Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes, keto-ized

Often I wonder "why do I love cooking so much, and when did that start?" and then I think, maybe the eating part?

When I lived at home I rarely cooked (mum always made the best food. duh). Now that I don't live at home, I cook every day. I love that it makes me feel busy, and like I'm learning something. I play the Sims and when I'm in the kitchen (my for real kitchen) I imagine myself with a little skill bubble slowly filling up every 10 minutes. So, definitely not just the eating part. But that is pretty nice, too.

Fortunately, I didn't start out by lighting my oven and myself on fire every other time I used it. But learning the ropes in my own kitchen is what got me to stick to keto the first time, and what's keeping me going this time. I love experimenting, and I love making food that makes me feel full, but not like an absolute pile of steaming shit that wants to lay around on the floor all day and stink up the place. Errr... Carbs and I have a complicated relationship.

ANYWHOODLES. Someone, somewhere, mentioned pumpkin pie cupcakes to me. Can you believe that? Pumpkin pie cupcakes. At first I thought, that is a dessert that is trying to be a lot of things. Then I thought, that dessert is trying to be a lot of delicious things. Delicious things that belong in my mouth, and your mouth, and everyone else's mouth. Unfortunately, it is not a keto-friendly recipe. WELL. That got me excited! I love making carby recipes keto-friendly! No, I didn't bother checking if someone had already done it. I wanted to try my hand at it and see how much I've learned.

I actually have two recipes for you in this post. TWO. When I read the Irresistible Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes recipe I had many ideas of what to use for substitution. Of course, in place of flours my go to has always been almond flour, coconut flour, shredded coconut, or flaxmeal (usually a combination of a few). Some of the other stuff gave me a few AHA! moments. For example, evaporated milk, thick and sugary. At first I thought of that low-carb, low-cal unsweetened almond milk. But almond milk is seriously thin. So, something thicker but still milk-like. Cream? Easily. How about coconut milk? Yes! I had never baked with it before, so this was a great opportunity.

Left: Almond & Coconut Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes
Right: Coconut Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

My primary concern at the planning stage was whether the flavour from the coconut flour and coconut milk would over-power that delicious pumpkin pie taste. Let me tell you right now, it did not. My SO loathes coconut and he had no idea I had used it until I said so. If you try the batter (I know you all do it) before you cook it, you can taste coconut for sure. Once baked you'll really have to pay attention to pick up the flavour. 

Ingredients

Almond & Coconut Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

• 15 oz pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 3/4 c (~175ml) coconut milk, room temperature (canned, not a carton of coconut drink, and not coconut water!)
• 2 large eggs, whole
• 3/4 c granulated sweetener, or equivalent (I used Splenda)
• 1/3 c almond flour
• 1/3 c coconut flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Nutritional information, per serving (12): 83 cals, 5g net carbs (8g carbs, 3g fiber), 5g fat, 3g protein

Nutritional information, whole batch: 991 cals, 69g net carbs (99g carbs, 30g fiber), 62g fat, 36g protein

Almond & Coconut	Calories	Net Carbs (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Fat (g)	Protein (g)
15 oz pumpkin puree	177	29	41	12	0	6
3/4 c coconut milk	306	10	10	0	29	3
2 large eggs	147	1	1	0	10	13
3/4 c Splenda	0	18	18	0	0	0
1/3 c almond flour	183	2	6	4	16	7
1/3 c coconut flour	154	7	20	13	7	7
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice	12	1	2	1	0	0
1 tsp vanilla extract	12	1	1	0	0	0

Coconut Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

My huge can of pumpkin puree, and my can of coconut milk, had enough contents for two batches of cupcakes. So why not? I got to experiment a little more, too.

• 15 oz pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 3/4 c (~180ml) coconut milk, room tempurature (canned, not a carton of coconut drink, and not coconut water!)
• 2 large eggs, whole
• 1/4 c sugar-free syrup
• 1/2 c granulated sweetener, or equivalent (I used Splenda)
• 2/3 c coconut flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Nutritional information, per serving (12): 89 cals, 6g net carbs (10g carbs, 4g fiber), 5g fat, 3g protein

Nutritional information, whole batch: 1067 cals, 79g net carbs (124g carbs, 45g fiber), 55g fat, 38g protein

Coconut	Calories	Net Carbs (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Fat (g)	Protein (g)
15 oz pumpkin puree	177	29	41	12	0	6
3/4 c coconut milk	306	10	10	0	29	3
2 large eggs	147	1	1	0	10	13
1/2 c Splenda	0	12	12	0	0	0
1/4 c E.D. Smith SF Syrup	40	9	9	0	0	0
2/3 c coconut flour	373	16	48	32	16	16
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice	12	1	2	1	0	0
1 tsp vanilla extract	12	1	1	0	0	0

Damn good thing I made both batches within a day of each other. We've been eating them like crazy, but I wanted to compare the two. I'll do a break down for you.

