Bacon-Wrapped Mushroom Poppers

So. I've got an hour and a half of free time. Well, not really free time. I could be doing something school-related, but I feel like blogging instead. Remember my loaded portobello mushrooms? I do. I loved them, especially because they gave me tons of new ideas. This mushroom-craze I've been having is seriously weird, though, because I always hated mushrooms growing up. I'm still trying to wrap my head around my new fascination.

Anyway, I bring you mushroom poppers. Why mushroom poppers instead of jalapeño poppers? Well, simply because I wanted my poppers to be reliable. I love the idea of jalapeño poppers. I love peppers, cheese, and bacon. I've made poppers plenty of times, including making batches for family. However, I have found jalapeños to be far too unpredictable for me. I'm not used to a lot of hotness, so if I get a batch that turns out to be particularly spicy... well, consider me a baby when that happens. With mushroom poppers, not only can I still have them spicy, I can control how spicy they are!
 

Funny story, though...

I actually didn't make these for myself. That's right, I wanted to make something delicious for other people. Actually, for my dad. He and the rest of our immediate family came over to my house for dinner to celebrate his 60th 59th (hehe...) birthday. There was so much food! Hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, traditional deviled eggs as well as avocado-bacon deviled eggs (made by yours truly), black forest cake (my mum made it for the first time!), and new-york style low-carb cheesecake (also made by yours truly). 

Uh, but I also made these bad boys. They were the first thing I made, and I was super excited to share them because my dad and brother really enjoy mushrooms. I tossed them in the oven (not to bake, just so they didn't take up space) and, well. Yeah. I completely forgot about them. It wasn't until I got ready for bed and thought "Did I turn the oven off?" when I realised... I hadn't used the damn oven! My mushroom poppers, nooooo! I'm not used to having more than two extras over for dinner, so any time family is over to eat I get a little stressed. Oops!

Ingredients

• 12 small-medium white button mushrooms 
• 12 slices of bacon 
• 6 tbsp (1/4 c + 2 tbsp) cream cheese, flavoured if desired (softened, or use spreadable)
• ~200g cheddar cheese (~15g per mushroom)
• 1 tbsp hot sauce (I used Frank's Redhot)
• 1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes (1/2 tbsp plus the Franks creates a medium spice level)

If you want to make more or less than one batch, match the ingredients to the number of mushrooms you have. That is, 1 mushroom + 1 slice of bacon + 1/2 tbsp of cream cheese + 15g of cheddar cheese. Adjust the spice level to your preferences! 

Nutritional information, per serving (1): 179 cals, 2g net carbs (2g carbs, 0g fiber), 16g fat, 8g protein

Nutritional information, whole batch: 2152 cals, 18g net carbs (21g carbs, 3g fiber), 190g fat, 90g protein

Ingredients	Calories	Net Carbs (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Fat (g)	Protein (g)
~200g white mushroom	44	5	7	2	1	6
12 slices of bacon	1140	6	6	0	108	36
1/2 cup cream cheese	240	6	6	0	21	6
~180g medium cheddar	720	0	0	0	60	42
1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes	8	1	2	1	0	0

Directions

If you're like me and enjoy a firmer piece of bacon, cook it ahead of baking. I put my bacon on the stove while I prepped the other ingredients, cooked it to the point where I would eat it, and I could still move it without breaking it apart, so not very crispy (see the second picture posted above). We'll be baking these bad boys later, so the bacon will finish off nicely.

Preheat your oven to 375F. 

While your bacon is cooking, rinse and dry your mushrooms. Remove stems and gently scoop out the gills. I say gently because mushrooms are delicate and we don't want to split them right in half. A couple cracks won't hurt, though. 

Rinsed, dried, stems removed.

I used a strawberry huller to scrape out the gills and a little flesh, too. (not my flesh!)  

Check your bacon for doneness, making sure you don't cook the strips to a crispy level. 

