Einkorn Soft Pretzels

I can’t take full credit for this recipe.  My inspirational recipe was Maria Emmerich’s “Healthified Sub” recipe. I changed the water, added yeast for flavor and of course, added some Einkorn flour.  Oh, I also reduced the salt.

Man, the house smells like a bakery while these are baking…..you know that smell!  These rose nicely, have a chewy crust and have a very nice texture inside, as you can see in the photo  above.  They have the mouth feel and taste of real yeast bread, perhaps a wee bit more firm and “elastic”, but not unpleasantly so.  These were simply DELICIOUS!!  I got 8 pretzels from this recipe.   Being made with psyllium, these are VERY filling. 🙂

It goes without saying this recipe, with a bit of flour, is not suitable until you reach the grains rung of the Atkins carb reintroduction ladder in  Pre-Maintenance or Maintenance.  I order my Einkorn Flour from JovialFoods.com.  I order my NOW psyllium husk powder from Netrition.com.

If you want a lower carb bun, either reduce the Einkorn flour, or I just make Maria’s bun as her recipe is written (no Einkorn flour at all), but I would still add the yeast and pinch of sugar, as that adds a lovely yeast taste and aroma to these buns.   As you can see by my picture, I’m not as talented with “shaping” pretzels as some. LOL  Must work on that.  But the dough is somewhat difficult to work with.  sounds like a good excuse to me.  🙂

INGREDIENTS:  

1½ c. almond flour

5 T. psyllium husk powder (I use NOW brand; ABSOLUTELY DO NOT USE  KONSYL BRAND! Been there and what a mess that was!)

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. dry yeast

¼ c. Einkorn Flour (for gluten free version, substitute either 1/4 c. certified gluten-free oat flour or  Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten Free Bake Mix)

Pinch sugar (consumed by yeast)

2½ T. apple cider vinegar

3 egg whites

1 c. boiling water

OPTIONAL:  1 egg white to glaze tops for a sheen.  Coarse-ground sea salt (I used Himalayan Pink Sea Salt).

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a sheet pan with silicone sheet or parchment. Mix all the dry ingredients (including yeast) in a medium mixing bowl.  Stir well to be sure it is uniformly mixed.  Boil water.  Mix the egg whites and vinegar in a small bowl with a fork and add all at once to the dry ingredients.  Stir quickly with the fork, to make a thick dough.  Pour the 1 c. boiling water over the dough all at once and using the fork, stir quickly into a smooth mixture.  Now, using a rubber spatula and continue to stir quickly and fold as it thickens up.   Scoop out about 1/3 c. dough, roll on a silicone sheet into a 1/2″ “rope”.  Shape your pretzel, making two rings with a twist in the middle.  Repeat for other 7 pretzels. Place on the parchment/silicone lined pan fairly close together and pop into preheated 350º oven for a total of 45 minutes. If using egg wash, remove pan at 30 minutes cook time,  beat 1 egg white with 1 T. water and brush tops.  Sprinkle with coarse cracked salt.  Pop back into the oven and finish baking for about 15 minutes longer or until as brown as you desire.  Cool on pans before eating, as centers seem somewhat pack-y and “wet” if you don’t wait.  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 8 pretzels, each contains:

154.4 cals, 10.6g fat,12.6g carbs, 6.98g fiber, 5.62g NET CARBS,6.53g protein, 193 mg sodium

 

 

 

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Cheese Puffs

I decided to modify my Cheese Thin Buns recipe by adding some Carbquik to the ingredient line-up.   What a marvelous change that makes!  These tasty little bite-size snacks are less than 1 net carb per puff!  We both love snacking on cheese bread, but that isn’t exactly on a low-carb diet.  This is my answer to a late night snack that is suitable on a very low-carb diet.  These are easy to make and I’m certain they’ll be a hit with your family.  If you don’t like things spicy, omit the cayenne; if you do like things spicy, you may even want to increase the amount of cayenne!  🙂  These are suitable once you get to the end of Phase 2 Atkins.