Left: Almond & Coconut Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes
Right: Coconut Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes 

• Appearance: Neither of these batches came out orange* which left me mildly disappointed. Both batches deflated a small amount after cooling, the coconut ones coming out just a tad smaller than their almond counterparts. 
• Texture: Both batches are moist in general (they should be, since they're like a pie), but the almond ones came leave you feeling a little thirstier than do the coconut ones. In addition, the almond flour ones have a slightly grainy texture as it is difficult to incorporate the almond as thoroughly as you can with coconut flour. The coconut ones seem to retain their moisture better and have a smoother texture.
• Taste: Both taste like pumpkin pie, but with a little doughy texture added in. Think of these as individual pumpkin pies, not cupcakes, or you'll be entirely disappointed. As mentioned, the coconut flavour is difficult to pick up in either recipe, especially once you add whipped cream.
• Overall: The SO and I both prefer the coconut pumpkin pie cupcakes for the simple fact that they are less grainy (even though the almond ones are barely that grainy). They're also a little more moist. All in all, though, they are basically the same.

*Note: If you really, really want your cupcakes to be more orange than brown, make home-made pumpkin puree from fresh pumpkins! Store-bought stuff is more of a browny-orange.

Directions

Set your coconut milk out on the counter for half an hour to bring it to room temperature. Preheat your oven to 350F. Prep a 12 cup muffin pan however you desire. I did the first batch in cupcake liners, and the second I greased the pan. I have no preference. 

Mix all your dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside: 1/2 c or 3/4 c sweetener, 1/3 calmond flour and 1/3 coconut flour (or 2/3 c coconut flour), 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix, 1/4 tsp both baking soda and powder, 1/4 tsp salt.

Now we're going to prep the wet stuff. Once your coconut milk is at room temperature, stir it thoroughly. Using a hand or stand mixer, combine your wet ingredients: 15 oz pumpkin puree, 3/4 cup coconut milk, 2 eggs, 1/4 c SF syrup (if using), 1 tsp vanilla. Once combined, add dry mix to wet and continue.

Fill your muffin pan 2/3 of the way in each cup. Top them off if you have left over batter. I used a squeeze ice cream scoop for this part, then topped the cups off and flattened them a bit.

Bake your cupcakes at 350F for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then delicately remove them and chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. Serve with whipped cream!

Pumpkin season, folks!
xo, Jennifer

Zen loves pumpkin!

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[CopyCat] Sugar-Free Meringues

If you've been following my blog for a long time you might remember that I posted two brownie recipes a long time ago. They were alright, chocolaty enough, but ultimately reminded me of a cake rather than a brownie. I ended up taking them down, unhappy with the results. Recently, however, my mum made some brownies which of course made me crave them and wish I had done follow-up recipes to my old brownie posts. Well... I didn't. Then Elizabeth over at Up Late Anyway posts this recipe and I knew immediately that I must try it.

One of the first things I thought while reading through that post was "SIX egg yolks?! What the crap am I going to do with the whites?". For recipes that call for egg whites I typically add the yolks to scrambled eggs, or pan fry them inside slices of avocado. I did not want egg white scrambled eggs, though. Wondering how long egg whites could last in my fridge, I fondly recalled my mum's lemon meringue pie, which she always made during Thanksgiving or Christmas. Mmm! It was helping her with those pies that taught me what the difference between a "soft peak" and a "stiff peak" is... mmm, lemon...

I digress. Meringue. What kind of pie could I make low-carb that would taste kick-ass with a meringue topping? Hmm... Not pie. Cookies? "Cookies"! Honestly I had never heard of "meringues" before this adventure, but I figured if a meringue topping could be done, surely bite-sized pieces could, too. I did some digging around because I wasn't sure how whipped egg whites would hold up with sweetener, and came across a recipe posted on All Day I Dream About Food. I learned that sweetener will not actually deflate my whipped eggs (which I feared), and also that meringues are a real dessert.

