Low Carb Lemon Bars

In trying to stay at least somewhat healthy during my hiatus from a low carb lifestyle, I made these lemon bars and tested them on my family. Nobody could tell that they were made with a sugar substitute!!

BONUS? Why yes, actually. They were DE-LISH! Be sure to see my notes at the bottom.


Low Carb Lemon Bars

CRUST
3/4 cup blanched almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup coconut oil or butter
1/2 cup Swerve (or erythritol and 1 tsp stevia glycerite)
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt

FILLING
3 large eggs
1/2 cup Swerve (or erythritol and 1 tsp stevia glycerite)*
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt
4 TBS lemon juice
Directions
CRUST: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 8 x 8 square glass pan. In a medium bowl, mix ingredients. This will be a thick cookie crust; press onto bottom of pan. Place in oven to pre-bake the crust. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
FILLING: In a medium bowl, beat the ingredients for the filling until well combined. Pour the mixture evenly over the pre-baked crust and bake again for about 15-20 minutes or until set. Let cool. Store in fridge or freezer in an airtight container. Makes about 16 bars.
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per bar)
Traditional Lemon Bar = 160 calories, 8g fat, 1.9g protein, 19g carbs, trace fiber
LOW CARB Lemon Bar = 112 calories, 10g fat, 3g protein, 2.5g carbs, 1.2g fiber

Recipe by: Maria Emmerich


*As a side note, if you are sensitive to sugar alcohols, you may use Splenda or Stevia. Not sure of the ratios, but you could use equivalents and see if it turns out the same.
*Also, you could sprinkle powdered sugar substitute over the top for a nice added touch.
*If LIME or key lime is your thing, you could sub. lime juice for the lemon.
*I added 16 drops of lemon essential oil to enhance the lemon flavor. Give it a try!

who are you

Me? I'm an obscure blue-eyed inspiriter of all things scientific, epicurean, artistic & spiritual.
that's all... today anyway.

Roadblocks suck.

Soul Hunger

My soul often hungers; it seeks nourishment.

When I feed it, the inspiration I am blessed with blooms aggressively and I see beauty and possibilities everywhere, in everything.

Suddenly my future is a serendipitous abundance of endless experience - any, all, or none of which I may choose to enjoy.

And I SMILE...

Namaste,
gracegoddess
ask the epicurean goddess
Beth Ward 

 

Low Carb Chocolate Cheesecake Dream

You know, many of the low carb cheesecakes I see have a crust. Albeit low carb crust, it still adds
carbs that, to me, are unnecessary. So with the vast pool of similar recipes out there - if you are looking for one that is a crustless, quick, no fuss, confectionary dream - then this is for YOU.

*note - I always post the recipe with the ingredients I used specifically. Feel free to use whatever substitutions you deem necessary. Just don't come crying to me if they don't work out for whatever reason!

Low-Carb Chocolate Cheesecake Dream

• 3  packages organic Neufchatel Cheese or regular cream cheese
• 1/2 Cup organic heavy whipping Cream
• 2 large organic brown Eggs
• 1 teaspoon fresh Lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon pure Vanilla extract
• 1 Cup Swerve or other sweetener (if you like it sweeter use more to taste)
• 2 heaping Tablespoons organic Cacao Powder

Chocolate Dream Sauce

• 2 Tablespoons Organic Butter
• 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
• 2 Tablespoons organic Cacao Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Swerve or other sweetener

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a pie plate with butter, coconut oil or cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix cacao powder and heavy cream together until smooth. In your mixer bowl, add ROOM TEMPERATURE cream cheese packets, sweetener, eggs, lemon juice and vanilla and beat on medium high for 45 seconds. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Add cacao powder/cream mixture and beat again until thoroughly mixed. Pour into pie plate and bake for 30-35 minutes or until top is puffed up and beginning to brown.

 

 

 
 
 
Remove from oven and cool on wire wrack for 1/2 hour. Place in the refrigerator to chill. While the cake is baking, make Chocolate dream sauce using above recipe in a small saucepan over low heat until sweetener is dissolved and mixture is smooth. Pour into a small glass jar or other storage containment unit.

Cut up a slice and serve upside down with a drizzle of the chocolate sauce on top and garnish with a bit of whipped cream. Prepare to indulge in decadence that'll make you wanna smack yo' mamma!

Namaste~



The Epicurean Goddess

 

 

LC Journey, Day One: "I Embark"

Today I began (finally) my low carb "way of eating". I hate saying that. I mostly see that acronym referred to as "WOE". WOE as me.. *snicker*. I really wish I could think of a new way of saying that, so instead I say "Journey" or "Embark" as they sound more intrepid and daring! Okay, so I know the photos you are going to see here are NOT great. I am not a photographer (yet). So they aren't all that pretty but lemme tell ya... the FOOD WAS DELICIOUS!! Day one couldn't have been easier. I don't know if I'll be saying that by tomorrow, but we'll see.

 

I got up too late to eat "breakfast", so I ate lunch upon arising. I made a simple salad of pink salmon with bacon, dill relish, sour cream and mayo and put it in some romaine lettuce "cups". Yum. For dinner I had some rotisserie chicken breast with roasted asparagus and a zucchini/summer squash veg. medley seasoned and roasted too - on the same sheet pan because I am either lazy or a genius.

 

What I really took time to make today?

DESSERT!