INGREDIENTS:

3 eggs, beaten

½ c. water

2 T. olive oil

2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

1 T. + 1 tsp. glucomannan powder (there is no substitute for this)

¼ c. whey protein powder (plain, unsweetened)

1 T. (3 tsp) baking powder

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper (optional but greatly enhanced the flavor layers)

1/8 tsp. sea salt

1 c. Carbquik (use gluten-free bake mix for a gluten-free version)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Measure out the dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl and stir well to evenly mix.  In a separate medium mixing bowl, beat the wet ingredients with an electric mixer or whisk.  While you are whisking the egg mixture, slowly add in the dry ingredients until all is well blended into a batter resembling pancake batter.  Stir in the cheese and mix it well.  Let the dough stand a few minutes as it will thicken/stiffen up a bit.

I used a non-stick mini-muffin pan.  The cheese will bleed out some oil, so you shouldn’t have to oil a non-stick pan.  But if yours is NOT non-stick, oil the cups of your mini-muffin pan lightly with a brush.  Using a measuring spoon, put 1 level tablespoon of batter into each cup raking it out with a finger to get it all.  Will make exactly 34 muffins, so a second baking will be necessary unless you own two mini-muffin pans.  Pop into 350º oven and bake for 17 minutes or until browning on top.  We found browning enhances flavor, so you may want to even bake yours a bit longer.  Remove from oven and cool a couple minutes.  If cooled a bit, they will come out of the pans with a knife tip’s help without tearing apart.  If removed too hot, you are going to tear them up.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 34 Cheese Puffs, each contains:

50.6 cals., 4.52 g fat, 2.13 g carbs, 1.43 g fiber, 0.70 g NET CARBS, 3.06 g protein, 138 mg sodium

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Olive Bagels

I’m currently following the lowest carb diet I have ever done.  Not quite an Atkins Fat Fast, but pretty darn close.  I’m only eating protein, cheese, eggs, fat, olives and avocados for awhile.  So my creative hat kicked into gear today.  I know a lot of low-carb breads and pancakes are made with just cream cheese and eggs, so I thought I’d go down that road to create a bagel for lunch.  I was going to eat the olives “on the side”, but decided to incorporate them into the bagel, as my husband and I have always enjoyed a good olive yeast bread.  Well, these are far from a yeast bread, but they did come out quite good.

I used a doughnut pan to make these, but if you don’t have one, you could use a muffin-top pan, or make them shallow in the bottoms of pans for making large muffins.  Who says they have to have holes in the middle?  🙂

This recipe is suitable once you get to Atkins phase 2 since there is almond flour in them.  Many more of my tasty recipes are in Jennifer Eloff’s LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS cookbooks.  Chef George Stella and other great low-carb cooks have participated in this on-going project.   Special complete 10-volume set pricing is going on right now. Hurry and place your order today for one or more of our cookbooks at https://amongfriends.us/sale.php or at Amazon. After your book(s) arrive, and you’ve had a chance to try a recipe or two, do stop by and leave a review at Amazon here.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T. cream cheese, softened

1 beaten egg (I used extra large)

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

10 black olives, chopped very fine

1 T. olive or coconut oil (for batter)

1/8 tsp. each garlic and onion powders

1T. almond flour (or some low-carb bake mix if allergic to nuts)

1 tsp. my 8-Seed Spice Blend (or similar bread-topping blend)

1 T. olive or coconut oil (to grease pan)

VARIATION:  You could omit the olives, reduce or omit onion & garlic powders for a plain bagel. 

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 375º.  With a basting brush, oil the 6 slots of your pan with 1 T. olive oil.  Set aside while you mix up the batter.  Soften cream cheese in microwave in a medium ceramic/glass mixing bowl.  Add in all other ingredients to the cream cheese and blend well for a few minutes with a rubber spatula to try to distribute the cream cheese evenly throughout the mozzarella.  Spoon the batter equally into the 6 pan slots, pressing it down with your spoon or fingers to compress batter tightly in the slots.   Pop into 375º oven and bake for 20 minutes or until browned on top.  I pulled mine out a tad too soon at 15 min., as the browner ones were the tastiest.  Allow bagels to almost completely cool before attempting to remove from the pans with a knife point to help lift them.   If you try while they are hot, they will tear up, as my first one did.   Serve with salads, Greek foods, Italian food or just by themselves.  Mmmm, they are GREAT!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Make 6 bagels, each contains:

