Roasted “Candied” Carrots

This was always a favorite of my mother.  Of course, she always made them with real brown sugar, but mine taste just as good!  Honest!!  These are seriously good and you really need to try them if you’ve never roasted or candied carrots!  She would serve these tasty carrots with roasted turkey at holiday time, or alongside baked chicken or pork roasts throughout the year.  They shrink a lot during the roasting process, so be sure to make plenty for your crowd.  🙂  These are a bit higher in carbs than the green beans on the plate above, but can be enjoyed occasionally once you’ve passed the initial 2-week Induction period of your low-carb diet.  🙂

INGREDIENTS: 

5-6  medium carrots (5-6″ long), peeled and sliced into 3-4 long strips

2 T. melted butter

1 T. erythritol or sweetener of choice equivalent to 1 T. sugar

¼ tsp. maple extract

Dash salt (optional)

Dash pepper (optional)

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  Peel and slice the carrots lengthwise (3-4 slices per carrot, or about 3/16″ thick). Melt the butter in a 9×13 baking pan (I used metal).  Needs to be this large for easy tossing during cooking and to be sure they lay in a single layer.  Remove from oven and add maple extract, sweetener, salt and pepper if using.  Stir well.  Lay the carrots in a single layer at the bottom, flipping them to coat both sides with the butter mixture.  Pop into oven and bake around 40 minutes, tossing/flipping them once at the 20 minute mark.  They should be fairly tender when done, but if thicker slices are slightly underdone, no problem.  They will be just be a little chewier, which I kind of like, personally. 🙂  Enjoy with your favorite meat and green entree!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 3 adult servings, each contains:

119 cals, 7.9g fat, 11.76g carbs, 3.43g fiber, 7.33g NET CARBS, 1.23g protein, 190mg sodium