So, I bring you low-carb, gluten-free meringues a la ADIDAF. I'm going to try and include a lot of tips in this post for how to get your meringue just right, so pay attention!

These treats are so light and airy, and have a similar taste to crispy marshmallows. When I eat one, all I can think of is roasting marshmallows over a fire until the outer edge is crispy, then pulling it off and eating it, only to roast the inside again. These are a must-try, especially if you've just made Up Late Anyway's brownies! It only makes sense, clearly.

Excuse the newspaper. My kitchen was undergoing a mini make-over :)!

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Ingredients

• 6 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated or powdered sweetener (I used granulated Splenda )
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar 
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 - 1 oz extra dark chocolate (optional)

*Note: "Nutritional Info" does not include optional ingredients. See "Optional Filler Ingredients" below.
Nutritional information, per serving (50): 2 cals, 0g net carbs (0g carbs, 0g fiber), 0g fat, 0g protein

Nutritional information, whole batch: 111 cals, 13g net carbs (13g carbs, 0g fiber), 0g fat, 0g protein

Ingredients	Calories	Net Carbs (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Fat (g)	Protein (g)
6 egg whites	103	1	1	0	0	0
1/2 cup splenda	0	12	12	0	0	0
1/2 tsp vanilla extract	6	0	0	0	0	0
1/4 tsp cream of tartar	2	0	0	0	0	0
1/8 tsp salt	0	0	0	0	0	0

As pictured above, I drizzled some melted dark chocolate over my meringues... because why not? I also did something else with the chocolate. STAY TUNED!

Optional Ingredients	Calories	Net Carbs (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Fat (g)	Protein (g)
1 oz Lindt 85%	115	5	8	3	9	3

Tools

To properly create perfect meringue you need a particular set of tools. No exceptions. Note: all your tools must be thoroughly cleaned and dried. If they feel at all like there is any amount of grease present, wash them again. Egg whites do not like fat or other moisture.

• Metal or glass mixing bowl (NOT plastic!)
• Hand or stand mixer (not a whisk, unless you really want to work out your arm!)

Directions

First, separate your egg whites (6!) while the eggs are still cold - they separate easiest this way. Be careful with handling and do your best to not touch the egg whites while separating. If any amount of yolk ends up in the whites, be sure to remove it carefully before continuing (but not with your fingers!). Egg whites will not whip up properly if there is any fat present (including oils from your fingers, or leftover grease on a dish!).

Next, your egg whites should be at room temperature before you begin to work with them. This will allow your whites to whip faster and to a greater volume. While you wait for the egg whites to reach room temperature, preheat the oven to 250F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Yes, you definitely need two.

When the eggs have reached room temperature, we'll beat them until they form firm peaks (in between soft and stiff):

• Soft peaks: Lifting the beater from the eggs, peaks form for only a couple seconds, then fall into themselves. 
• Firm peaks: Lifting the beater from the eggs, peaks form with ridges, and only the tips fall back. 
• Stiff peaks: Lifting the beater from the eggs, peaks form with obvious ridges and the tips remain upright.

Once you've formed soft peaks, begin to gradually add your powdered or granulated sweetener. For 6 whites I used 1/2 cup of sweetener. Many "real" meringue recipes suggest 1-2 tbsp of sugar (so, sweetener) for each egg white. 

You'll also want to add 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar and 1/8 tsp of salt before you begin forming firm peaks. FYI: Cream of tartar is used as a stabilizer in a variety of tasty treats. For example, most (if not all) recipes using egg whites as their primary ingredient call for cream of tartar, as well as candies, and many types of frostings (including whipped cream).

Continue beating your eggs until they reach firm peaks (not stiff). When ready, spoon out your mixture onto the cookie sheets or use a piping bag. I made 50 bite-sized meringues, but you could easily make half that many larger. I began by spooning my eggs out but it felt tedious and I got pretty annoyed/impatient, so I switched to a piping bag.

