coconut flour – The Cookbook Experiment

Low-Carb Flour Blend

Finding the right type of flour to bake with while trying to eat on the THM plan has not been easy. The family still loves baked goods, but wheat flour is full of carbs. After playing around a bit with mixing flours, I think that I have found one that works for us. I might still toy with it, but for the most part, this blend works. It has just 31 grams of carbs per cup as opposed to 88 grams per cup of all-purpose flour and 117 grams/cup of whole wheat flour. Lots of ladies over on the THM Face Book page have created their own flour blends, and there are quite a few on Pinterest. If you are wanting to cut back on your carb intake this holiday season, but still want to have yummy baked goods, give this a try…or create your own! It isn’t that hard at all!

2 c. oat flour*

1 c. coconut flour

1 c. almond flour

1/2 c. ground flax

Mix together and keep in a labeled container. That’s all there is to it! Enjoy some low-carb baking!

*I buy old fashioned oats and grind them in my Ninja to make oat flour.

Measuring Spoons and Chocolate-Zucchini Cake

Have you ever had a favorite kitchen tool that finally became too fragile to use? It’s like saying good-bye to an old friend! My favorite measuring spoons once belonged to my sweet mom. I have no idea how old they are, but since they used to have a pretty copper coloring to them, I imagine that they are about 40 years old. Mom loved the copper color for her kitchen back in the 1970s. I’ve been using them for years, but noticed a few months back that the tablespoon is getting rather fragile and bending easily. Rather than use them until they break, I decided to put the set away. I came across the spoons a week or so ago and decided to put them into a shadow box. I’m going to enjoy them for a little while and then send them off to my girl to have in her kitchen!

We were able to have some long-time friends over for dinner last weekend, and I wanted to keep our meal on the eating plan for the hubby. And since we were having guests, I wanted a dessert. Some smart mama shared this recipe on the Face Book THM page a few months ago. It is wonderful! My family never realized that it has zucchini in it!

4 tbsp melted butter

1/2 c. Truvia (I used Stevia)

3 eggs

1-1/2 c. shredded zucchini (I used 1 medium zucchini)

2 tsp. vanilla

1/3 c. coconut flour

1/3 c. almond flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 c. dark chocolate chips (85%)

Blend all ingredients in a blender until well-mixed. Pour batter into a greased 9×9 pan. Bake at 375* for about 30 minutes. Cool for about 20 minutes and remove from pan to a wire rack. Cool completely.

(I have made this cake twice and both times I have forgotten to add the dark chocolate chips. Tastes great anyway!)

Frosting

1/2 c. whipping cream

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tbsp. powdered truvia

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until cream thickens. Spread over the top of cooled cake. Store frosted cake in the fridge. Serves 8

Cherry Nut Bread, Low-Carb Style

I’ve been learning a lot by following the Trim Healthy Mama Facebook page, and it is not just about recipes! The ladies on that page come up with wonderful ideas to help make life easier as they try to lose weight and get healthy. My favorite tip so far has to be this creative way to make pouring those half-gallon Mason jars full of wonderful beverages.

Isn’t this a great idea? I just cut around a pour spout from a carton of almond milk and used it as the flat lid with the ring to my Mason jar. Seriously, why didn’t I think of this? I’m telling you, these ladies are absolutely brilliant!

One of the favorite recipes in our home at Christmas is this delicious cherry nut bread. I first discovered this recipe while I was still in college. I baked it for my parents who just loved it. Once I got married, I made it for the hubby and for friends as gifts. You can read the recipe here.

Now that we are trying to eat a low-carb diet, I had to figure out a way to make this recipe without all the carbs, so that we could still enjoy it. While it doesn’t taste the same, it is a good substitute. I followed the basic recipe but made these substitutions:

1. I replaced the 2 c. flour with a combination of almond, coconut, and oat flours. I used 1 c. almond flour and 1/2 cup of each coconut and oat flours. I think when I make this again, I will switch the amounts of oat and almond flours.

2. I used stevia as my sweetener instead of sugar.

3. I used 1 cup of tart pie cherries instead of maraschino cherries.

We liked the flavor of this bread, but it is rather crumbly. I made the recipe into 16 muffins so that I could try to figure out the carbs per serving. If I did my math right, it comes out to 7 carbs per muffin. For those following the THM plan, these would be an S.