220 cals, 18.3g fat, 2.53g carbs, 0.40g fiber, 2.13g NET CARBS, 11.7g protein, 286 mg sodium

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Einkorn Soft Pretzels

I can’t take full credit for this recipe.  My inspirational recipe was Maria Emmerich’s “Healthified Sub” recipe. I changed the water, added yeast for flavor and of course, added some Einkorn flour.  Oh, I also reduced the salt.

Man, the house smells like a bakery while these are baking…..you know that smell!  These rose nicely, have a chewy crust and have a very nice texture inside, as you can see in the photo  above.  They have the mouth feel and taste of real yeast bread, perhaps a wee bit more firm and “elastic”, but not unpleasantly so.  These were simply DELICIOUS!!  I got 8 pretzels from this recipe.   Being made with psyllium, these are VERY filling. 🙂

It goes without saying this recipe, with a bit of flour, is not suitable until you reach the grains rung of the Atkins carb reintroduction ladder in  Pre-Maintenance or Maintenance.  I order my Einkorn Flour from JovialFoods.com.  I order my NOW psyllium husk powder from Netrition.com.

If you want a lower carb bun, either reduce the Einkorn flour, or I just make Maria’s bun as her recipe is written (no Einkorn flour at all), but I would still add the yeast and pinch of sugar, as that adds a lovely yeast taste and aroma to these buns.   As you can see by my picture, I’m not as talented with “shaping” pretzels as some. LOL  Must work on that.  But the dough is somewhat difficult to work with.  sounds like a good excuse to me.  🙂

INGREDIENTS:  

1½ c. almond flour

5 T. psyllium husk powder (I use NOW brand; ABSOLUTELY DO NOT USE  KONSYL BRAND! Been there and what a mess that was!)

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. dry yeast

¼ c. Einkorn Flour (for gluten free version, substitute either 1/4 c. certified gluten-free oat flour or  Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten Free Bake Mix)

Pinch sugar (consumed by yeast)

2½ T. apple cider vinegar

3 egg whites

1 c. boiling water

OPTIONAL:  1 egg white to glaze tops for a sheen.  Coarse-ground sea salt (I used Himalayan Pink Sea Salt).

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a sheet pan with silicone sheet or parchment. Mix all the dry ingredients (including yeast) in a medium mixing bowl.  Stir well to be sure it is uniformly mixed.  Boil water.  Mix the egg whites and vinegar in a small bowl with a fork and add all at once to the dry ingredients.  Stir quickly with the fork, to make a thick dough.  Pour the 1 c. boiling water over the dough all at once and using the fork, stir quickly into a smooth mixture.  Now, using a rubber spatula and continue to stir quickly and fold as it thickens up.   Scoop out about 1/3 c. dough, roll on a silicone sheet into a 1/2″ “rope”.  Shape your pretzel, making two rings with a twist in the middle.  Repeat for other 7 pretzels. Place on the parchment/silicone lined pan fairly close together and pop into preheated 350º oven for a total of 45 minutes. If using egg wash, remove pan at 30 minutes cook time,  beat 1 egg white with 1 T. water and brush tops.  Sprinkle with coarse cracked salt.  Pop back into the oven and finish baking for about 15 minutes longer or until as brown as you desire.  Cool on pans before eating, as centers seem somewhat pack-y and “wet” if you don’t wait.  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 8 pretzels, each contains:

154.4 cals, 10.6g fat,12.6g carbs, 6.98g fiber, 5.62g NET CARBS,6.53g protein, 193 mg sodium

 

 

 

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Einkorn Dinner Rolls

These are my best dinner roll creation on low-carb to date.  Soft inside; slightly chewy crust and a marvelous flavor!  And they rose up nicer than any I’ve made before, too!