My baking temperatures and times are a little different than the recipe on ADIDAF. Bake your meringues at 250F for 20 minutes, then 200F for another 20 minutes. At about the halfway mark I switched the positions of the cookie sheets because my top sheet was browning faster than the lower one. I prefer the look of lightly browned meringues, so I ended up adding about 10 minutes to the end of the bake. 

This is only half of what I made. Top right: large, spooned-out meringues that irritated me.

Remove your meringues from the oven and pop one in your mouth, like, immediately. MMM! Read on if you want to know what to do with the chocolate...

I had eaten 5 by this point, and taken some to the SO at work...

I melted 1 oz of Lindt 85% extra dark chocolate and drizzled it over most of my meringues. Break apart the chocolate, toss it in a baggie, and microwave for 10-15 second intervals until melted. Cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag, and decorate away! 

I also poked holes in a few with a meat thermometer (couldn't find anything else on the fly!) and squeezed chocolate into them. So when you bite down you get a soft, airy, marshmallow-y texture, and a chunk of dark chocolate!

Please enjoy!
xo, Jennifer

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Cheesecake (New York Style, Almond Crust)

Cheesecake is one of our favourite desserts in this household, and I've been making low-carb cheesecakes since my first time doing keto. They're fun to cook and easy to adjust for flavours. I'm not sure why I never posted a recipe! I have plenty of pictures and instructions, so I'm going to post them today. This recipe is going to be for a New York style cheesecake, but you can expect chocolate drizzle with brownie crust, chocolate swirl, maple pecan, and strawberry flavours soon enough!

Left: New York cheesecake bars with almond coconut crust
Right: peanut butter fudge bars with almond coconut crust

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Ingredients

Ignore "sugar"!!!
This picture is from when I made cheesecake for my mum, and she dislikes hates sweeteners

Crust

The crust we will be using for this, whether you're making bars or a round cheesecake, is almond coconut crust. If you're adding flavours to this cheesecake and you want to change up the crust, swap out the coconut for another kind of filler, such as crushed pecans.

• 3/4 cup ground almonds
• 1/4 unsweetened coconut, shredded
• 1/4 cup granulated sweetener, or equivalent (I'm  using Splenda)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 2 bricks (16 oz) plain cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sweetener, or equivalent (I'm using Splenda)
• 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) heavy whipping cream
• 2 large eggs, whole
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt (optional)

Nutritional info, per serving (12): 239 cals, 4g net carbs (5g carbs, 1g fiber), 22g fat, 5g protein

Nutritional info, whole batch: 2867 cals, 49g net carbs (59g carbs, 10g fiber), 263g fat, 61g protein

Ingredients	Calories	Net Carbs (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Fat (g)	Protein (g)
3/4 cup ground almonds	412	6	14	8	36	15
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut	71	1	3	2	7	1
1/4 cup unsalted butter	407	0	0	0	46	0
3/4 cup Splenda	0	18	18	0	0	0
16 oz plain cream cheese	1600	16	16	0	144	32
2 large eggs	140	2	2	0	10	12
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream	200	4	4	0	20	1
1 tbsp vanilla extract	37	2	2	0	0	0

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Directions:

We're going to start off by making the crust. First, preheat your oven to 350F and grease the bakeware you plan on using (a kick-ass brownie pan like mine, a 9 or 8 inch springform pan, ramekins, etc).

Melt 1/4 cup of unsalted butter. Mix dry crust ingredients in a bowl and add the melted butter. Spread the dough throughout your pan. I usually start from the middle and work my way out (using my fingers). It might look like you don't have enough, but you do: 

You can choose whether to bake your crust or not. You aren't using any ingredients in the crust that will harm you if you don't bake it now, and you will be baking it later. If you decide to bake the crust, pop it in the oven for roughly 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Be careful not to burn the crust. After baking (or if you didn't bake it), put your dough in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

While your dough is chilling, make the filling for your cheesecake. An easy way to soften cream cheese is to leave it on the counter for a few hours the day you know you're going to make cheesecake. If you didn't do that, however, just pop your cream cheese in a microwavable bowl and microwave it for 20-30 seconds. To make softening easier, cut the cream cheese into slices/cubes/portions (by the way, the same works for butter!). 

I left these out all afternoon so I didn't need to bother chopping them up. 

Whip up your filling ingredients (16 oz cream cheese, 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp vanilla, 1/2 cup granulated sweetener, and a pinch of salt). Unfortunately I don't have a picture of what the above looked like after mixing. 

