Tag: sugar free

Fudgy Protein Brownies

Grain-free    &&    Low-fat    &&    Sugar-free

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These brownies are kind of amazing, if I do say so myself. They are dense and fudgy, and they hit you in the face with deep chocolatey flavor (far from the cringe-inducing sweetness that hits you in the face with other desserts). The flavor is so intense without being overly sweet, I’ve actually been eating them with berries or other fruits on top or on the side; it’s the perfect desert when you need serious chocolate (see Figure 1 below).

Fig. 1 Fudgy Protein Brownie topped with some fresh Pacific Northwest blackberries.

And best of all, I can actually eat them! That means they’re grain-free, low-fat, and low “sugar”. The trick (in addition to my usual bag of tricks) is that they’re sweetened with erythritol, which is a sugar alcohol; it passes through your body with almost no effect. Just like a neutrino. So it tastes sweet, but has no calories and doesn’t raise your blood sugar (i.e. has no glycemic load). I’ve been reading up on erythritol, of course, to learn more about it and make sure it’s safe, particularly as it seems too good to be true. I will let you do your own research, but it seems like it *is* actually as good as it promises. The only potential ill effects I’ve read about is that in large quantities it can cause temporary stomach upset and digestive trouble because the erythritol molecules reach your intestines without having been broken down; however, in “reasonable quantities” (like when you substitute 1 to 1 for sugar), for most people there’s no trouble. Each of these brownies has just 3/4 of a tablespoon of erythritol, which is less than the amount sugar than you’d find in a regular brownie. I am the last one who would want more digestive trouble in my life, but even I seem to tolerate “reasonable quantities” of erythritol perfectly fine.

To make the deal even sweeter (figuratively, not literally) I’ve added some protein powder into the recipe. High protein, low fat, no glycemic load, tastes like dessert… I’ll be making these on repeat.

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Fudgy Protein Browines

Makes 16 brownies (one 8”x8” pan)

Nutritional Info:

  • Total: 20.5g fat, 98g protein
  • Per brownie: 1.3g fat, 6.1g protein

 

Bits:

      Dry

  • 1 cup (120g) chickpea flour
  • 1 cup (90g) cocoa powder (non-alkalized)
  • ¼ cup (4 Tbsp) plain protein powder (I like NorCal Organic Pea Protein Powder)
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 ½ tsp salt
  • ⅛ tsp cloves

      Wet

  • 90g egg whites (equivalent of 2 large eggs)
  • ¾ tsp vanilla
  • ¾ tsp hazelnut extract
  • ¾ cup erythritol
  • 425g (1 can) canned pumpkin
  • 1+ Tbsp water

Algorithm

  • Line an 8” square baking pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Sift together dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
  • Mix wet ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl; stir until smooth and fully blended.
  • Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir together with a spatula until fully blended and no dry pockets remain.
  • Spread batter evenly in bottom of parchment-lined pan. The batter will be thick; smooth with a spatula.
  • Bake for 30-35 minutes until the middle is firm starts to look dry (a toothpick inserted in the center may not come out clean). Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before removing and slicing.

Parsnip Date Hazelnut Chickpea Flour Loaf

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Grain-free    &&    Very low fat    &&    Slightly and naturally sweetened

This quick loaf coffee cake is perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. But, parsnips in a coffee cake you may ask? To which I’d reply, sure, it’s no stranger than putting carrots in a cake, which many would argue is much more delicious than strange. Parsnips are just another root vegetable, and they’re even carrot shaped, if that helps to put you more at ease. While maybe not be quite as sweet as carrots, they have a little more of an earthy, and almost creamy, flavor that’s hard to describe; well worth a try. Parsnips really have their heyday in fall when everyone starts to get excited about root vegetables, but like carrots, they seem to be available and delicious year round.

Made with 100% chickpea flour, it’s totally grain-free, and the only fat comes from the chickpea flour. It’s also sweetened only with a little bit of date syrup, making it pretty guilt-free for breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, or dessert… you might even be able to pass it off as a dinner item; after all, chickpea flour is high in protein and parsnips are a vegetable. I say go for it!

For this loaf I recommend using a store-bought date syrup like The Date Lady‘s, which seems to be have a somewhat greater concentration of sweetness than the home-made stuff I’ve posted about (see my recipe for 110010 Birthday Cake for how to make your own date syrup. As the store-bought kind seems to be darker and a little sweeter, I have my suspicion that after blending the dates and water to make syrup, it’s probably cooked down a little to concentrate it; I need to do an experiment to check my hypothesis, and will be sure to  report back when I do. But unless you have time to do the experiment yourself, try to go with store-bought.)

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Parsnip Date Hazelnut Chickpea Flour Loaf

30 minutes prep time, 45-55 minutes bake time

Makes 1 9″x5″ standard-sized loaf

Bits:

    Dry:

  • 150 g chickpea flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp ground fenugreek seed

    Wet:

  • 200 g grated parsnips (start with about 300 g / 2 large parsnips, then peel and grate to get 200 g)
  • ¼ cup (70g) roasted mashed garnet yam (or butternut squash)
  • 3 Tbsp (50 g) egg whites
  • ½ cup (125 g) nonfat greek yogurt
  • 1 Tbsp nonfat milk
  • 2 Tbsp (40 g) date syrup
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp hazelnut extract (or omit and increase vanilla extract to ½ tsp)
  • ¼ tsp almond extract

Algorithm:

  • Line a 9”x5” standard size loaf pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
  • Combine dry ingredients in medium mixing bowl (sift chickpea flour as it tends to clump).
  • Grate parsnips, if not already grated, and measure out 200 g. Set aside.
  • Add wet ingredients except the parsnips in small mixing bowl and stir until pretty much smooth.
  • Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Fold with rubber spatula until almost combined.
  • Add the parsnips to the batter and fold until combined.
  • Bake 45-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out *almost* clean. Check after 20 minutes and put a foil hat over the top to prevent dark spots.
  • Be a boring grown-up and clean up your mess while the loaf bakes.
  • Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan, unstick the parchment, and let cool completely on a wire rack (best if you can leave it for at least 45 minutes to an hour, if not longer) before wrapping it up and putting it away).

Keeps for 2 weeks tightly wrapped in plastic in the fridge. Also freezes fairly well, but texture may suffer a little.