Sugar-Free Cranberry Sauce
This is the simplest homemade cranberry sauce -- no spices, no orange peel, nothing extra. It is about the thickness of pudding. I use it not only with turkey, but to put over yogurt or ricotta cheese for breakfast or a snack, or accompanying cheeses and nuts as a dessert. If you want something more jazzed up, try mycranberry chutney.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 bag of fresh cranberries (12 oz)
- Sugar substitute equal to 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Preparation:
1. Put cranberries in a pot on the stove, and pick through to remove soft and/or brown ones.2. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and bring to a boil on medium-high heat.
3. Stir frequently. The cranberries will pop, and then release their "gel" -- and the sauce will come together like magic. Cook until the sauce is the consistency you want, about 5 to 10 minutes.
Note: I used a liquid sweetener in this recipe, which added zero carbs. Powdered artificial sweeteners often use sugars as a base. For example, you could use one cup of Da Vinci's Simple Syrup instead of water.
Makes 8 servings of cranberry sauce, each approximately 1/4 cup. Each serving has 3 grams of effective carbohydrate and almost 2 grams of fiber.
Low-Carb Pumpkin Pie
People love this pie. People have told me it was the best they've even had, and they didn't know it was low-carb or sugar-free (or gluten-free). You must make it with the pecan crust for full impact. That said, it's great on its own as a baked pudding, even for breakfast.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 15 oz can pumpkin
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup unsweetened soy milk (or milk or cream - milk has more carbs, so adjust)
- 1/3 cup cream
- 1 C sugar equivalent from artificial sweetener
- 1 teaspoon dark molasses (optional)
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 scant teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch cloves
- 1/4 t salt
Preparation:
As an artificial sweetener, I prefer a form of liquid sucralose, as powdered types have more carbs and sometimes an off-taste.1) Preheat oven to 425 F. (important)
2) Dump all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and whirl to blend.
3) Pour into the crust.
4) Put the pie in the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 375 F. In 15 minutes, turn the oven down to 300 F. (This cooks the crust, so it isn't soggy, but then allows the custard to bake more slowly.) Bake until almost set in the middle, about 30 to 40 minutes more. If it starts to crack a bit around the edges, it's probably done.
5) Cool and serve with whipped cream (the real stuff, made with vanilla and sweetener). How To Make Homemade Whipped Cream
Nutritional Analysis: 8 servings, without crust: 3.5 grams effective carbohydrate plus 2 grams fiber, 3 grams protein, 5.5 grams fat, 80 calories.
With pecan crust, each serving is 4 grams effective carbohydrate with 3.4 grams fiber.
Sugar-Free Cranberry Jello Salad
This cranberry Jello salad is not the super-sweet kind which many remember as family favorites. Those recipes usually had canned cranberry sauce along with the other ingredients. This is a more "grownup" version, where the tartness of the fresh cranberries go up against the sweet Jello. If you are longing for the old days, you can add sweetener to taste. Also, this salad is pretty much "packed with stuff" -- if you like more Jello in between your ingredients, use three small packages of Jello instead of one large box. If you do that, it will make more servings, and there will be one gram less of carb per serving.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 large package sugar-free cranberry, cherry, black cherry, or raspberry Jello
- 1 cup walnuts
- 2 cups fresh cranberries (pick out soft and brown ones)
- 1 medium apple cut the fruit off the core
- Optional - zest of one orange - minimal carbs, and adds a "spark"
Preparation:
With a food processor by your side, you can make up this recipe in no time.
1) Prepare the Jello as per the package's instructions (I like the super-speed method with the ice cubes).
2) Chop the walnuts in the food processor -- move to a separate bowl.
3) Chop the cranberries in the food processor, one cup at a time, adding to bowl.
4) Chop apple in the food processor, and add to bowl. Toss nuts and fruit together, and mix into Jello. Chill completely.
Makes 12 servings of ½ cup each.
Nutritional Information: Each serving has 3.5 grams effective carbohydrate plus 1.5 grams fiber, 2 grams protein, and 69 calories.
Chocolate Coconut Cookies
I was going for kind of an Almond Joy flavor with these. You can put almonds or macadamia nuts on the top, but I found out I actually like the macadamias a little better. Macadamia Joy?
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 27 minutes
Ingredients:
- 5 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup cream
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ~1 cup sugar equivalent in sugar substitute (I like erythritol and Splenda, but can use any)
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup coconut flour (I used Aloha Nu brand in analysis)
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut
- 36 almond or macadamia nut halves
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
1) Melt butter in bowl or 1 quart measuring cup -- you can make the whole recipe in the same container that way.
2) Whisk in cocoa powder until blended. Whisk in cream, salt, vanilla, and sweetener.
3)Taste. This is the point where you want to get the right amount of sweetener for your taste. I tried this recipe with two different cocoa powders -- Hershey and Ghirardelli. I found that I needed more sweetener for the darker Ghirardelli. Also I liked a combination of liquid Splenda and erythritol, but the Splenda alone worked well, too.
4) Whisk the eggs in and beat until they are well-blended. Add coconut flour and blend well, and finish with the dried coconut. Combine well, and let sit for 5 minutes. The coconut will absorb most of the liquid.
5) Prepare cookie sheets, either by greasing well, covering with parchment paper, or asilicone baking mat.
