Low Carb Black Forest Cheesecake Cupcakes

This came out better than I had expected! I don't know if it should be called Black Forest, since I think that uses cherries on top. Mine has strawberry preserves, reduced on the stove of course. Maybe it should be called 'Toms River Black Forest Cheesecake Cupcakes', just kidding!

The original recipe is from Cooking Classy.

My friend, Judy Bennett, had posted it on a Facebook group page 'My favorite recipe's'. So I set out to reformulate this to be low carb, as much as possible. *Some ingredients that I used were Reduced Fat, but you could use the full fat and end up with slightly less carbs. ALSO, I have eliminated the crust portion of the original recipe.

Ingredients:

CHEESECAKE

3 ounces Baker's unsweetened chocolate (for the melted chocolate part of recipe)

5 Tablespoons of granulated Swerve (for the melted chocolate part of recipe)

5 Tablespoons of Heavy Whipping Cream (for the melted chocolate part of recipe)

1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon of granulated Swerve

2 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)

1 pinch of salt

12 ounces of cream cheese, softened well (Reduced Fat)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup of sour cream (Reduced Fat)

WHIPPED TOPPING

1 + 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

1 + 1/2 Tablespoons granulated Swerve

FRUIT TOPPING

3 Tablespoons Polaner Sugar-Free + Fiber Strawberry Preserves

Splash of heavy whipping cream

Directions:

FOR THE CHEESECAKE FILLING

Preheat oven to 325° F.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp Swerve, sifted cocoa, and salt, until no clumps of cocoa remain. There shouldn't be any since you sifted the cocoa! Add cream cheese to a mixing bowl and pour sweetener mixture over cream cheese, then using an electric hand mixer set on low speed, whip mixture just until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time, blending just until combined after each addition and adding in vanilla with second egg. Let that sit while you melt your chocolate. Put the Baker's chocolate in a small saucepan over a low flame. Keep stirring while it's melting. Add the 5 Tbsp of Swerve and stir it well to incorporate. Once it's melted and mixed well, add the 5 Tbsp heavy whipping cream until smooth. Let it cool slightly, then add to the ingredients already mixed. Mix until just combined, then add 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream and sour cream and mix just until combined. Forcefully tap bowl against the countertop, about 30 times to release some of the air bubbles. Divide mixture among 12 cupcake liners in a muffin pan, adding a slightly heaping 1/4 cup to each. I highly recommend the liners I use from If You Care and look for the Where to Buy link at the top of their page. Bake in 325° F oven 17 - 21 minutes until centers only jiggle slightly. (My oven was the full 21 minutes). Remove from oven and allow to cool at room temperature 1 hour, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours.

FOR THE WHIPPED TOPPING

Note - It's preferably best to add the whipped topping 2 hours before serving.

In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, 1 + 1/4 cups of heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form, then add 1 + 1/2 Tbsp of Swerve and whip until stiff peaks form. Pipe or spread the whipped cream into an even layer over the cupcakes, then pipe a rim around edge over that layer (or if spreading whipped cream, just create a small well into the center).

FOR THE FRUIT TOPPING

Let this cool before adding on top of the whipped cream layer.

Place 3 Tbsp of the strawberry preserves into a small saucepan. Heat over low flame until it starts to slightly liquefy. Leave some of the strawberry chunks solid. Turn off the flame and put a splash of heavy whipping cream in and mix well. Once this is cool, spoon a heaping teaspoon into the center of each. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Notes:

Total carb count for entire recipe based on *my ingredients used is 42g net carbs. YIELD: 12 cupcakes, 3.5g net carbs per cupcake.

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls

Super easy, super good, and Low Carb!! The original recipe from Taste of Home is titled 'Peanut Butter Snowballs' using white chocolate. I don't have any sugar-free white chocolate, so I figured mine would be more like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. They are, but they are so much better!!

My friend, Judy Bennett, had the original recipe posted on a Facebook group 'My favorite recipe's'.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Confectioner's Swerve

1/2 cup chunky Peanut Butter (Smucker's Natural)

3 Tablespoons softened butter (super softened!)

5 squares (1 Bar) ChocoPerfection Dark European Bar

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the sweetener, peanut butter, and butter. Since I use natural peanut butter, I had to put my mixture into the refrigerator until it was firm enough to form balls. I think an hour is good enough, if it's not forming balls easily put it back in the refrigerator for some more time.

When firm enough, form the balls, maybe 3/4 to 1 inch and place on waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. Chill for 30 minutes or until nice and firm.

Next, melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high at 30-second intervals, stirring each time until melted. Using two forks, dip balls and place on waxed paper to harden.

I have mine stored in the refrigerator at all times.

You should be able to get at least 18 to 24.

Notes:

Total carbs for the ingredients I used is 18g net carbs. This should give you 1g or less per ball depending on how many you get out of this recipe.

