Low Carb Lemon Cheesecake

Sorry!

Things have been super crazy busy lately so I have been onto the old favourite quick and easy recipes.  I did manage to stock up on dessert last week with a treat--- lemon cheesecake! I have been back at the gym now for fourteen weeks for nearly 70 workouts!

When I made this recipe it made twelve square mini-cheesecakes. It also made a six-inch round cheesecake. I have cut this recipe in half for you so that hopefully you don’t make too much! I still have one in the freezer. 

Crust:

1 ½ cups of almond flour

1/3 cup of melted butter

½ tablespoon of stevia (or your favourite sweetener)

½ teaspoon of cinnamon

½ teaspoon of coco powder

1.     Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

2.     Combine almond flour, melted butter, spices and sweetener in a medium bowl.

3.     Once mixed well, press crest into the bottom of pan.

4.     Bake for ten to twelve minutes.

5.     Allow time to cool.

Cheesecake:

½ package of lemon flavoured sugar-free Jello

½ cup of boiling water

1 8oz package of softened cream cheese

1/3 cup of stevia (or your favourite sweetener)

½ teaspoon of vanilla

½ teaspoon of lemon juice

¼ cup of cream

1.     Dissolve half a package of sugar-free lemon Jello in a half-cup of boiling water. Cool and allow thickening but not setting.

2.     In a separate bowl combine softened cream cheese, sweetener, vanilla and lemon juice. Beat until smooth.

3.     Whip cream until stiff peaks form.

4.     Fold in cream cheese mixture.

5.     Pour the cream cheese filling over crust.

6.     Chill for at least two hours.

I garnished mine with fresh raspberries because the grocery store was out of blueberries (crazy, I know). I would like to make a blueberry garnish, or I would use sugar-free blueberry syrup if there were one available here in rural BC.  Raspberries worked too!

Nutritional information to come

Dark Chocolate Walnut Cookies

I love these cookies. They are very filling and relatively easy to make. I have experimented with how to deal with the dark chocolate, I tend to like to have the big chunks on top of the cookies to melt over the cookie. Even eating the cookie dough is amazing! 

I will take better pictures the next time I make the cookies, hopefully soon! 

Ingredients:
3 cups of almond flour
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 cup of melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup of powdered sweetener (I use splenda or stevia)
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of Cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of unsweetened almond milk
4 teaspoons of vanilla
1 90% Cocoa Lindt chocolate bar (you will use most of it)

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine salt and powdered sweetener.
3. Whisk eggs and vanilla into the melted butter.
4. Stir in salt and sweetener mixture to the butter mixture.
5. Mix the rest of the dry ingredients together and then add to dry mixture.
6. Chop up the walnuts and dark chocolate bar (I save a few of the squares so that I don't use the entire bar, it is a little much). As you can see I am a little lazy about chopping...
7. Grease the pan with coconut oil.
8. Shape dough into 12 equal sized balls.
9. Bake for 12 minutes (if you have a small oven it may be less).

Nutritional Info (rough numbers on per cookie):
Calories: 296
Total Fat: 27.9g
Carbs: 7.8g
Fiber: 3.8g
Sugars: 1.8g
Protein: 8.3g

Dark Chocolate Walnut Cookies are in the Oven

Really excited to have a few I these bad boys in my belly in about 10 minutes time! 

The batter was surprisingly delicious, usually I am not a fan of almond flour batters, but this one is really good.

Almond Flour Chicken Strips

We make these bad boys all the time, they are so easy and quick to make. Perfect for after work or a quick lunch. We usually cut up chicken breasts into strips but you can also use pre-cut chicken from your grocer too (this tends to be more expensive). We like them to be a little spicy, so we add a teaspoon of chili powder to the mix, if you are making this for children you may want to nix that part of the recipe. 

When we started making these chicken strips we would give them an egg bath, but we have actually found that it doesn't help breading them and that it is just as easy to dip them in almond flour. 

Ingredients: 

2 Chicken Breasts 

2/3 Cup of Almond Flour

1 Teaspoon of Chili Powder (optional)

Salt & Pepper to Taste

Procedure:

1. Cut chicken into strips or bites, whatever size you would like. 

2. Heat coconut oil in a pan on medium heat.

3. Mix almond flour and seasoning in a medium bowl. 

4. Press both sides of each chicken strip in the dry mixture. 

5. Fry in coconut oil until full cooked inside and golden on the outside. 

These are great with pretty much any dipping sauce! 

Nutritional Information (per serving, makes two servings):

Calories: 355

Fat: 21.7g

Carbs: 8g

Fibre: 4g 

Sugar: 1.3g

Protein: 34.7g  

Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Personal Pies

This is still a work in progress... Thanksgiving Day I was jones-ing for pies and this was my best option at the time with the amount of ingredients I had around the house. I will be the first to admit these pies are a work and progress, not exactly a traditional replacement for pies. But, I will continue to make them tastier... I would love a low carb fruit personal pie (it is my current project).

