We have been low carb and sugar free off and on now for almost 18 years. One of the ways to stay on task and not give into a craving that has more carbs or even sugar grams is to make sure I have options on hand and readily available. When I fail to do this, I often will grab a non-lc item because frankly, I'm hungry, I'm getting irritable and like everyone else, when you are hungry, you're hungry! I don't care for desserts too much - my downfall is probably breads - but even so, once in a great while I not only want a cupcake (sugar free and low carb of course) but pancakes or waffles with sugar free syrup and sometimes even (oddly for me) a brownie.
One thing I always have on hand and I don't think I've blogged about is how I keep 'mixes' in the pantry. I may have different options at different times - sometimes cake mixes, coffee cake mixes, a cupcake or muffin mix... but I always have pancake/waffle mixes on hand.
Nothing fancy-dancy - just an old 'mixed nuts' container with a screw on lid that I've lined with a ziplock and filled with the dry mix for a random waffle/pancake mix along with the ingredients and instructions for mixing them up.
My 'always in the pantry' pancake and waffle container
Another thing I try to keep up on is a mixture of sweeteners.
Most all keto and low carb bakers/cooks know you'll get the best flavor if you mix at least 2 sweeteners together. There are a few recipes that are persnickety but for the most part, a mixture of 2-3 is the best. I buy what I like or use what I have on hand (shopping sales and deals is important for us as the low carb sweeteners are so darn expensive).
Having 2-3 premixed in my 'sugar' container saves me time when baking.
This particular mixture has some golden color to it because I used a golden Lakanto along with 2 other sweeteners.
People that don't eat low carb or sugarfree often make their cakes and cupcakes from the cheap store mixes at the grocery. The ease of use is awesome, I get that. So mixing up some muffin and cake mixes for my own pantry using my own dry ingredients makes it easier to whip up than dragging out the bags and boxes and bottles and starting completely from scratch each time.
I do this on a random afternoon when I have about an hour free.
You don't need cute labels - and I don't always add those either - it all depends. Sometimes I just scribble on the top or a piece of tape and attach it.
For your own DIY mixes, use your personal favorite recipe.
Layer all the dry ingredients like your almond flour, coconut flour, natural sweeteners, salt, etc. into a glass Mason jar or other airtight container.
Make sure to note the name of the recipe on the container or an attached piece of paper.
Scribble down or type the additional ingredients needed or the page and cookbook where you can find the rest of the recipe (adding it all to the jar is quickest and easiest when you are making them though!).
For little additions you can put a small ziplock or tiny little jar of whatever it is inside the larger jar with the mix.
Here you can see my Keto Funfetti Cupcakes use colored sugarfree sprinkles.
Not only does including them in this tiny jar inside the larger jar with the dry ingredients make it easy to use them at the time of mixing, but I did this especially because those little sprinkles have to be ordered online, are expensive, are something I don't always have on hand and I knew I'd been disappointed if I wanted to make these cupcakes and found at the time that I was OUT of the funfetti sprinkles!
This way I know I will have them on hand when I make the cupcakes because they are already with the mix!
Although these are the ones I have in my pantry right now (I just pulled everything out to snap a quick picture and then they are going back in) I do plan to mix up a chocolate cake mix and a brownie mix this week as my husband loves chocolate and sugarfree, keto brownies are always a huge hit here.
Use your favorite recipes; put the DRY ingredients into a jar/container. Pop it into your cupboard or pantry and use it as you would a 'regular' cake mix or muffin mix before you were low carb and sugarfree!