Also cut your cheddar cheese into 12 cube-like pieces (or however many you need), small enough to fit inside the mushrooms. You could also shred the cheese, but this is way easier.

These are ~15g each

In a small-medium mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, hot sauce, and red pepper flakes. I used a hand mixer for about 2 minutes during this step. The mix was super creamy and had no lumps of still-cold cream cheese. 

Next, we're going to fill the mushrooms. Again, the mushrooms are delicate, so I highly recommend using a piping bag. If you don't have one, put your cream cheese mix in a plastic baggie and cut the tip off. Pipe the mix into the mushrooms, about 2/3 full, leaving room for the cheese cubes.

Oops. Some of these are not 2/3...

Then top with cheese cubes.

Next, I cut each of my bacon pieces at the 2/3 mark and placed the 1/3 pieces over the mushrooms. This is totally optional; I did it because the strips were too long for a simple wrap-around. Regardless, wrap your cheese mushrooms with bacon and secure using a toothpick. Note: Don't use mint flavoured tooth picks :(

I used cupcake liners to minimize the greasy mess when baking!

Bake at 375F for 10 minutes, or freeze. If freezing and cooking later, I'd add an extra 3-5 minutes on the cooking time. 

Mmm!
xo, Jennifer

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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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Peanut Butter Fudge Bars

A long-ass time ago I went shopping in one of my favourite kitchen stores, Stokes, and saw an all-edges baking pan. Unfortunately, I have a difficult time justifying $20 for a pan, so I never bought it. This not-buying-what-I-want-when-I-want trend has hurt me, though. I saw a pair of beautiful, comfy flats (which I absolutely adored) for $35 but I couldn't get over the fact that I could get flats cheaper elsewhere. I wanted to wait for the price to come down, only to discover that all the stores carrying that shoe ran out of my size within a month. So much regret. I thought the same thing would happen with my pan! Recently, however, I went shopping with my wonderful mother and found that Stokes still had this item, and it was on sale! Of course, learning from my mistakes, I bought the damned thing.

It is truly a wonderful thing. A brownie pan with a "slicer" insert, and a detached bottom plate for easy removal. Bar all the treats? BAR ALL THE TREATS! I tried a new fudge recipe first, but it didn't turn out the way I had hoped. I knew I could get something wonderful out of this pan, though! I modified my almond pie crust and my peanut butter fudge to come up with a tasty, filling fudge bar.

Originally I wanted to call these breakfast bars, since they go wonderfully with coffee or tea, but I don't think they are breakfast-y enough for that; they are more of a dessert.

Go, get yourself a wonderful all-edges brownie pan and let loose your creativity! Or don't. You can just use a regular brownie pan. But you'll be missing out.

What's that in the background? Hmm...

P.S. I'm going to make this recipe again tomorrow so I'll update with more pictures. Originally I wasn't going to even post this but I loved it too much.

Servings: 18 pieces
Nutritional Information (per bar): 170 cals, 5g carbs, 2g fiber (3g net carbs), 15g fat, 6g protein
*Nutritional info includes the optional ingredients listed

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Cooling Time: 30 minutes for the crust, 1 hour minimum before eating the bars, best texture after over-night refrigeration. NOTE: You CAN eat them after an hour of cooling. We just found the texture to be better, and the bar firmer, the next morning.

Your Ingredients:

can't wait to make new labels

Crust

• 3/4 cup ground almond/almond meal
• 1/4 cup unsweetened, finely shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup Splenda (or choice equivalent)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used Kraft Whipped Peanut Butter)*
• 2 tbsp virgin coconut oil
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 oz plain cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• 2 scoops vanilla or chocolate whey protein powder**
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• (optional) 1/4 cup unsweetened, finely shredded coconut
• (optional) 2 tbsp hemp seed hearts, or other seeds

Your Tools:

• A kick-ass brownie pan
• A saucepan & glass mixing bowl, or double boiler***
• Some small microwavable mixing bowls
• Fork and whisk, spatula etc