Add some sugar free whipped cream and these pies should hit the spot in a pie craving. 

This recipe should make four personal pies. 

I found my Wilton personal pie presses at the dollar store, I am betting you can also find them at Bed Bath and Beyond. 

Crusts

1 1/4 cups almond flour

1/2 cup butter, chilled and diced

1/4 cup ice water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg (for egg wash)

1. Combine almond flour and salt. Cut in butter until mixture, large chunks that look should form. Stir in water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. I used a non-stick pan greased with coconut oil to bake these pies. 
3. Spread pie crust over press, or into pan. I used Wilton 'Mini Pie Presses' to make my personal pies. 
4. Fill the inside of the personal pie with 2 tablespoons of filling.
5. Brush dough edges with egg wash.
6. Bake or fry your personal pies. I baked mine for 15 minutes. 

Filling

1/2 90% dark chocolate bar

2 tablespoons of unsweetened almond butter

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1/2 cup of sweetener (this time I used boxed Twin)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

     1. Chop up chocolate in a medium bowl.

     2. In a sauce pan combine almond butter, cream, sweetener and salt.

     3. Stir until smooth, and the sweetener and salt have dissolved. 

     4. Stir this mixture into chopped up chocolate.

     5. Let sit for 10 minutes.

     6. Refrigerate until ready to use in the pies. 

Nutritional Information:

To Come... 

Low Carb Saganaki

Fried Cheese? Sign me up. 

At first we thought we couldn't make this treat but quickly started to think outside the gluten box and got almond flour involved.

This one is really simple. We have only made it once, I think it will be a common appetizer for our meals from now on. 

We used Krinos frying cheese to make this saganaki. We changed up the traditional recipe a little bit, no flames were involved. The next time we make it we will try using olive oil and let you know how that goes.

Ingredients

-One 110g block of sheep's milk grilling cheese

-1/2 cup of almond meal/flour 

-1/4 cup of butter for frying

-1 tsp. of chili pepper

-1 xl egg

-a dash of salt & pepper

Procedure

1. Add all of your dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. Crack an XL egg and whip it in a small bowl.

3. Dip the block of cheese in the egg.

4. Heat butter on high in pan.

5. Coat your dipped block of cheese in flour and seasoning mixture.

6. Fry until golden brown on both sides. 

Nutritional Information per Serving (makes 4 servings):
Calories: 202.5
Fat: 16.75g
Carbs: 4.1g
Fibre: 1.5g
Sugar: 0.6g
Protein: 12.57g

Low Carb Cookies & Cream Cake

Little, but mighty. 

I baked this cake the other day. I really, really liked it. It is small, but very filling. I baked mine in two layers, but you could make the mix in just one big cake. I really want to incorporate peanut butter with this cake in the future. I consider a slice of this cake a treat. It has about 7 carbs per slice and a ton of fat and protein. 

Side view

Ingredients
Cake
3 Cups of Almond Flour
3 Tablespoons of Sweetener
3 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon of Salt
5 Eggs
2 Teaspoons of Vanilla

Icing
1/4 Cup of Melted Butter
5 Oz of Cream Cheese
1/4 Cup of Whipping Cream
1 Teaspoon Coconut Oil
2 Teaspoons of Vanilla
1/4 Teaspoon of Cinnamon 
2 Tablespoons of Sweetener
3 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
1/4 Bar of 99% Cocoa Chocolate (I use Lindtt)

Prep Work
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Grease cake pan. 


Procedure
1. Mix the dry ingredients: Almond Flour, 3 Tablespoons of Sweetener, 3 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder, baking powder and salt. 
2. Whisk eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla in a separate bowl. 
3. Add eggs mixture to the dry ingredients. 
4. Pour into greased pan (or pans).
5. My small oven baked the cake in 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it, this will vary (of course) by oven.

Make the icing while the cake bakes. 

6. Warm (but do not completely melt) cream cheese and butter together. Mix well. 
7. Add in teaspoon of coconut oil.
8. Add in 3 tablespoons of coca powder and 2 tablespoons of sweetener.
9. Add cinnamon and refridgerate. 

10. Allow cake to cool.

11. Ice cake and shave 99% cocoa chocolate over the cake. 

Inside.

Nutritonal Information (per slice, 8 slices per cake):
Calories: 460
Total Fat: 38.3g
Carbs: 13.3g
Fiber: 6.1g
Sugars: 3g
Protein: 15.2g

Keto/Low Carb Éclair

I had a really bad craving for eclairs and so I thought I would give making them a shot. Here is my first attempt at the recipe. I experimented with a few different ways to make them, the following is the recipe for my best of the batch. 

