OOOEY GOOOEY PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIES

I have found that the more I cook low carb, the less and less I use recipes. I was never someone that strictly followed a recipe. Even when I use a recipe I always add a few things or use a little less of something. I have always viewed recipes as suggestions. But I am learning things about different types of flours and sweeteners, and sometimes it seems like low carb recipes don't account for these changes. I set out trying to use recipes, but never make it through without making big changes. I wanted to make brownies with peanut flour a few days ago, but I couldn't find any recipes. I decided to give it a try on my own and boy am I glad I did.

I call my way of cooking low carb, because carbs are what you watch out for with T1D, but most of my recipes could also be termed 'grain-free' or 'sugar-free' (I don't like to call it 'sugar free' because that is so often associated with artificial sweeteners).  If you are wanting to go grain free or sugar free for any reason, I highly recommend reading any book by Maria Emmerich. Her dessert book can be found HERE. I had a friend give me a couple of her books shortly after my daughter's diagnosis, and it opened my eyes to so many things.

I never cooked with peanut flour pre-T1D. However, from the very first bag of peanut flour I opened, I knew I would love it. It's texture is just like regular flour, and it smells wonderful! It gives everything a light peanut flavor and makes everything very dense.

Peanut Butter Brownies

• 1 cup of peanut flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa flour
• 1 1/4 cup of erythritol
• 6 tablespoons of melted coconut oil
• 6 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Whisk all dry ingredients together. Stir in all other ingredients. The peanut flour gets a little clumpy, so you have to stir it a little longer than expected. Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper and bake on 300° until the edges start to look a little dry. This should take about 20 minutes. Pour Chocolate frosting over brownies as soon as you remove them from the oven. You must let these brownies completely cool before serving.

Chocolate Frosting

• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• 2 oz unsweetened bakers chocolate
• 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon of erythritol
• 1 tablespoon of liquid stevia

Melt chocolate, butter and coconut oil in a double boiler. Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir until the erythritol is no longer gritty.

I cut these into 3x3" pieces and they have 3.7 carbs per piece. This could vary slightly depending on your ingredients.

Maple Syrup... the healthy way

In honor of Natalie's Dr.'s appointment tomorrow, I am giving you the gift of sugar free syrup!

I'm not a crazy pancake or waffle person. I can sort of take them or leave them, unless it's Waffle House. But, there is something about pancakes when you are a kid. When you look at the carb count on pancakes and syrup it can be very disheartening to a parent. A few months ago I bought organic maple flavoring from a local health food store. I instantly had plans for syrup and I knew with a little effort I could really make this one work.

I grew up with my mom making syrup. We never seemed to have syrup on days when we wanted pancakes. I love the way sugar water boils, I love how small the bubbles are and how it never seems to boil over. I knew I could make syrup for my girl. Well, last night I finally decided to give it a shot. The results were exactly what I was hoping for! The whole house was filled with the aroma of maple.

The consistency was the part I was worried about. Because alternative sweeteners don't get sticky, I was afraid it would just stay like water. But, it didn't, even when I was boiling it, you could tell it wasn't water.

I like this recipe because even if you aren't diabetic, no one needs to be eating the amounts of sugar in syrup. Not to mention that most of the time it is high fructose corn syrup.

Sugar Free Maple Syrup

• 3 cups of water
• 1/2 cup of erythritol
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar substitute - find the one I bought here
• 3 tablespoons of maple flavoring
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Add water and whisk some more. Bring to a heavy boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 5 minutes. 

That's it! Nothing fancy, just delicious.

My pancake recipe is still in the works. Today's were a little ho hum. It was a good thing we could load them down with syrup. We can make them better!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Peanut butter and chocolate is definitely one of the best combinations on earth! I knew I would be able to make peanut butter cookies because the recipe I used pre-T1D didn't have any flour in it. I have found that if something doesn't call for flour I can usually figure out a way to make it work. The first ones I made were terrible. They were dry, bitter and just didn't that je ne sais quoi.  But after a while of cookies with all sorts of alternative ingredients I have learned a thing or two. I am going to share the most important with you. Lower the temperature on whatever you are cooking. Any alternative sweetener needs a lower temp. Sugar burns hot, but none of the other sweeteners do.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

• 1 egg
• 3/4 brown sugar substitute (my favorite is made with xylitol and molasses flavoring. I ordered            this one, but our local grocery store caries something similar) 
• 1 cup of peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 cup of low carb chocolate chunks - find the recipe here

Whisk together egg, sugar substitute and baking soda together. I like to do this until I see bubbles in my mixture. Stir in the peanut butter. Make sure to stir well.  When the mixture looks well combined, add in the chocolate chunks. I used large chocolate chunks so I had to make sure they were inside the cookie. I didn't want the whole bottom to be chocolate. Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Place the cookies on the paper. You will want to put the cookie dough basically in the shape you want your cookies to be, they don't change shape much. Bake on 300° F. Approximately 8 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Don't over cook!!

*I think these are best when kept at room temperature wrapped in aluminum foil.

This is definitely one of my favorite recipes so far. Not only because it's tasty, but because it tastes like the 'real' thing.

Chocolate Chunks

I am a chocolate fanatic. I love to buy a bag of chocolate chips and snack on them until they are gone. Every dessert is better with chocolate... Life is better with chocolate. I have tried and failed many times to make an alternative to chocolate chips. I can't buy the sugar free ones at the store because of all the terrible ingredients. I wouldn't eat what is in those, and I definitely don't want my daughter to. Where did this leave me? With a freezer full of homemade chocolate in wax paper that just wouldn't cooperate. I went through more bakers chocolate than you should ever buy, but finally I found a way. This came about by reading about 30 different recipes for low carb chocolate before realizing that I would have to put my own stamp on it. I am almost satisfied with this recipe, I still think I could make it a little better for snacking, but for baking this did the trick.