Notes:

* I have used Kraft Whipped Peanut Butter & Dip in previous recipes. I've been told that this is a tough ingredient to track down. Well, I only buy this kind of peanut butter! Just keep in mind that whatever peanut butter you use will likely change the nutritional values slightly.
** My scoop says 35g, so 70g of protein powder; about a cup. Unflavoured protein powder works as well.
*** I don't own a double boiler because they are usually pricey, and I can do the same thing with things I've already paid for. I typically use my small or medium sauce pan, depending on the size of the mixing bowl I use. You can use a stainless steel mixing bowl, but the glass ones I find never get quite as hot.

The Directions:

We're going to make the crust first. Preheat your oven to 300F. Prep your baking dish with butter/oil/etc. Melt butter. Combine all crust ingredients in a mixing bowl with a fork.

Press the almond mixture into the bottom of your pan. It'll look like you don't have enough dough at first, but you do. I promise. It may take some precision to get it to cover the whole pan.

Doesn't look like much, huh?

Ta-da!

Pop your crust into the oven for ~10 minutes. Refrigerate your crust until it is completely cooled. 

Sorry for shadows!

Note: If you don't want a crust you can omit the above steps, or make the crust and mix it into the peanut butter fudge batter below, making a more crunchy, "granola" like bar. They're tasty, too!

If cream cheese is not softened, microwave on 30% power for 45 seconds. Melt butter, coconut oil, and peanut butter on the stove, on low-med, using your glass bowl & small pot (or a double boiler). Whisk occasionally.

Add softened cream cheese and whisk until smooth. Add vanilla extract and sweetener. Whisk until smooth again. Once blended, remove the glass bowl from heat (be careful!) and add protein powder, one scoop at a time. Mix with a fork, and add seeds and coconut. Spread batter evenly in pan and bake for 5-8 minutes at 300F

Let cool for 5-10 minutes on the counter and refrigerate for at least one hour. Bars will be brittle, a little flaky probably. Overnight cooling in the fridge will make them hold together much better.

xo,
Jennifer

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Dessert Rolls

Previous to this post I put up a feature ("CopyCat") of Elizabeth Nimphius's low-carb stromboli. This is a modified version of her dough recipe to be used for dessert rolls (think chocolate logs, rollups, pinwheels, etc). In this post I will focus on a cream cheese roll I made, but I will also show dark chocolate rolls.

I'd like to stress again how versatile Elizabeth's stromboli dough is, because I have many ideas bouncing around in my head about what to do with it!

Look at that dough! Hnnggg.

This one is a little bit blurry but you can still see how awesome it is :D!

Let's make some dessert rolls, people!

Servings: 12-18
Nutritional Information: again, I'm going to post the nutritional information later.

Prep Time: ~10 minutes
Cooking Time: ~15-20 minutes

Your Ingredients: 

Dough

• 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) almond flour
• 3 tbsp coconut flour
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/4 mozzarella cheese* 
• 1/4 cup sugar equivalent (I used 1/4 cup of Splenda)
• 1 whole egg
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt

* I have used pre-shredded and block cheese, both work. Also, Elizabeth's note from her blog: "Use 4 tbsp coconut flour OR omit the butter if you are using a higher fat cheese." 

Filling

You can get really creative with the fillings. Reduced sugar jams, peanut butter, pudding, etc. 

Cream Cheese (I used the same cream cheese icing I made for my pumpkin muffins).

• 1/2 cup plain cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup heavy cream 
• 1/4 cup sugar equivalent (I used 1/4 Splenda)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Dark Chocolate

• 2 oz dark chocolate, chopped/broken/etc (I used Lindt 85%)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2-4 tbsp sugar equivalent (I used Splenda. Taste as you go)
• 1/4 tsp salt (omit salt if you use salted butter for the filling) 

Your Tools:

• 2 microwavable mixing bowls, a fork, and your hands
• Stand mixer (not an immersion blender!)
• A rolling pin and parchment paper/silicone baking mats
• A cookie sheet
• A small sauce pan and a heat resistant glass bowl, or a double boiler

The Directions:

Step 1 -

I recommend making your filling before your dough, because we don't want the dough to cool too much while we make the filling.

