Low Carb Cloud Bread

Eating with balance and portion control has always been my way of maintaining and losing weight. However, I've reached what seems to be an unbreakable plateau, and have resorted to eating minimal carbs for breakfast and lunch and having a few carbs with dinner (The Carbohydrate Addicts Diet).  I did this diet over 10 years ago and lost 30 pounds. I like it because I still get carbs, I believe our bodies need them and cutting them out completely doesn't seem healthy. Now with this year long plateau I'm taking it up again and it seems to be helping.

Eating low-to no carbs requires creativity or being able to eat the same thing over and over. Then the cravings for bread start...just looking at my son's leftover crust from his PB&J made my mouth water. Sad right? Pinterest however, has come to the rescue and I found this recipe for "carb free bread" It actually has about 1 carb per piece - which is pretty much carb free and acceptable for my diet.

For not being able to eat bread, this "cloud bread" does the trick for me. Its not going to taste like bread you bought from the bakery. Its a "replacement bread", it has a light eggy flavor if eaten warm and alone, however, if you make a ham sandwich or burger etc., its difficult to notice an eggy flavor. For me it fulfills my cravings and desire for bread. One can only eat rolled up ham, cheese & lettuce for so long! Hope you enjoy it, comments are appreciated! I adapted the recipe from the ORIGINAL. Below is the adapted recipe!

Low Carb Cloud Bread

Makes 12, 1 carbohydrate per piece

Ingredients:

6 eggs - Yolks and Whites separated - Make sure NO Yokes are in the whites or meringue wont work!

6 Tbsp Cream cheese softened (Regular - not fat free)

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

1 big spoonful of Stevia in the Raw Extract

1. Pre-heat Oven 300 degrees

2. Combine Yokes, Cream cheese and Stevia - BLEND -you can use a blender, I use my immersion stick blender. Blend till smooth! I blended it because I didn't want any chunks of cream cheese and I wanted the mixture to fold smoothly.

3. In another bowl combine egg whites and cream of tartar, Mix on HIGH until egg whites are fluffy and form stiff peaks.

MOST IMPORTANT PART:

4. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites - I start by folding some egg white into the yolk mixture first.  Then folding that mixture back into the remaining egg whites a third at a time. You need to do it gently so that you don't break down the fluff to much.

5.  Scoop a hamburger bun size amount of the mixture onto greased cookie sheets. I have a large cookie sheet and it made 12. About 3/4 inch thickness. They don't spread too much either.

6. place cookie sheet on middle rack, bake for about 30 minutes. Check at about 24 minutes and monitor color from there. All ovens vary. You want them to look golden, about the color of a hamburger bun.

7. Remove from oven, remove bread from cookie sheet immediately! It looks delicate but its pretty strong. Place on a rack (or cutting board, plate etc.) to cool. 

8. I thought they were chewy and fluffy immediately out of the oven, others say they are flaky and crispy and recommend putting them in a container over night to obtain a fluffy chewy texture. Every oven is different so if they come out flaky or crispy, let them cool, put them in a container and by the next day you will have chewy cloud bread.

ENJOY! 

Cheesy Garlic Bread Puffs! So easy and Oh so good!

That's right - Cheese, Garlic, Parmesan, Basil....YUM!

Need I say more? I didn't think so!

Cheesy Garlic Bread Puffs

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 scant tablespoon oregano
2-3 garlic cloves crushed and minced
2 tablespoons fresh basil - chopped finely   OR   1 tsp dry basil
pinch of salt
3/4 cup milk - I used fat free and it was great but if you have a higher fat milk - Use it
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese - Its creamy and has good flavor. You can use other cheeses but they may not go well with the marinara.
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese - from the can or fresh grated, either will taste great!
Your favorite marinara sauce for dipping!

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan - Seriously grease it or use cupcake liners.

3. In a large bowl or mixer with paddle attachment, whisk flour, baking powder, oregano, salt, basil, garlic together.
4. Whisk the milk and egg, add to the flour mixture.

5. Stir in the Cheeses, continue to stir to make sure the batter is fully mixed together - don't over do it!

6. Divide the batter among the muffin cups.

7. Bake until puffed and lightly golden and the shine is lost - about 20 to 25 minutes. It really depends on your oven - Whats more important than time is the way it looks, these don't get much color so you may also want to pat the top to see if it bounces back - if it doesn't, and falls - keep baking!

8. Warm up your marinara sauce
9. Enjoy dipping your cheesy garlic bread puffs in the marinara sauce and wish you made a triple batch!



Easy Double Chocolate Scones

These are for the ultimate chocolate lover!

My scones are not the typical scones that are shaped and cut into wedges before baking them. Ive always felt that scone batter needs as little mixing as possible to keep it from being to tough later.

Double Chocolate Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp of granulated sugar (Zulka brand was fantastic in this)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup Butter cut into pieces (salted or unsalted butter is fine)
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs

Preheat oven at 375

In mixer with paddle attachment stir all dry ingredients together SLOWLY.

Add in butter a few pieces at a time while mixing.

Let it mix till it looks like a course meal.

Add chocolate chips and let mix till evenly distributed.

Separate bowl: Combine Eggs and buttermilk -whisk together.

Add to dry ingredients while mixing slowly - only mix it just enough to distribute.

Drop by heaping spoonfuls which measures to about 1/3 of a cup of dough for each scone. Drop dough onto un-greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake for about 15 minutes, they will look puffy and the shine will be gone. They really don't rise too much.

DON'T over-bake! Dust powdered sugar over the scones for a nice finishing touch!

Don't hesitate to ask questions or comment!

Thanks, Enjoy!

Fast and Simple Focaccia Bread

While making soup one day I thought, wouldn't this soup be great with some fresh bread? However, I had no desire of going to the store and the thought of making bread can sound so tasking and time consuming....and then I remembered FOCACCIA Bread. A thin bread, quick and easy to make, and it tastes as though it took all day to make! You can use it as fancy sandwich bread, Garlic bread, or even for a unique bread like pizza crust! you can top the bread dough with whatever herbs, spices, cinnamon sugar, you like to make it your own. Here is my recipe for some Italian garlic bread on a whim:

Simple Foccacia BreadIngredients1 teaspoon white sugar
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
(if you don't have whole wheat flour, just use all purpose, I like a bit of whole wheat flour for its nutty flavor)
2 tablespoons olive oil, canola oil, or melted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
Have a cup of water set aside.
garlic salt to taste
fresh or dried rosemary to taste
Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions
In a small bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water.
Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl (or stand mixer with dough hook attachment), combine the yeast mixture with flour; stir well to combine (or mix on low speed).
Add 1/8 tsp of salt.
Stir in additional water 1 tablespoon at a time until all of the flour is absorbed.
(If you added too much water, add in more flour a little at a time just so the dough isn't sticky.)

When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly for about 1 minute. (If using a stand mixer, continue on low-medium speed until the dough climbs up the dough hook.)

Lightly oil a large bowl (you can use cooking spray if you like, and spray the dough as well instead of turning it to coat), place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).

Turn dough out onto a lightly greased baking sheet patting it down, spreading it out to about 1/2 -3/4 of an inch thickness or whatever you desire.

Brush the dough with oil or melted butter and sprinkle with garlic salt, fresh chopped (or dried) rosemary, Parmesan cheese.

Bake focaccia in preheated oven for 10 minutes. If you want it crispy add 5 minutes.

As I said before, you can adjust the seasonings to really whatever your in the mood for - even dessert! Enjoy!