Low Carb Cranberry Bliss Bars

I follow several blogs and this recipe is directly from one of those, All Day I Dream About Food.  I love the flavor combination of cranberry and orange.  It sounded amazing and I just had to try it.  I will admit that I have never had the original Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars, which I'm  sure is terrific after tying this recipe. I'm also sure it is loaded with sugar and carbs.  Whatever the reason, if it is merely to eat a little healthier during or after the holidays, give this recipe a try because it is awesome.  The flavor of cranberry and orange are sublime and who doesn't like cream cheese frosting?


I altered the recipe just a bit because I didn't have time to make her sugarless dried cranberries.  I used Crasins in a lesser quantity to help keep the carbs down.  I also substituted in orange extract since I didn't have any oranges on hand for fresh zest.  Even with my alterations these bars turned out amazing and I would encourage you to whip up a pan soon!  While the post is a little late for your Christmas cookie tray, these would be a lovely addition, so bookmark it for next year!

Low Carb Snickerdoodle Cookies

In effort to support my change in eating habits and at the same time satisfy my love for the occasional sweet treat, namely cookies, I've been trying out different recipes.  While most are okay, these are more than just okay.  This may become my go-to cookie recipe.

I found the recipe on food.com and it had 5 stars and the reviews were good so I decided to give it a trial run.  While I didn't get the 30 cookies out of the recipe it touted as the yield, I did get 20.  These little guys look like little donut holes.  They didn't crack and flatten out like my traditional recipe, but they were light and very tasty.

So if you are watching your carbs, diabetic or just want to lighten up but not sacrifice sweet treats over the holidays, these little gems are just the ticket.  Each cookie has 93 calories, 1 net carb, 2 grams of protein and 9 grams of fat.  So leave these for your Santa and he will appreciate your help on a night when he has a lot of cookies to eat!

Double Chocolate Muffins

Ladies and gentlemen....start your blenders (or food processors)!

These muffins are delish and are so easy to make.  You just dump the ingredients in, blend and bake!

Again, I find a lot of inspiration on Pinterest....these were also based on one of those finds.

I substituted ricotta cheese for the plain greek yogurt since I didn't have any plain yogurt in the fridge and the result was still yummy!

I'll be packing one of these this week to have along with my morning coffee when I get to work.  

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

This banana bread is true to the name "quick bread".  I don't know about you, but I never eat the entire bunch of bananas, so this is the answer to your overripe banana problem.  It is also fat free...except for that butter or cream cheese you choose to slather on.

Gluten Free and Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cookies

If you are a lover of peanut butter and especially peanut butter cookies, you most certainly will like this recipe.  It is simple and you only need a handful of items to make them with an added bonus of being low sugar and gluten free!


I found this recipe via Pinterest which led me to a blog which linked  to Food.com.  I'm a big Pinterest fan and have pinned oodles of things that I want to try "someday".  


Anyway, as most of you know, I've been trying to eat healthier.   One of the things I have done is reduce the amount of "white" flour in my diet as well reduced the amount of refined sugar I consume.  Since this recipe was gluten free, I figured I would make a few modifications to reduce the sugar and give it a whirl.  


The result was a decadent, soft peanut butter cookie with a touch (okay, a slathering) of chocolate on the base....go with me for a minute and think Peanut Butter Milano's.  Yeah!  Great Results and to top it off, two cookies weigh in at just 115 calories!  So I can have two cookies with my coffee and not just one, which is much more satisfying!


If you aren't counting calories and don't mind eating the sugar, you can substitute 1 cup of granulated sugar or split the cup into equal portions of both granulated and brown sugar for a richer colored cookie.  Either way you decide to make them, the result will be addicting little cookies... and I'll bet you can't eat just one!  


Gluten Free & Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Yield: 36 cookies 


Ingredients:

1 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup Whey Low Granular
1/2 cup Whey Low Gold
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda


Optional Glaze:
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or grease the cookie sheets.  (I prefer parchment paper for easier cleanup!)

In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the peanut butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.

Add the beaten egg and soda to the peanut butter mixture and beat until well blended.

Using 1 teaspoon (measuring teaspoon) roll the dough into small balls and place them one inch apart on the cookie sheet.

Flatten the dough balls with the tines of a fork.  Dip the tines in the sugar to prevent them from sticking and ruining your lovely crisscross patterns.

Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a rack to cool.

At this point, you can decide if you want to add the glaze on the bottom of the cookies.

Flip the cookies so their bottoms are up.

In a saucepan, heat the cream until it reaches a boil.

Remove the cream from the heat and pour it over the chocolate chips.  Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes then stir and stir and stir.  It will look awful initially, but it will come together and create a lovely chocolate glaze.

Using a pastry brush (yes this is messy), paint the bottom of each cookie with a generous amount of chocolate. 

Let these cool and store between sheets of waxed paper.  The chocolate will keep the cookies nice and soft. If you are looking for a crisper cookie, omit the chocolate glaze.  You can also make sandwich cookies out of these by sticking two cookies together with the chocolate glaze. Either way is yummy!

Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for around 5 days....of course, that's assuming they last that long!

....and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!