Dark chocolate filling: If you're not using a double boiler, fill your small saucepan about 1/2 way with water. Place your heat-resistant glass bowl over the sauce pan (most glass mixing bowls are great for melting stuff and don't get absurdly hot). Heat on medium and add your butter. As soon as it starts to melt, lower the temp to low-medium. Add your sweetener and mix until it is combined nicely, then add pieces of dark chocolate. Once everything is mixed smoothly, set aside.

Cream cheese filling: If your cream cheese is cold, cut it up into tbsp sized pieces and microwave for 20 second intervals. It should start to melt and should respond to being poked etc. Add sweetener, heavy cream, and vanilla. Blend thoroughly, until it looks like: 

 Set your cream cheese filling aside until the dough is ready.

Step 2 -

Preheat your oven to 400F. Pop your butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds and set aside (longer if the butter is really f-ing cold).

Step 3 -

How you proceed here is important (we reviewed this with the stromboli!). Microwave the cheese for 2 minutes at 30% power. If you don't know how to change the power on your microwave you better figure it out! My microwave has a "power" button which I press after the cooking time, and then I press "3" (for 30).

Ok. Why is this important? I learned the hard way that if you cook at 100% power you overcook the cheese, making it incredibly difficult to work with later. There are some pictures in my stromboli post demonstrating the difficulty. 

Step 4 -

While the cheese is in the microwave, beat your egg, sweetener, and vanilla until slightly frothy.

Step 5 -

After pulling the cheese from the microwave, mix it around with your fork and get it all sticky and perfect. Add your flours, butter, and egg mixture. Continue to combine. I personally like working with my hands for this part because I find it mixes better by squeezing than by stirring/folding. 

Initial mixing with a fork. My cheese cooled down quickly :(

As pointed out by Elizabeth you will probably have to microwave your cheese again to make sure everything gets incorporated nicely. I have found that 5-10 seconds is not enough so I usually do 30 seconds at 30% power.

After melting a second time I typically break out a dough balling technique I learned while working at a pizza place. You can see the technique in this video. However, I wouldn't recommend being as aggressive with your cheese dough as the dude in the video is with his pizza dough.

Your dough should look similar to this before you roll it out.
(I actually mixed it a bit more after I took this shot)

Step 6 -

If your dough has cooled considerably,  make sure to microwave it for a short time again before you roll it out. Get two pieces of parchment paper (one for under and one on top of the dough) and form a rectangular shape out of your dough. Grab your rolling pin and roll it out! I didn't measure the thickness after rolling, but you should be able to make it thin but not so much it breaks as soon as you pick up a piece of it. 

Step 6 -

Once your dough is rolled out, cover it with the filling you prepared earlier. 

Next, gently roll the dough! Try not to press too hard or you'll squeeze most of the filling out. You will probably only use 1/2 or 2/3 of the cream cheese icing, which is fine. Save the rest for a drizzle!

Step 7 -

Cut your log of yumminess into 12 or 18 pieces; be gentle but firm when cutting otherwise you'll squish all the filling out. Use the sharpest knife you have. Arrange on a cookie sheet and bake for 13 minutes. 

Here I've marked 12 pieces, but you could easily get 18!

Step 8 -

My dark chocolate experiment. Messy but delicious. And yes, the uncut log was fully cooked!

Transfer your rolls onto a cooling rack and drizzle with the left over icing. You can use a piping bag, a baggie with the tip cut off, or a spoon.

Cool for a few minutes and eat one while it is still warm! They are good cool, too, but 10 seconds in the microwave makes them so freakin' good later.

xo,
Jennifer

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