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3 Crusty Breads (NO KNEAD)

Multi-Grain

Pepperoni & Mozzarella

Sliced View

White

The Mulit-grain was made as a full loaf. The White was divided in half, and one half had pepperoni and shredded mozzarella added to it. I can't decide which one I like the best, but the multi-grain is slightly leading the pack!

This will probably be it for awhile making crusty breads. I'm going to try making regular loaf pan bread, but following the no-knead method as described below. My shapes are not consistent with the crusty bread, since the dough spreads out in the cast iron pot. At least with a loaf pan it only has one way to go, and that is in height!

INGREDIENTS

3 cups Multi-Grain OR White bread flour (from Low Carb Foods)

1 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt

1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid rise yeast

1 1/2 cups water

2 heaping Tablespoons melted Spectrum Organic Shortening (non-hydrogenated)

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and yeast. Add water and melted shortening, and mix until a shaggy mixture forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 18 hours. DO NOT REFRIGERATE. I made mine at 3 P.M. and it was ready the next morning at 9 A.M. to get it into the oven.

Heat oven to 450° F, but first add your cast iron pot with lid on it, into the cold oven. When the oven reaches temperature, start timing for 30 minutes.

While it's heating, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball. You can cover it with the same plastic wrap that was on your bowl. Let it sit there undisturbed until the oven is ready.

Remove HOT pot from the oven and drop in the dough. Cover and return to the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove pot from the oven and place the bread on a cooling rack. Once it's cooled down, you can slice it with a serrated edged knife.

NOTES

My calculations in carb count is for the Multi-Grain recipe. Total carbs is 12g. I got 12 slices, including the 2 heel ends. The bigger slices should be approximately 1.2g.

Basically, it all depends on how many slices you can get out of the recipe. 

The full recipe of the White (both breads) would be 24g carbs. I would imagine that you could get 6 slices out of the white and 6 out of the pepperoni & mozzarella. Roughly 2g per slice.

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Low Carb (No-Knead) Crusty Artisan Bread

I've been looking for a recipe to convert to low carb, and thanks to my friend, Judy Bennett, on Facebook, the search is over! The fact that this bread doesn't require kneading, immediately got my attention. I have tried making baked goods that required kneading, but never had any luck with them. I guess I just don't know how to be kneady, LOL!

The original recipe can be found here at Simply So Good. If you scroll down her page you will see other varieties of ingredients you can add to the dough. Also, read her FAQ section, very helpful!

PLEASE NOTE - The loaf I made is 1/2 the recipe, however, I am listing the ingredients for a Full loaf of bread!

Also, the flour I used can be found here at Low Carb Foods. The next time I make this I will use their white bread flour.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups Pizza/Bagel flour (from Low Carb Foods)

1 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt

1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid rise yeast

1 1/2 cups water

4 Tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and yeast. Add water and olive oil, and mix until a shaggy mixture forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 18 hours. DO NOT REFRIGERATE. I made mine at 3 P.M. and it was ready the next morning at 9 A.M. to get it into the oven.

Heat oven to 450° F, but first add your cast iron pot with lid on it, into the cold oven. When the oven reaches temperature, start timing for 30 minutes.

While it's heating, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball. You can cover it with the same plastic wrap that was on your bowl. Let it sit there undisturbed until the oven is ready.

Remove HOT pot from the oven and drop in the dough. Cover and return to the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove pot from the oven and place the bread on a cooling rack. Once it's cooled down, you can slice it with a serrated edged knife.

NOTES

My calculations in carb count is for the 1/2 recipe. Total carbs is 12g. I got 8 slices, including the 2 heel ends. The 6 bigger slices should be approximately 1.75g.

Basically, it all depends on how many slices you can get out of the full recipe. The full recipe would be 24g carbs for the entire loaf. I would imagine that you could get 12 slices out of that.

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Maple Walnut Biscotti

Tomorrow is my Birthday, and I needed to whip up some snacks, so I don't get tempted to indulge in the carby desserts.

Okay, so I think I've come up with my new favorite flavor for biscotti. I passed on making a glaze for this, just in case I want to dip this into my coffee!

Ingredients

2 cups Almond Flour

1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener (or granulated erythritol)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (add more if you like it nutty)

1/4 cup melted butter

1 egg, lightly beaten 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp maple extract

2 Tbsp Sugar Free Maple Syrup (I use Walden Farms Pancake Syrup)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, Swerve, baking powder, and xanthan gum.

Stir in the chopped walnuts, melted butter, egg, vanilla extract, maple extract, and Sugar Free Maple syrup, until the dough blends together.

Place dough onto parchment lined baking sheet and form into a flat log 3 inches wide by 11 inches in length. Pat the ends of the length so that the slices will be consistent, sort of making it rectangular instead of rounded ends.

Bake 25 minutes, or until lightly browned and firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 250°F.