Overall,  I really liked them. I used home made low-carb vanilla pudding and used it for the inner cream, next time I am going to use low-carb pre made  pudding. You don't need too much pudding, maybe half a pack made from a mix. My homemade pudding (found in a separate blog post) was not think enough and leaked through the bottom. I froze them to avoid leakage. This recipe should make 12, mine are a little bigger than they should be. 

Ingredients 
1/2 Cup Butter (I used salted, if you do not use salted add 1/4 teaspoon of salt)
1 Cup Water
1 1/2 Cup Almond Flour
1/2 Tablespoon Of Cornstarch
4 Eggs
2 Cups Of Vanilla Pudding
3/4 Cup Heavy Cream
1/4 Cup Granulated Sweetener
3 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
5 Squared Of 90% Cocoa Chocolate
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/3 Cup Sweetener
3 Tablespoons Of Hot Water

Prep Work
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
-Grease a cookie sheet.

Procedure
-Combine 1/2 cup of butter and 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, melt butter completely.
-Reduce to medium heat. Stir in almond flour, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and cornstarch. After a few minutes of brisk stirring reduce heat to low and let thicken. Remove from heat.
-Add eggs, one at a time. Mix completely.
-Put batter on cookie sheet in 1 1/2 x 4 inch strips. 
-Bake 10 minutes.
-Add more batter on the semi-firm top of each strip. Attempt to double it in size. 
-Reduce heat to 325 and bake for 15 to 20 more minutes. 
-Check on them, you want them to puff up and balloon. They will not end up being completely hollow on the inside.
-Cool on a wire rack.

For the filling:
-Beat the whip cream until soft peaks form. 
-Beat in 1/4 cup of sweetener and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
-Fold whip cream into pudding. 

-Cut the tops off of the pastries once they have cooled.
-Spoon in filling and cover. Chill or freeze.

For icing:
-Melt chocolate and 2 tablespoons of butter in saucepan in low heat.
-Stir in 1/3 cup of sweetener and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. 
-Add water, one tablespoon at a time. 

-Drizzle or smooth icing over chilled pastries. I liked to seal the top back on with the chocolate icing. I then put mine in the freezer to make sure they stuck together. 

Nutrition (per eclair)
Calories: 315
Total Fat: 30g
Carbs: 6.6g
Fiber: 1.9g
Sugars: 1.1g
Protein: 6.2g

Low Carb Vanilla Pudding

I worked this out to be part of my eclair recipe and had to try the pudding on its own. Not the lowest in carbs, but it is a satisfying treat.

Ingredients 

1/3 Cup of Granulated Sweetener

1 Tablespoon Liquid Sweetener 

1 Tablespoon Cornstarch 

1 Tablespoon Almond Meal

1 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Cup Vanilla Almond Milk

2 Eggs

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

Prep Work

-Beat eggs in a small bowl.

Procedure

1. Mix together in saucepan on: almond milk, cream, liquid sweetener, sweetener, cornstarch and almond meal. 

2. Stir occasionally. The mixture should thicken. Once it begins to thicken cook and stir for 3-5 minutes.  

3. Pour one cup of the hot mixture into the eggs.

4. Pour egg mixture into the saucepan and cook for 2-4 minutes. 

5. Remove from heat and melt butter into the mixture.

6. When the butter is fully melted add in the vanilla.

7. Chill in fridge for 2-3 hours.

Nutritional Information (for 1 of 4 servings)

Calories: 302

Fat: 27.1g

Carbs: 5.2g

Fiber: 0.4g

Sugar: 0.6g

Protein: 4.0g

Almond Meal Brownies

Pictured Here With Cookies & Cream Homemade
Protein Powder Ice Cream 

Yet again I could not find a pan so I used a pie pan. This recipe makes 8 equal pie pieces, nutritional information is based per piece. 

Ingredients
3/4 Cup of Almond Meal
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
1/2 Teaspoon baking powder
40 drops of liquid sweetener 
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon Vanilla 
1 Tablespoon Granulated Sweetener
1/4 Cup Butter
2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
1 Tablespoon Chocolate Almond Milk 
1/2 Bar (25 g) Lindtt 99% Cocoa Chocolate

Prep Work
Grease an 8x8 pan or pie pan.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
Procedure
1. Mix together in medium bowl: almond meal, salt, cocoa, granulated sweetener and baking powder.
2. Melt together in a small bowl: chocolate, butter, 10 drops of sweetener.
3. Mix together in another medium bowl: eggs, the rest of the sweetener, almond milk, heavy cream, vanilla.
4. Pour melted mixture from Step 2 into mixture from Step 3.
5. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
7. Cool before cutting 


Nutritional Information (Per Slice)
Calories: 146
Fat: 14g
Carbs: 3.2g
Fiber: 1.8g
Sugars: 0.4g
Protein: 3g