One thing that we low-carb folks tend to miss out on most are the sweets. Well, OF COURSE - sweets are what got some of us into this situation in the first place (and some of us just can't tolerate carbs or high-glycemic foods, just because our metabolisms are under-performers).
I don't miss sweets mostly...but sometimes, you just want a biscuit (cookie), you know. Luckily there are a lot of low-carb alternatives out there and there are plenty of shortbread recipes too. This is one I made up one evening, based on the traditional shortbread recipe in the Be-Ro booklet.
MARY'S LOW-CARB ALMOND SHORTBREAD
Obviously, no one can beat Walker's when it comes to shortbread, but if you are cutting carbs and still want a treat, this recipe should help. With less than 2 net carbs per 1" x 3" piece, you CAN have tea and biscuits!
Number of Servings: 16
Ingredients
- 12 oz Almond Flour
6 oz butter
1/3 cup Splenda, or your favourite sweetener (more or less, to taste)
Tips
Using almond flour/meal produces a lovely, nutty
flavour. These shortbreads will be softer than regular shortbread, and
quite crumbly (as Carl Sagan might say: "Crumbly, but good"). I also
like to add a few drops of vanilla essence. In the batch pictured above, I also added 1/3 cup of dark-chocolate chips - and, it could do with more, actually! I imagine you could add nuts or dried fruits as well, and have a really lovely treat.
Any almond flour/meal should work, but I've found Wellbee Super Fine Almond Flour to be most like regular flour, texturally.
Any almond flour/meal should work, but I've found Wellbee Super Fine Almond Flour to be most like regular flour, texturally.
If you're just doing the grain-free thing, you can use regular sugar* - this might alter the texture, so you may have to adjust the other ingredients to achieve the desired consistency.
Directions
Mix almond flour/meal and Splenda in bowl, rub
in butter. Knead well. Normally, this would produce a smooth paste,
but this recipe will be squidgier than using wheat flour. Pat dough out
into a 1/2" thick rectangle (about 6" x 8") on a baking pan covered
with parchment paper. Refrigerate dough for AT LEAST 30 minutes so dough
will be easier to manage. After refrigerated, carefully cut dough into
16 1" x 3" "fingers", and place about an inch apart on parchment-covered
baking sheet. Decorate with fork markings, if desired. Bake at 325F
for 20 - 30 minutes (25 worked for me, but ovens vary) until pale and golden.
Serving Size: Makes 16 1" x 3" pieces
Serving Size: Makes 16 1" x 3" pieces
©Mary Layton
Nutritional Info (base recipe - no additions)
- Servings Per Recipe: about 16
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 138.6
- Total Fat: 14.1 g
- Cholesterol: 23.9 mg
- Sodium: 66.8 mg
- Total Carbs: 2.9 g
- Dietary Fiber: 1.1 g
- Protein: 2.3 g
* A note about sugar vs Splenda - in my experience, Splenda is at least twice as sweet as regular sugar, so I use half as much Splenda as called for in recipes usually - so if you do this recipe with sugar instead of Splenda, you may wish to double the sugar amount. This is why I don't even bother with sodas sweetened with Splenda - they taste overly sweet to me, so I rarely ever have soda at all, and when I do, I splash out for the regular stuff.
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