When cooled, cut into 14 even slices. Put slices back onto baking sheet cut-side down and bake for 15 minutes, then flip each slice and bake for another 15 minutes. Turn oven off and let biscotti sit inside until cool. I leave my oven door slightly open to cool it down quicker.

Notes

14 Servings. Total net carbs for full recipe is 20g. Figuring 14 servings, each serving would be 1.4g net carbs. These amounts are based on the ingredients that I used.

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Low Carb Fudgsicles (REVISED)

Super easy recipe for low carb fudgsicles in ice pop molds!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups of canned coconut milk (unsweetened)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 tsp salt

4 1/2 Tbsp Swerve or other granular sweetener
6 drops Liquid Sucralose (EZ-Sweet)

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 square ChocoPerfection European Dark bar shaved (Optional)

Directions:

In a medium bowl add all of the ingredients. Mix with an electric hand mixer on low until well combined. Switch to a high speed for 2 minutes to make it light and airy.

Pour mixture into ice pop molds.

Notes:

Yield - 6 servings

Net carbs based on what I used is 2.4g per fudgsicle

Each mold holds slightly less than 1/2 cup

Optional: Add some chopped hazelnuts, walnuts, or any other chopped nut. First, add some of the chocolate mixture into the molds, then add  a small amount of chopped nuts. Finish with more chocolate mixture in the molds. The fudgsicle will release easier from the mold if the nuts are hidden within the mix.

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Shrimp Saute over Low Carb Pasta

Geez it's been awhile since my last post (say 2 Hail Mary's, just kidding)! I've been trying out new recipes, and old recipes that have been tweaked, just haven't gotten around to posting.
I don't know if you are aware, but I'm a crafter, mostly paper crafts. I had my first craft fair of the season early in September, but it was disappointing in sales. My next one is November, so I've been busy crafting to build up my inventory.

I was looking through my recipe folder, and found a Shrimp Saute dish that I came up with a couple of years ago. I used to be able to have it over rice or some other carb, but nowadays I just can't handle certain carbs with regard to my Type 2 Diabetes.

Well, my niece Gina had mentioned this pasta that is supposed to be low carb from a company called Dreamfield's. I found it hard to believe, and just absorbed the info and put it somewhere in my brain for safekeeping. Then DJ Foodie had mentioned something on Facebook about this pasta that some people had good results with it, and others didn't. Again, I put this somewhere in my brain for a later time.

Over this past weekend, I was in Shop-Rite and ventured into looking for this pasta. There it was, in the regular pasta aisle, on the bottom shelf. It was priced at around $2.49 a box, which is okay with me. I bought a box of elbows, angel hair, and lasagna. Now my only hope was that it would work for me. I followed the directions on the box EXACTLY! My pre-dinner glucose was 127 (a great number for me), so I took my diabetic pill before my dinner meal. The best news is that 2 hours after eating a serving of elbows, my glucose was now 117. WHAT??? It actually dropped, which has NEVER happened before, even with taking my meds. Needless to say I am a happy camper with being able to enjoy pasta again.

The meal that I made tonight (in the photo) is my Shrimp Saute over Dreamfield's elbow pasta. I had measured out less than a serving, which a serving is 1/2 cup dry pasta. Tonight I used 1/3 cup. A typical serving for this says on the box that it is 5g of Digestible Carbs. It's a long explanation, so I would suggest going to their website for more info.

Now, you could also put this over Roasted Cauliflower or even Grilled Zucchini, it doesn't have to be pasta. But hey, if it's only 5g then I would say go for it. As long as you can eat wheat, since it has wheat in it.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 TBSP Butter
• 1/8 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp Lemon juice
• 1 Shallot chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp Tomato Paste
• 1/8 tsp Black pepper
• 6 or 7 Extra Large cleaned shrimp (31 to 40 count per pound)

DIRECTIONS

Melt the butter in a saute or frying pan. Add the minced garlic over low heat. Next, add the chopped shallot and saute until opaque, over low to medium heat. Add the lemon juice, tomato paste, and black pepper. Stir well and saute for 30 seconds. Move shallots to the side of the pan and add the shrimp. When the shrimp turn pink, approximately 2 minutes, turn to cook the other side. Move the shallots back in the shrimp and mix together while cooking. Serve immediately over whatever you prefer.

Variation: If you'd like a creamy style sauce, omit the lemon juice. When the shrimp are done, remove them from the pan, turn off the stove and remove pan from burner. Add 2 tablespoons (or more for more of the sauce) of heavy cream and whisk well. Add the shrimp back in to coat them. This was so good. I think I might try scallops with this sauce!

Notes: This is for one serving. Adjust your amounts for more servings. Since my husband doesn't eat seafood, this was created for 1 person. Also, I use tomato paste from a squeeze tube.
Shrimp Saute is 6g carbs. If you add the Dreamfield's pasta of 5g per serving, total carbs for this meal is 11g.

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