My husband even liked these hot out of the oven with butter, and he’s hard to please low-carb wise.  These have a nice mouth feel one finds in a traditional yeast bread.  I even included some dissolved yeast but that’s just added for flavor.

These make very nice sliders for lunch, too.  Here’s a close-up on the smooth texture:

I order my non-GMO Einkorn flour direct from Jovial Foods.  Some have found it at Safeway and other stores, but I’ve not been so lucky.  Einkorn is real, ancient wheat, that has not been hybridized.  I use only the tiniest amounts in the occasional baked goods recipes.  It brings so much texture and flavor for little carbs if used sparingly to enhance alternate flours.  This recipe is not suitable until you are near goal weight (Pre-Maintenance).

More delicious low-carb recipes can be at your fingertips with your very own set of Jennifer Eloff and friends’ best-selling cookbooks LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS. She has collaborated with famous low-carb Chef George Stella and several other talented cooks to bring you a wealth of delicious recipes you are going to want to try. Many of my own creations appear in the 10-volume set, currently being offered at the best discount ever!  Order your set TODAY! (also available individually) from Amazon or our direct order site: http://amongfriends.us/order.php

VARIATION:   Sprinkle some of my 8-Seed Blend on tops of the rolls before baking:

DRY INGREDIENTS:

½ c. almond flour

2 T. Einkorn flour

½ c. egg white protein powder (I use NOW brand)

2 T. oat fiber

2 T. coconut flour

1 T. baking powder

2 T. golden flax meal (dark flax or a mixture can be used for a darker, nuttier-tasting bread)

¼ tsp. sea salt

3 T. psylium husk powder (I use NOW brand)

WET INGREDIENTS:

1 tsp. dry yeast dissolved in 2 T. warm water + pinch sugar (consumed by yeast)

5 eggs, beaten

3 T. olive oil

¼ c. egg whites (I used the ones in a carton)

½ c. boiling water (added last)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease or oil a standard muffin tin and set aside.    Dissolve yeast in 2 T. warm water and add a tiny pinch sugar.  Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, measure out all dry ingredients.  Stir well.  In another medium bowl, add the first 5 wet ingredients (all but the boiling water) and beat with a fork.  Add the dissolved yeast mixture to the wet ingredients and stir.   Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat well using a rubber spatula. Slowly add the boiling water to the batter and stir to blend. Batter will be lumpy.  Now, using a whisk, beat until batter is smoother (about 15 times is all it should take).  Spoon batter into greased muffin tin cups 3/4 full evenly distributing the batter as best you can.  I actually used a silicone muffin pan.  Bake at 350º for around 30 minutes, but check them at 20 minutes as ovens vary. If not firm and dry to touch on tops, cook 5 or so minutes longer.  Remove from oven and in a few minutes, lift out with knife tip or tip onto board to finish cooling.  Serve warm.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 12 dinner rolls, each contains:

123 calories, 8.56 g fat, 6.53 g carbs, 3.93 g fiber, 2.6 g NET CARBS, 4.85 g protein, 222 mg sodium

 

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Garlic Dinner Rolls

My Mozzy Dough, somewhere between the Flathead Pizza Crust recipe on the Diet Doctor’s website and Jennifer Eloff’s Miracle Dough recipe, makes excellent dinner rolls.  Delicious hot with butter!  Also good split, toasted with melted butter brushed on the tops and a sprinkle of Italian herbs and Parmesan cheese.  Makes delicious toasted garlic bread!  This dough has good elasticity, flavor and is so versatile.  This recipe is not suitable until you get closer to goal weight on Atkins.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 T. cream cheese

1½ T. melted butter

1 egg, beaten

½ c. Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten-Free Bake Mix

½ c. Carbquik (or another ½ c. gluten-free mix)

1 T. oat fiber

1/4 tsp. psyllium husk powder

1 small clove garlic, minced

Dash oregano

1 T. dry grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Line baking sheet with parchment or silicone sheet.  Measure out all dry ingredients in small bowl, stir well and set aside.  Place mozzarella cheese shreds, minced garlic and cream cheese in glass or ceramic bowl and microwave on HI for about 1-1½ minutes to melt it.  Remove and stir quickly with a fork.  Add the egg and melted butter and stir again.  Quickly pour in the dry ingredients and stir quickly with a fork to form a single ball of dough, scraping it down off the sides of the bowl.  Knead or stir a few minutes to be sure all is uniformly mixed.  Divide into 6 equal portions and roll smooth into a ball.  Place them spaced out on parchment-lined pan.  Press slightly flat if you like, but not really necessary.  Sprinkle tops with oregano and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350º for about 18 minutes until dry to touch and lightly browned as shown.  Remove and serve hot with butter.