Chocolate Chunks

• 4 oz bakers chocolate. (Make sure to get unsweetened, or it won't be low carb)
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
• 3 Tablespoons of erythritol or your favorite sweetener (you can by a stevia and erythritol blend at most stores, but for some reason it is just labelled as stevia. Just check the ingredients)
• 2 Tablespoons of liquid stevia

Melt the chocolate, butter and coconut oil on as low as your stove top will go. After the chocolate is smooth, add the erythritol. Continue to stir until the chocolate is no longer gritty. This may take a while depending on what sweetener you used, but don't turn your stove up or it will burn the chocolate. When the chocolate is well mixed, stir in the stevia. Spread out onto a pan lined with parchment paper and place in freezer until hard. Break the chocolate into whatever sized chunks fit your fancy. 

*This is not milk chocolate, but it is very sweet dark chocolate

I store mine in a ziplock baggy in the freezer.

Stay tuned for a delicious peanut butter chocolate chunk cookie! The hubs ate 4 of these fresh out of the oven!

Vanilla Bean Sweet Cream

I was raised on ice cream. When I would go visit my papa he would cut the carton off the ice cream and use a knife to divide the ice cream perfectly between all the grandkids. I have so many memories that seem to be centered around ice cream. I want my girl to grow up knowing that ice cream is a normal thing, not just a speciality dessert for birthdays and such. Therefore, I have been searching for some low carb ice cream that would allow her to eat her fill in ice cream without having to stress over how much insulin she needs. After many mediocre attempts I have finally found a recipe I am satisfied with.

Vanilla Bean Sweet Cream

• 7 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups of Erythritol (Truvia works ok with this recipe)
• 1 tablespoon liquid stevia
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cups of unsweetened almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (vanilla extract would be ok, I just like to see the dots)
• Dash of salt

Mix the egg yolks and erythritol together in a mixer on high for 1 to 2 minutes, or until fluffy. Turn the mixer down to low and slowly add in the HWC. Once this is mixed, pour into a pot and heat until the mixture is warm and smooth (not boiling!).  I like to put it in the freezer until it gets cold, but not frozen. Pour into your ice cream maker and get excited!

P.S. I am getting ready to try a milky way version and I cannot wait.

I knew this one was ok when even non low-carbers liked it. 

This has a less than 2 carbs but 1/2 cup serving!

Mmmmmm Mocha

So I love coffee, but not the plain black stuff. I want a little flare in my coffee. I want to taste the coffee underneath something sweet. I love all those fun creamers, but when you look at how many carbs are in the sweet stuff it is hard to stomach, and when you look at the sugarfree stuff the ingredients are scary. Plus this will take you about the time that it takes to brew your coffee in a keurig. 

• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons erythritol (or any other all natural sweetener you prefer)
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Mix dry ingredients together and then add in the heavy whipping cream. continue to mix as you bring to boil. Don't stop stirring until you are done. The alternative sweeteners boil at a different temp than sugar so you don't want it to free boil. Add to the coffee of your choice and enjoy!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter

I challenge you to find any other food combination better than chocolate and peanut butter. They mix perfectly together. The problem is that a Reese cup has 24 carbs per cup. They are not exactly what you would call 'diabetic friendly'. I tried and tweaked several recipes before I felt like one was good enough. So after a lot of blood, sweat and tears, (I wish I was joking about that) I bring you my chocolate and peanut butter treat!

Peanut Butter Center

• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (Check carbs and sugar)
• 3 tablespoons of Stevia (the kind that measures cup for cup like sugar)

Mix peanut butter and stevia together until smooth and set aside for later

Chocolate

• 2 oz of unsweetened bakers chocolate (This is generally next to they chocolate chips in your grocery store)
• 1 teaspoon of butter
• 1 teaspoon of coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons of erythitol
• 1 teaspoon of liquid stevia (If you don't have this just add a little extra erythritol)
• 2-3 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream 

Melt chocolate in a double boiler, if you don't have one just stick an oven safe bowl on top of a boiling pot of water. Whisk everything except the heavy whipping cream together as the chocolate melts. After the ingredients are mixed together and smooth add the heavy whipping cream. Then whisk some more, if you are not sure what to do next, just keep whisking. I have found that the longer I do this, the better my results are. When the oils starts separating out from the chocolate it is time to cool it down a little bit. Remove pot from stove, and keep whisking. I like to sing "just keep whisking, just keep whisking" to the tune of "just keep swimming" from the movie Finding Nemo. When the chocolate is smooth and you feel like you are willing to burn your mouth in order to taste it you know you are ready to pour into your molds. 

I don't have any great candy molds yet, so I have just been using cupcakes liners stuffed into a muffin pan, as if I were making cupcakes. Pour in a spoonful of chocolate until the bottom of the liner is completely covered. Put in a dollop of peanut butter mixture and then completely cover with chocolate. Place them in the refrigerator when you are done.

The directions make this seem a little overwhelming, but I assure you it is not. Play around with it, find out your way of making them better. 

These have been a wonderful addition to our sweet treat collection, I might even like them better than the real thing!

*exact carb count will vary based on your peanut butter choice, and how much heavy whipping cream you use, but mine have less than 2g per piece!!