6) Drop batter by rounded teaspoons (batter will be about 1½ inches across). Put half an almond or macadamia nut on the top of each, and push slightly to "anchor."
7) Bake for about 12 minutes, until cookies are set and just beginning to brown on bottom.
8) Let cool on pan for about 10 minutes. Remove. When fully cool, store in airtight container.
Makes three dozen cookies.
Nutritional Information (with macamdamia nuts): Each cookie has a little over half a grameffective carbohydrate plus 2 grams fiber, 2 grams protein, 5 grams fat, and 51 calories.
Low-Carb "Doughnut" Muffins
These muffins are meant to taste like doughnuts, and I think they do a good job. There's even a version with buttermilk. This is one of the few recipes for which I use powdered Splenda (for the topping). You don't end up using much per muffin, but you need enough to dip the tops. Save the rest for cinnamon toast made with flax meal bread.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup flax meal
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1 T baking powder
- 1/4 t salt
- 1 and 1/4 t nutmeg
- 1 t cinnamon
- Artificial sweetener - 1 cup equivalent - zero carb (such as liquid) preferred
- 1/2 cup (I stick) butter, melted
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup plus 2 T water
- .
- Topping:
- 1/2 cup equivalent powdered artificial sweetener
- 2 t cinnamon
- 2 T melted butter
Preparation:
Makes 12 regular-size muffins
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; butter muffin pans.
2. Mix dry ingredients well (exclude those used for topping).
3. Add beaten eggs, melted butter, water, and sweetener to the dry mixture. Mix well.
4. Fill muffin cups a bit more than half way with the mixture.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Allow muffins to cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove.
6. Mix the cinnamon and powdered sweetener for the topping in a clean bowl.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; butter muffin pans.
2. Mix dry ingredients well (exclude those used for topping).
3. Add beaten eggs, melted butter, water, and sweetener to the dry mixture. Mix well.
4. Fill muffin cups a bit more than half way with the mixture.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Allow muffins to cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove.
6. Mix the cinnamon and powdered sweetener for the topping in a clean bowl.
7. When the muffins are cool enough to handle, dip the tops in the melted butter you allocated for the topping, followed by the sweetener/cinnamon mixture.
Each muffin has 1.5 gram effective carbohydrate plus 4 grams fiber. (This is assuming half a gram of carb for the topping.)
Buttermilk Version: Switch out 1/2 cup buttermilk for the same amount of water. Substitute 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon baking powder for the baking powder in the regular recipe. This variation adds half a gram of carb to each muffin.
Each muffin has 1.5 gram effective carbohydrate plus 4 grams fiber. (This is assuming half a gram of carb for the topping.)
Buttermilk Version: Switch out 1/2 cup buttermilk for the same amount of water. Substitute 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon baking powder for the baking powder in the regular recipe. This variation adds half a gram of carb to each muffin.
Sugar-Free Raspberry Chiffon Squares
These raspberry jello squares made with cream cheese are easy to make and are a nice sugar-free, low-carb dessert. If you want to go "super-simple", they can be made without the pecan crust, but I think it adds a lot to the dessert.
Ingredients:
- 1 small package raspberry sugar-free geletin dessert such as Jello brand (~.3 oz)
- 1½ cups boiling water
- 1 cup pecans
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Sugar substitute equal to ¼ cup sugar (zero carb sweetener such asliquid sucralosepreferred)
- pinch salt
- 6 oz cream cheese cut up into pieces
- ¼ teaspoon orange extract
- 1 ½ cups fresh or unsweetened frozen raspberries
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 F
1. Dissolve raspberry geletin in boiling water.
2. Process pecans in a food processor and process to a coarse meal.
3. Add butter, salt, and sweetener and process until smooth
4. Press the pecan mixture into the bottom of a 9X9 square pan
5. Bake for 8-11 minutes, until lightly brown (watch carefully when it gets close)
6. When geletin mixture is cooled to the point where you can comfortably stick your finger into it, add the orange extract and cream cheese and blend. You can use a stick blender, food processor, or regular blender.
7. Add 1 cup of the berries to mixture and pour into pan over the pecan crust.
8. Cool in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes, until mixture is thickening but not set. Sprinkle the other half cup of raspberries across the top.
9. Cool until completely set, and cut into squares.
Nutritional Information: Each of nine squares has 2.5 grams effective carbohydrate plus 2.5 grams fiber, 3 grams protein, and 179 calories
1. Dissolve raspberry geletin in boiling water.
2. Process pecans in a food processor and process to a coarse meal.
3. Add butter, salt, and sweetener and process until smooth
4. Press the pecan mixture into the bottom of a 9X9 square pan
5. Bake for 8-11 minutes, until lightly brown (watch carefully when it gets close)
6. When geletin mixture is cooled to the point where you can comfortably stick your finger into it, add the orange extract and cream cheese and blend. You can use a stick blender, food processor, or regular blender.
7. Add 1 cup of the berries to mixture and pour into pan over the pecan crust.
8. Cool in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes, until mixture is thickening but not set. Sprinkle the other half cup of raspberries across the top.
9. Cool until completely set, and cut into squares.
Nutritional Information: Each of nine squares has 2.5 grams effective carbohydrate plus 2.5 grams fiber, 3 grams protein, and 179 calories