 

So, I heard about this new sweetener I'd never seen or used before on some low carb/ketogenic websites I had found while perusing recipes. As Brent (my fiancé) always says, I look at several recipes and use them as "suggestions" to formulate my own recipe, 'cause I'm "just psycho like that"! It's called Swerve. I would see it and roll my eyes thinking it was some chemical sh*tstorm of a product, thinking all the while that it would be worth it to rip open a few hundred packets of Stevia until I got however much sweetener I needed for my recipe(s). NOW all that said, I don't mind, if, when on a diet, using an occasional sucralose or aspartame product (such as Splenda or diet drinks) when I have no other choice and options are limited, but overall I try to avoid artificial sweeteners like a brain-eating zombie. While great in practice, sometimes when sugar has landed you were I am right now - 25 lbs. heavier then you want to be and realized, 10 lbs. ago, that you needed to get the weight OFF before you gain more - YOU DON'T CARE!! At least not for the time being. I'll get back to "cleaning up" my diet but I have to start somewhere and FIRST is getting the sugar OUT.

 

Back to Swerve. I did some research out and about and realized that, while it may not be the BEST thing, it is certainly WAY better then actual sugar because of the SIGNIFICANT calorie reduction and the fact that the carbs in it are non-digestible fiber...which means that it will not spike your insulin and cause your body to store fat.

 

The best part? IT TASTES EXACTLY LIKE SUGAR. No bitter or weird aftertaste, no feeling of dissatisfaction afterwards. Honestly I felt really guilty with every bite, until I reminded myself that it wasn't going to affect my insulin and was low carb and low calorie. I've never had that luxury when dieting before so I really didn't know what to do with myself!

 

The recipe for my cheesecake is here and yes, it was absolutely magnificent! Even my fiancé loved it and could not differentiate the taste of it vs. a sugar-filled, scrumptious cheesecake! He's a tough critic and according to him, it was "better then store-bought cheesecake"!

 

 

This was the finished product. Before I ate it. 

 

 

Hopefully day two will be okay or just as good, that's really all abody can hope for while dieting!

 

~Namaste,

 

the Epicurean goddess



About

...a quote to sum it all up:

"Stranger, here you will do well to tarry; here our highest good is pleasure. The caretaker of that abode, a kindly host, will be ready for you; she will welcome you with bread, and serve you water also in abundance, with these words: "Have you not been well entertained? This garden does not whet your appetite; but quenches it." 
~Gate Inscription at Epicurus' Garden.
  

...enchanting reflections of a spirited epicurean goddess on delectable food, exotic experience, aesthetic beauty and bountiful health. ~~Notions, Knowledge, Recipes, Experiments and Reviews for your sundry consumptions of body, mind & soul~~  

 

Beth's Brunch Bake

So I've been looking forward to making one of those "famer casserole" thingies for a while now. I looked at a few recipes, bought a few ingredients (two weeks ago) and forgot about it. Yeah, that sounds like me. Finding ourselves with an Easter weekend with nothing but house projects to do, I thought I might make an egg casserole-type dish that I've been longing for.

But, there are a couple of problems:

1. I am not fond of the density that most egg casseroles inherently have because of the yolk. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE egg yolks. There is nothing more beautifully sexy and luscious in the food world than a perfect, ooey gooey, rich and runny, deliciously poached egg. IT is like HEAVEN ON YOUR TOUNGE! But, since you don't particularly taste egg yolk in scrambled or baked eggs, it almost negates the reason for using them...and it makes a casserole dense. I like the light n' fluffy texture.
2. Most recipes I've found call for some type of bread, which turns me off because it makes me think of bread pudding. I have nothing against bread pudding, but DO NOT let it taint the lovely thoughts I have of a yummy breakfast!

The good thing about this type of dish is that you can put almost anything you want into it so its a good "clean-out-the-fridge" dish. Similar to a frittata which I also love. The only way in which this would pose a problem is in MY case. My fiancé hates veggies but loves sausage, and I am not the biggest fan of sausage but LOVE veggies. So while, I never get to make it the way I'd like to, I strike a compromise which makes him somewhat happy and I don't have to eat sausage. Thus, the following recipe:

(Picture before it was put in the oven to bake)

 

Beth's Brunch Bake

• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 or more cups shredded Colby Jack shredded
• 14 eggs
• 1/2 bag shredded hash brown potatoes
• 10 crispy-fried center cut bacon strips, crumbled
• 1 cup cubed ham
• 3/4 Skim Milk + 1/4 cup half and half
• or 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup regular or greek sour cream
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup sliced green onions
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• a Pinch of Cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:



• In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add milk, sour cream spices, and baking powder. Beat until eggs become light-colored and frothy; about medium speed for 2-3 minutes. In another bowl, stir onions, bacon, ham, and cheddar cheese together to mix.
• Coat the inside of a 9X13 inch baking dish with cooking spray or butter. Evenly spread the hash browns on the bottom. Pour 1/3 of egg mixture on top of hash browns to coat. Spread the ham, bacon & cheese mixture evenly in pan. Pour remainder of egg mixture over the top, covering all the ingredients. Top with the shredded Colby Jack cheese.
• Bake, uncovered at 325° for 50 -55 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting and serving. Serves 8.

If you want to make it a little easier, you can just mix it all together in one bowl and then add it to the dish, but it just seems to come out different to me.

(Pictures after it was baked & served)

(Picture right before it was DEVOURED, muahahahaaa!)

 

So, it was delicious. We even had seconds! I will try putting these into a muffin pan and have breakfast on the go! Or a handy snack. I have also toyed with making these low-carb by using cream instead of milk, and something like cauliflower, rutabaga, or celery root to substitute for the potatoes. Or you could just leave out the potatoes all together. Want it spicier? Add more cayenne and serve it will a drizzle of Sriracha. Like veggies? Add your faves! Your call, really!

 

That's a great reason to cook at home. You can have it YOUR way with a slim chance that it will be screwed up. But that's another blog post ;-).

 

~Beth a.k.a. The Epicurean Goddess