This is from the cheesecake bars I made for my mum.
I picked up this kick-ass brownie pan from Stokes for $11 and I LOVE it.

Carefully pour your filling into your crust-lined pan. The crust is delicate so try not to push it around. Bake your cheesecake at 350F for 45 minutes to an hour.

Note: I don't use water baths for these, but if you're concerned about your cheesecake drying out, go ahead and use a water bath. To do so, wrap your pan in foil to make it water tight, put the pan in roasting bakeware and add some water. Check out this video for some tips on this process. 

This is one of the first few cheesecakes I ever made with this recipe.
A New York style cheesecake with a brownie base. Mmm!

Carefully remove your cheesecake from the oven and let it cool for 10-20 minutes, then place in the refrigerator for about 3 hours.

Send me some pictures if you make this cheesecake! I'd love to see them!

xo,
Jennifer

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Egg Crepes

Hi everyone! The other day I posted a recipe my household really enjoys: egg waffles! Two points to make about that recipe:

1) yes, they are sweetened scrambled eggs. The recipe is pretty much a scrambled egg recipe plus sweetener (eggs and dairy! or water!). That was the point of my original egg waffle recipe; I didn't want all those extra things like flour and cream cheese... basically, I wanted the end result to include syrup and peanut butter traps. YUM. 

2) Waffles require a waffle maker; making the recipe into crepes/pancakes might be tricky. That is why I am making this post :)! I want everyone to be able to enjoy my favourite meals (or at least try them). Therefore, I'm going to have egg pancrepes for lunch today so I can take pictures! I really hope this post is helpful!

I'm going to use most of the same information from my waffle post, but note that I'll only be making half a batch... no one else is home to eat them with me :(.

I put 1/2 tbsp of whipped peanut butter in each and drizzled 1-2 tbsp on top. 

I am referring to these as pancrepes/crepecakes because I have never made them thin enough to be called crepes, but I don't find them thick enough to be called pancakes, but next time I make this recipe I am going to try to make them verrryy thin and see how they turn out. Result: excellent!

I used 2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa for extra chocolatey goodness. 

Also, the texture of the egg pancrepes is completely different than that of the egg waffles. I'm sure you can imagine if you've had "regular" crepes and waffles before. I would describe the egg pancrepes as dense and moist, basically the opposite of how I would describe the waffles.

Servings: 4 servings (4-6 crepes)

Time: 10-15 minutes

Nutritional info (per 1 serving): 122 cals, 3g net carbs (3g carbs, 0g fiber), 10g fat, 7g protein

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 4 tbsp of heavy whipping cream
• 2-4 tbsp of sweetener (depending on how sweet you want them. I usually use 2 tbsp)
• 1-2 tbsp cocoa powder or 1/2-1 tbsp cinnamon [optional]

Tools

• electric whisk or stand mixer (I'm using a Cuisinart electric mixer)
• a mixing bowl
• a small frying pan (I used an 8 inch pan)

Directions

Preheat and grease your waffle maker frying pan on medium-low. Beat/whisk the crap out of the eggs, cream, sweetener, cocoa/cinnamon until it is all frothy and thoroughly combined.

Pour about 1/4 of the batter into your heated and greased pan (assuming you're making a full batch. Leave it to cook for about 8-10 minutes!

3 minutes of cooking at medium-low

You can delicately check the edges every 3 minutes; look for the eggs firming up, browning edges, etc.

6 minutes of cooking at medium-low

8 minutes of cooking at medium-low.
Not much of a difference compared to 6 minutes, but the browning on the other side looks better 

A little blurry, sorry! This is the first side after ~9 minutes.
This was ideal for me.

Try to keep the cooking time to around 8 minutes for the first side. It is easy to overcook these. If you cook them for much longer than 8 minutes the outsides dry up too much and get too crispy, causing them to crack easily:

I got distracted. This is anywhere from 10-13 minutes.

See? The one that cooked longer is split (though still roll-able!).

After you've got one side of your crepecake to a good browning level, flip it and let the other side cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, dress it, and rinse/repeat with the rest of the batter.  

Get creative with your waffle crepecake toppings and enjoy! Try rolling bacon, a bit of peanut butter, and a bit of sugar-free syrup in your waffles. YUM! 

xo, Jennifer

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