Living Low carb

Eating low carb does not mean giving up foods that satisfy my sweet cravings. I know eating low carb should help curb those carb cravings but I love a bit of something sweet occasionally. One of my go to desserts is this recipe for Chocolate Brownie Mug cake that I found on Pinterest. The recipe is from a website titled ibreatheimhungry.com I love the name!

I have found many wonderful recipes on Pinterest pinned from this website and the Chocolate Brownie Mug Cake below is one of my absolute favorites. The standard recipe makes two mug cakes. I tend to double the recipe so I can have emergency sweet tooth treats on hand and it allows me to share with my family. These cakes are meant to be eaten warm. It does make a big difference in taste to me if they have been refrigerated, they seem a little dry. I heat the ones I have leftover a bit in the microwave before eating. Yum! I do not add the chopped chocolate to mine but I do use the pecans and add whipped topping which is surprisingly low carb – 1 carb per 2 tbsp.

The recipe indicates using a granulated sugar substitute. I have tried several different low carb sweeteners. I have used Swerve ( I use the granular for the brownies), a stevia extract, and Monk fruit. I like the monk fruit blend the best and I have adjusted the amount used to less than the recipe calls for because it was a bit too sweet. I have found that with sweet low carb recipes it is a matter of personal taste and what type of sugar substitute I use that determines the amount of sweetener.

Let’s get started: Almond flour, coconut flour, sugar substitute, salt, unsweetened cocoa powder and baking powder and chopped pecans in one bowl. Eggs, melted butter, and vanilla in another. So quick and easy. (This picture is my doubled recipe)

Brownie Batter

Doubled recipe batter divided between four dishes. Ready to pop into the microwave.

Chocolate Brownie Mug Cake after cooking in microwave for 1minute and 15 seconds. I cook two bowls at at time.

Now to enjoy:

Chocolate brownie mug cake heaven.

Sometimes I like drizzling Stevia chocolate syrup on the whipped topping to make it seem like a really decadent chocolate treat.

I found it on Amazon. Click image for more information.

Chocolate Brownie Mug Cake (Low Carb & Gluten Free) from ibreatheimhungry.com

Warm and comforting, this is the quickest way to low carb brownie bliss there is! (I whole heatily agree)

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp almond flour
1 tsp coconut flour
1½ Tbsp granulated sugar substitute
¼ tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
1 square Lindt 90% chocolate, chopped
2 Tbsp pecans, chopped (optional)

Instructions

Melt the butter in a small microwave safe bowl (about 30 seconds in microwave). Add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Pour batter into 2 small greased mugs or ramekins. Microwave for 1 minute. (add another 30 seconds if necessary). Serve with whipped cream or sugar free vanilla ice cream.

Notes

Approximate nutrition info per mug: 230 calories, 23g fat, 3g net carbs, 6g protein

Let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

Melyna

Since adopting a low carb lifestyle, I have missed having chips and salsa and chips and guacamole. I made some from baking low carb tortillas but they were not really satisfying and I got very few chips for the carbs. Pork rinds do not fill this gap, so I went looking for an alternative.

I found a recipe for Paleo Dipping Chips on Pinterest from a site called beautyandthefoodie.com

The article states that the chips are more like crackers. These are not the thin, light restaurant tortilla chips I used to eat but they are very tasty. I have made them twice. The first time I rolled them out to the thickness of a thin cracker. The second time I rolled them out even thinner and they baked fine and were not overly delicate. To achieve a hardy chip for dipping, I would leave them a little bit thicker. That said, they satisfied my craving for chips, salsa and guacamole. The nutrition information states that the recipe makes four serving with a net 2.5 carbs per serving. I split the entire batch with my husband and felt pretty good at having only 5.0 net carbs for the chips. It makes a lot of chips.

I gathered my ingredients and got busy! (forgot the olive oil in the pic)

Everything is mixed in one bowl (which is nice) It doesn’t look like it makes much, but remember it is rolled out pretty thin.

Place the dough on a sheet of parchment the size you will be baking it on. Place another sheet on top and roll out to desired thickness.

Carefully remove top sheet of parchment from the dough. Mine stuck in some places. I found that if I lightly wet my fingers with water, I could ease the dough off the parchment and put it back in place.

Next, score the dough into the shapes your want with a pizza cutter or knife.

Place on baking sheet and either spritz with an olive oil mister or use a pastry brush and lightly oil the top of the dough (this is what I used). The recipe states to make a mix of the spices and salt again then sprinkle on top before baking. Bake in a preheated oven (350 F) for 10 minutes. Check to see if it is browning. If not continue to bake and check frequently until it is a golden brown. (Some of the thinner edges were a little crispier but tasted fine)