN work with! Also, for those of you who don't use erythritol, I'm pretty sure these brownies would work with 1/4 cup raw honey and 3/4 teaspoon of stevia. This will add 68 grams net carbs to the recipe, making each brownie about 9.5 grams net carbs. Be aware that with the honey/stevia combo, they won't be as sweet as traditional brownies.

Remember to keep your mitts off of these for a full night in the fridge. I don't know why, but it seems that baked goods made with coconut flour take a full night to "settle" into their full decadent yumminess. Just make up a batch, toss 'em in the freezer, and go to bed. Or watch SVU reruns on USA all night. Or read Good Calories, Bad Calories under the covers. Just do something to avoid cutting into this chocolately goodness until it achieves its full potential!

Then wake up and grab yourself a delicious and nutritious sugar-free low carb brownie. For breakfast. You know you want to!

Healthy Coconut Flour Brownies

Serves 12-16

Ingredients:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 sticks salted organic butter (3/4 cup), softened
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 cup sifted coconut flour
3/4 cup erythritol or xylitol OR 1/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon good tasting pure stevia extract (increase to 1 teaspoon if using honey)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup organic heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Brush both sides of an 8" by 8" (or 11" by 7" for thinner brownies) pan with coconut oil, or spray with extra virgin olive oil cooking spray. Place a cut square of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan.

Beat softened cream cheese with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in butter, vanilla, and sweetener. Whisk together dry ingredients. Add eggs one at a time to cream cheese mixture, and beat until incorporated. Add dry ingredients and heavy cream. Fold in nuts. Pour chocolate mixture into prepared pan, and smooth top with a spatula. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes (40 minutes for the wider pan), until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, and top feels firm to the touch. When done, place pan on wire rack and cool completely. Cool pan of brownies overnight in the refrigerator. Slice into 12-16 squares, and serve. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container, or freeze cut brownies, individual wrapped in plastic and aluminum foil.

~4g net carbs per 1/12th of a recipe

Coconut Flour Pound Cake

It's so nice to have a bit more time to blog now that summer is here! I'll have more gluten-free low carb recipes coming your way, with more of a focus on primal ingredients. What do I mean by primal? Head on over to Mark's Daily Apple and check out the primal blueprint, a paleolithic way of eating (and living!). It works with our evolution instead of against it, unlike modern processed food and the typical high-carb high-fat high-grain American diet. I don't always stick to such a plan 100% (evidenced by this upcoming dairy laden recipe!), but I make an effort to put health over convenience and at least avoid the prepackaged stuff. The primal way constitutes a budget-friendly approach for students, too. The prices of organic vegetables and wild salmon burgers are far exceeded by fast food, pints of Ben and Jerry's and card swiping at the vending machines around campus!

Check out some of these fab looking primal recipes:
Homemade Almond Cheese @ Ginger Lemon Girl
Chocolate Pudding @ Caveman Food
Primal Peach Patties @ Son of Grok

Speaking of budget-friendly, I'd like to thank all of the readers who used my iherb rewards code (to buy this fabulous stevia I'm assuming!), giving me a credit towards my last purchase. Every little bit helps. Thanks, y'all!

As a gift to you, I'll be holding a couple of giveaways in upcoming posts. Stay tuned for some sweet surprises...

Did anyone else enter the Emerald Forest Xylitol recipe contest? I did, with a fluffy peanut butter pie, and mini chocolate raspberry cheesecakes. Perhaps they weren't looking for natural low carb fare since a rice pudding and zucchini muffins took the top prizes. What's the point of using a carb-free sweetener for desserts made with white rice and white flour?! Your insulin is already going crazy with the amount of starch in those ingredients, so what difference do a few more grams of sugar carbs make? Ah well, my loss is your gain since I will be posting the recipes for you guys. :) The peanut butter pie and mini cheesecakes were winners according to the people in my dorm!

And now, a new recipe. Finally. Do you like pound cake? How does healthy low carb gluten-free grain-free pound cake sound? There's been a lot of buzz about coconut flour lately. It's a wonderfully nourishing gluten free "flour," made from finely ground defatted coconut meat. The possibilities are really endless once you get the feel for baking with it. Because of its dryness, you cannot just add it haphazardly to existing recipes. A bit of creativity is required to make some of our old favorite desserts with it. It provides a fantastic nut-free option for all of you tree nut sensitive low carbers. But I guess that's what natural foodies are doing here all the time, huh?

You can make this nearly sugar-free with a bit of honey, or completely sugar-free with my favorite natural sweetener, erythritol. It'll be quite sweet if you use the erythritol, and lightly sweetened if you use honey. The texture is almost cheesecake-y with all its richness. This ain't a light and fluffy pound cake. It's heavy and decadent and stick to your ribs. Enjoy!



Healthy Coconut Flour Pound Cake
Adapted from this recipe at Cooking God's Way

Makes 12 hearty slices

Ingredients:
1 1/4 sticks (1/2 plus 1/8 cup) unsalted organic butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese
10 large eggs
3-4 tablespoons honey OR 3/4 cup erythritol
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons (yes, tablespoons) pure vanilla extract
2 cups organic whole milk yogurt
1 teaspoon organic lemon zest
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon good tasting pure stevia extract (use 1/2 teaspoon if using erythritol)
2 cups sifted coconut flour

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325°F.

Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan, and line the bottom of the loaf pan with a cut rectangle of parchment paper. Grease pan and paper with coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil spray. Sift coconut flour, lightly spoon into cup, and even with the sweep of a knife to measure out the proper quantity. Whisk in the rest of the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together for a minute. Beat in sweetener, and cream for a couple more minutes until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, and alternately add the wet ingredients and dry ingredients (except the lemon zest) until combined. Beat in the zest. Pour loaf pan almost to the brim with batter. You may have a bit of batter leftover, which can be baked in a mini muffin pan.

Bake for 90 minutes, covering with tin foil after the first half hour if the top is already golden brown. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean, and the center looks completely set. Let cake cool for at least 2 hours, preferably OVERNIGHT, in pan. Invert cake on to a cooling rack and let cool completely, or else just tip it out of the pan and rest it on its side until cool. This cake tastes MUCH better the next day. Serve at room temperature, and store individual slices in the fridge.


~9g net carbs per 1/12th of a recipe (using honey)
~6g net carbs per 1/12th of a recipe (using erythritol)