Low Carb Chocolate Chip Cookies

COOKIES!!! I want COOKIES!!!  I have quite the sweet tooth and cookies have always been my favorite sweet treat (well, pie too.....).  Anyway, as my venture into low carb eating continues, I need something to replace cookies to keep my carb intake lower.  Replace cookies....NO!!!   I'd never be able to stick with any alternative eating plan ever...period.  So, it's now time for me to add some new baking tools to my toolbox because life without cookies...well, that's not happening for me!

I have thought dozens of times about trying to convert the recipe, but opted for trying recipes I found on the web where others had already done the conversion work.  Yes, I will admit that is lazy, but the ratios and quantities are different and well, it's just scary.  Ingredients for the low carb versions are a little on the pricey side and rather than risk an epic failure and trashing the whole batch of cookies, I became a follower rather than a leader in the recipe conversion department.

Today, I decided to pull myself up by my apron straps and give it a try.  I spent a bit of time looking at other recipes, analyzing the ratios of almond and/or coconut flour, eggs, etc. to try to decide what would be best.  Shoot, I even went all out and made my own low carb brown sugar because I wanted something lower carb than the Splenda Brown Sugar substitute in effort to keep the cookies as low carb as possible.

Baking with almond flour (I used Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour) for this recipe along with a little coconut flour is definitely a skill I need to perfect.  The resulting cookies are not the same as the original recipe, but were definitely a very nice, satisfying and tasty low carb chocolate chip cookie.

If you aren't doing low carb, you can find the original recipe here and they are awesome!
Otherwise, for my low carb baker friends or those who want to convert....start your ovens!  Get ready to sample some raw cookie dough (I know, I can't stay out of it either) and bake yourself and your loved ones some cookies to enjoy and ones you feel good about serving.

Philly Cheese Steak Pizza

I love love love pizza.  I could eat it every day.  So I was thinking pizza for dinner last night but also was having visions of Philly Cheese Steak with that tender thinly sliced steak, grilled peppers and onions and creamy cheese.

Then I had a revolutionary idea....I thought why not?  I'll just blend the two ideas together.  This Philly Cheese Steak Pizza is what resulted.

Blueberry Muffins (Gluten Free)

It's been a couple of weeks since I've added a new post to the blog.  Last week I was visiting family and friends and while I did whip up a cauliflower salad, I didn't think to take photos for posting it, so I'll save that for another time (it will be worth the wait).

My quest continues to morph my eating habits into healthier ones and the hardest part of that is that I like my sweet treats.  Pie, cookies, ice cream, all are things I love and giving them up just isn't an option.  Unfortunately, I'm not good with "moderation" in those areas because they are things I like!   

In my efforts to find a way to work an occasional treat in, I have been doing a lot of reading and learning (hopefully).  Along the way I discovered coconut flour.  You use a fraction as much as regular all-purpose flour and because it absorbs liquid, recipes require more liquid.  I'm not adept at the substitutions on my own yet, so there will be some experimentation going on in my "lab" (aka kitchen) as this determined wizard learns more about baking with some alternative ingredients!  It will be a while before I'm comfortable "winging it" and converting a normal recipe.  So, for now, until I get the hang of things, I'm sticking with recipes that I've found on blogs, etc. and making some adjustments that won't cause a catastrophic failure of the recipe!

Coconut flour is high fiber and high protein, so that fits right into a low carb style of eating for those of you who are doing low carb diets or are thinking about it.  This recipe is also gluten free, so my friends that are dealing with celiac or are just eliminating gluten from their diet will be happy with this recipe as well.

I must come clean on my recipe fau paux.  When I made these this morning, I used 1 cup of blueberries rather than the 1/2 cup the recipe calls for.  Surprisingly enough, the muffins still turned out amazing!

This recipe calls for blueberries, which I nearly always have on hand, but you could also get creative and substitute other fruits, such as strawberries if you aren't a blueberry fan.

Blueberry Muffins
Yield:  6 Muffins

Ingredients:

3 eggs
3 Tablespoons Stevia in the Raw
3 Tablespoons melted Coconut Oil
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup sifted coconut flour (you must sift)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup chopped roasted almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line six muffin cups with paper liners.
Melt the coconut oil by heating a pan until hot, removing it from the burner and add the coconut oil to melt.
Blend all ingredients except the berries using a hand mixer or blender until smooth.
Fold in the berries.
Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the chopped roasted almonds.
Pour the batter into the lined muffin cups.
Bake for 16 minutes.

...and That's What's Cooking at Cathys ~ Enjoy !