Chocolate Chip Cookies. Low Carb, Sugar Free, All-Natural, and Gluten Free

Last night the hub's Grannie made the best chocolate chip cookie I have had in my life. It was delicious, the texture was perfect and you could taste the sugar and butter and goodness in every bite. With each bite I took I became increasingly desperate to find something comparable for my sweet girl to eat without guilt or extra insulin. I spent about an hour looking at different recipes online trying to decide what I would need for this to happen.  I like to read  a bunch of different recipes and use bits and pieces from all of them. I know things that will work and things that won't. So after reading all kinds of recipes both low carb and regular cookies I finally made a plan. Here is what I came up with:

What You Will Need:

• 8 oz of cream cheese (softened)
• 1 stick of butter (softened)
• 1 cup of stevia/erythritol blend
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 3 eggs 
• 2 tablespoon peanut butter
• Chocolate chips (depends on how chocolaty you want it - I used 1 1/2 cups)
• 2/3 cup almond flour
• 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder

How You Make Them:

Mix the cream cheese and and butter together until they are super smooth. Add in the stevia/erythritol blend and whip until fluffy. Add your eggs and whip some more. Mix all other ingredients together. Pre-heat oven to 325° F. Scoop cookies onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. The batter feels like it will run as it gets heated but it actually won't, they grow just like regular cookies. 

*Make sure you use Parchment paper not wax paper. These will slide off the parchment paper but stick to the wax paper.

* The edges should be browned a little.

No carbs and no calories, can these be marshmallows?

It became fall this week, not just officially, the weather drastically changed. It is the most beautiful time of the year in southwest VA. With fall comes earlier sunsets and campfires. You can't have campfires without s'mores, but s'mores are not the friendliest for the T1D in your family. I have been anxiously waiting the fall, but I have also been dreading saying "no" to the request for more marshmallows. So this week I made my own ZERO carb marshmallow. Yes, you read that right, these have ZERO net carbs. And you know what is almost as good, they are super easy to make!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• 2 packets of gelatin 
• 1 cup of Erythritol
• 1 cup of Xylitol 
• 1/2 cup of cold water
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla 

HOW ITS DONE

Pour cold water into a bowl, sprinkle in the gelatin and let set for 5-10 minutes. While you are waiting bring the hot water and sweeteners to boil. Here is the important part: make sure the mixture reaches the softball stage on a candy thermometer (mine shows it as being 245° F). Slowly pour in the sweetener mixture into the gelatin as you are mixing. Add in the vanilla. Whip this mixture on high until it forms stiff peaks (it will look like meringue). Pour the mixture into a greased class pan. Then wait... wait... and wait a little more. It takes a few hours to fully set. Slice marshmallows into the shape and size you want. They are extremely sticky so you have to coat them in something. I used powdered erythritol, cinnamon and cocoa powder but I think coconut, would be delicious too.

There is one major downside to these, you can't roast them on a stick. Because there is no sugar in them, they just melt. But don't fret, I have a solution for you. We put 2 or 3 marshmallows into a waffle cone and added in a bunch of of chocolate chunks . We wrapped them in aluminum foil and placed them on the edge of the fire. They were delicious!