CORRECTED NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes enough for a 9″-10″ pie-crust with lovely fluted edge, 4 hand pies, 12″ pizza crust or 6 dinner rolls which have 6.26 net carbs each if made/cut into 6 portions.

ENTIRE RECIPE CONTAINS:  1140 calories, 95.8 g fat, 58.6 g carbs, 37.6 g fiber, 21 g NET CARBS, 81.2 g protein, 1542 mg sodium (divide by number of servings/pieces for the specific application you use this dough for)

 

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Einkorn Jumbo Cinnamon Muffins

I’ve been wanting to try my delicious Einkorn Dinner Roll recipe as a sweet muffin and this morning was the day.  Tried using my brand new jumbo muffin pan for the first time, too.  The pan cups here were filled 3/4 full and rose nicely!  Being jumbo, these are a bit carb-y, so you might want to make 12 regular-size muffins to cut the numbers below in half per muffin.  Alternately, you can use liquid sweeteners and cut carbs even more.  The psyllium and flax meal make these VERY filling, so not even the heartiest sweets eaters will ask for a second one.  Place those leftover muffins in a plastic bag and as with all low-carb baked goods, keep refrigerated until you want them again.  Should keep about a week.

This recipe is not suitable until you are near goal weight (Pre-Maintenance).

DRY INGREDIENTS:

1 ¼ c. almond flour

2 T. Einkorn flour

½ c. egg white protein powder

2 T. oat fiber

2 T. coconut flour

1 T. baking powder

2 T. golden flax meal

¼ tsp. sea salt

3 T. psyllium husk powder

½ c. Splenda (or equivalent sweetener of choice)

WET INGREDIENTS:

1 tsp. dry yeast dissolved in 2 T. warm water + 2 tsp. sugar (consumed by yeast)

5 large eggs, beaten

3 T. olive oil

2 T. melted butter

¼ c. egg whites (I use carton variety)

½ c. boiling water (added at very last)

TOPPING:  3/4 c. ch. pecans, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 3 T. melted butter, 2 T. Splenda

VARIATION:  Add a little brown sugar substitute to the topping mixture

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Lightly oil a jumbo muffin tin with a brush and set aside.    Dissolve yeast in 2 T. warm water and add a 2 tsp. sugar (consumed by the yeast).  Set aside for now.  Mix topping ingredients in another small bowl, stir and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, measure out all dry ingredients.  Stir well.   In a separate bowl, beat eggs and add oil, melted butter and egg whites.  Beat until uniform and smooth.  Next add the dissolved yeast mixture and stir well.   Now pour  wet ingredients into dry ingredients and beat well with rubber spatula until all is moistened smooth. Add in boiling water all at once and beat well 15-20 times with spatula until smooth.  Using half-cup measuring cup, spoon batter into greased muffin pan slots, evenly distributing the batter as best you can.  Cups will be about 3/4 full.  sprinkle on topping evenly on the 6 muffins.  Pop in preheated 350º oven for around 20-22 minutes.  Check at 20 minutes as ovens vary.  If not firm and dry to touch center top, cook 2-3 minutes longer.  Remove from oven and cool 3-4 minutes. Gently lift out with knife tip and serve warm with butter.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 jumbo muffins, each contains:

457 cals, 37.7 g fat, 18.83g carbs,  8.36g fiber,  10.47g NET CARBS (use liquid sweetener to lower), 19g protein, 497mg sodium (halve these numbers if you make regular-size muffins)

 

 

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