Cheese Crookies

You're probably thinking, what the heck is a 'Crookie'? It's my version of a cross between a cracker and a cookie. It has the texture and taste of a cheese cracker, but the look and shape of a cookie. I intend on modifying the shape to be square and flatter, and then it will be a true cracker. The taste of these are awesome, so cheesy!

I adapted a recipe from Trisha Yearwood's Cheese Straws on the Food Network. I tried her method of using a cookie dough press, but the mixture was just too dense and difficult to work with in a press. Next time I make these I'll make some adjustments to get them to work in the press. I went out and bought one specifically for this recipe. I might have to resort to just using it for cookies.

Ingredients:

15 ozs. of shredded sharp cheddar room temperature (or Colby Jack)

1/2 cup butter softened

2 cups Jen's bake mix (Splendid Gluten-free Bake Mix 3)

1/4 tsp. xanthan gum

3/4 tsp. salt

pinch pepper

pinch cayenne

pinch paprika

pinch garlic powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Put the softened cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat it for 15 to 30 minutes.

In a medium bowl, sift 1 and 1/2 cups of Jen's bake mix with all of the spices. Gradually add the seasoned flour to the cheese mixture by large spoonfuls, beating well after each addition. Now, gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup of the unseasoned bake mix until the dough is somewhat stiff but still soft enough to the touch. You will not need to add all of the bake mix. I ended up using only 1/4 cup and returned the balance to its canister.

I use non-stick parchment paper in my trays. With this amount you might need 3 or 4 trays. Bake at 325° for 15 to 20 minutes. Any thin areas will bake quicker and probably burn, so be careful to have consistent thickness.

I rolled the dough into 1/4 inch balls and flattened them with a fork. I may adjust this recipe to be softer to be put into a cookie press to make cheese straws, or fill a plastic bag and cut the tip to pipe the dough on.

Yield: 110 Crookies

Serving Size: 5 Crookies are 2g  net carbs.

Optional: Sprinkle some salt on them as soon as they are out of the oven.

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Mushroom Saute with Wine (REVISED)

I've been making this side dish for many years, often with a few tweaks here and there. My Mom used to make this, and I could never get enough of it. She wasn't Italian, but could cook as good as any other Italian in my Dad's family!
I'm pretty sure that she used a Red Wine that my Grandfather made in his wine cellar, but I'm using a Merlot wine. So, I would assume that any dry red wine would work here. I have such great memories playing under my Grandfather's grape vine that provided a shady place out of the sun. My grandparents had the biggest vegetable garden that I had ever seen for a residential area. Grandma grew tomatoes (the best taste ever!), green beans, eggplant, and they had a fig tree. I'm sure there were other vegetables but I can't remember them all. I remember the chicken coop, and still have disturbing memories when Grandma slaughtered the chickens. If my memory is correct, the hens in the coop were for laying eggs. She went on a bus into Paterson, New Jersey to get live chickens, that would later become dinner.
Grandma made the best pizza from scratch, topped with her crushed tomatoes, fresh garlic, and some freshly grated Locatelli Peccorino Romano cheese. Sometimes she would add some anchovies, yum! There was NO mozzarella on her pizza anywhere, and it really didn't need it. Everything she made was from scratch, and a lot of it came from her garden.
Okay, moving on to today's recipe!

Ingredients:
an 8oz. pack of Baby Bella OR White mushrooms sliced
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Extra Light)
1 Tbsp Butter (REVISED)
1/4 tsp Fine Sea Salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or less)
1/2 cup Merlot wine

Directions:
First thing is to make sure your mushrooms are cleaned. Add olive oil and butter to a medium saute or frying pan. Have the burner set to medium high heat and add the mushrooms to the pan. Toss them with tongs for about 2 minutes. Lower the flame to medium. Next, add the salt, pepper, and garlic powder, then toss the mushrooms to distribute the spices. Add the crushed red pepper and toss again to mix. Finally, add the Merlot wine (or any dry red), turn the heat up to high until the wine has cooked off. Keep tossing and coating the mushrooms with the wine until the wine has completely disappeared. That's it!

I have always winged it with the spices before measuring them out today. I adjusted the final measurements in the Ingredients list above. I didn't have enough salt (for my taste), and the red pepper was so hot on my tongue that I cut that back. Even the wine wasn't enough, but like I said the amounts have been adjusted in the Ingredients.
I like to have this as a side along with my morning scrambled eggs. It is also a good side for some beef dishes. Since I'm the only one that eats mushrooms in my house (hubby doesn't like them at all), I only used the one pack of mushrooms. If you have a bigger family, go ahead and double or triple them, but you will need a bigger pan.

Notes:
Adding butter to the oil in the frying pan has made this an irresistible side dish! Once I tasted them, I couldn't stop eating them and I ate the whole bunch of mushrooms!! 
Based on the ingredients used the entire recipe is approximately 4.5g net carbs. It should give you around 1 and 1/2 cups of mushrooms for the full recipe.
Serving size = 1/2 cup with 1.5g net carbs

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"Not So Impossible" Coconut Pie

Five slices remain after my husband, Frank, got a taste of it. I had 1 slice, and he had 2!

This morning when I went into the kitchen, I saw a note from Frank with a happy face ☺saying "The pie was GREAT!". To get a note, he must really like it!!

He's my recipe tester, if he likes it, everybody will like it. He's very difficult when it comes to eating healthy, the low-carb way, but he's slowly getting there.

I adapted this recipe from Barbo's Kitchen (a friend of Jennifer Eloff). I tried it a couple of days ago by making 1/2 the recipe and putting them in a muffin tin. They tasted good, so I knew I would be making it again really soon, but in a pie plate with the full recipe.

My sister reminded me that our Mom used to make the original Impossible Pie using Bisquick mix. I do remember eating it, but cannot recall how it was made.

At 1.2g carbs per serving, my version works really well as a low carb dessert!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of Better than Eggs (or 4 eggs)

3 Tbsp melted butter

3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

1 and 1/4 cup of water

a Pinch of Sea Salt

1/4 cup Biscuit Mix from LC Foods Corp

1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener

1/4 tsp Liquid Sweetener (I used E-Z Sweetz liquid Sucralose)

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup unsweetened finely grated coconut

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Using a blender, put all EXCEPT the coconut in and mix until smooth. Add the coconut and stir into batter. Spray a  9" pie plate with a cooking spray. Pour the batter into the greased pie dish and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until custard in the center is firm.

Once it's cooled down, place it in the refrigerator to store it. Whipped Cream goes nicely on a slice of this pie!

Notes:

The entire pie is 9.5g carbs, based on the ingredients that I used.

If you slice into 8 servings, each serving would be approximately 1.2g carbs.

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Low Carb Snow Drops

I can easily get carried away with eating these cookies, they are that good!! The original recipe is in 'Low-Carbing Among Friends Volume-4' cookbook. You can find it on page 139.
I subbed the flours, and went with Jennifer Eloff's Bake mix version 2. However, I did not add the gelatin or the xanthan gum.  The cookies turned out just fine without either of them.

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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