I make my own low-carb flours, which I use to prepare pancakes, waffles and muffins. I keep the following on hand at all times: white flour, white whole wheat flour, whole wheat flour, soy flour, whole almonds and old-fashioned oats. I am continually adding new flours to my arsenal.
If I’m making muffins, I follow a traditional recipe that, for example, calls for 3 cups of flour. I look at my flours and might decide to mix 1 cup of white flour, 1 cup of whole wheat flour, and 1 cup of soy flour together. Occasionally, I use all whole wheat flour or any other mixture I prefer. I sometimes grind almonds to make almond flour or oats to make oat flour. I caution you not to use soy flour in your waffle or pancake batters, as it tends to stick too much to the griddles.
If a recipe calls for oil, I use canola oil. If a recipe calls for butter I will generally use canola butter or Smart Balance regular spread.
I purchase whole milk, and when baking (and elsewhere), I mix it with half water to make an approximate 2% milk. This cuts the carbs (as well as the price of the milk!) in half. There is no noticeable difference in taste from 2% milk.
I am not a big fan of putting artificial sweeteners in most baked goods as it alters the texture and flavors too much and makes things stick to the pan. When baking cakes or muffins, I prefer to reduce the amount of sugar rather than add all artificial sweetener or even a combination of sweetener and sugar. For instance, yesterday I baked a large batch of Amish Raisin Bran Muffins that called for 3 cups of sugar. The recipe makes six dozen muffins. I reduced the sugar to 1 cup of sugar with very satisfactory results.
I’ve discovered that a combination of half sugar and half Splenda works well in sweet potato and pumpkin pies. This also works well in baked bread and rice puddings (I use brown rice) and in baked custards. I also use half sugar and half Splenda when I bake pies such as apple, pineapple, peach and berry. These pies taste pretty much the same as if I had used all sugar.
So I basically mix my flours, use canola oil or a butter substitute, cut the milk carbs in half and reduce the sugar; or mix sugar and sweetener together (usually half and half). I do this with just about any standard recipe. The results are pretty much the same as the original recipe - and sometimes even better!
These recipes are not the final word. They are here to get you to think outside the box. To get you to experiment with the dessert recipes you come across, until you obtain a level of control that is comfortable to you, your health and taste buds. This can be achieved by portion monitoring, lowering the recipe ingredients that adversely affect your health, and by adding or substituting those that help. Use your own discretion and seek the advice of your licensed health care provider.
I am still experimenting; so from time to time, I will post further results. I’m committed to making superior low-carb products for me, my husband (who has also just been diagnosed with diabetes) and my family.
