An American Housewife: January 2021

1/30/21

Homemade Keto Biscuits (using King Arthur Keto Flour)

Finally jumped into my first recipe test using the new Keto Wheat Flour from King Arthur.

When it first came out this winter, the price was absolutely atrocious so I ignored it. There is no way I'm paying $13 - $18 for a 1 lb. bag of keto flour when a single loaf of bread would use it up completely as well as a host of other expensive ingredients. I'd rather just order a loaf of keto bread from Netrition (I buy Great Low Carb Bread Company Bread and bagels from them) for about $8.99 and call it done.

However, popping into my local Publix grocery store last month, I found that it was reasonably priced $8.99 and even better, they were running a sale on it to try to get people to try it I guess, as it was $2 off. I didn't know if I'd like it or not but I bought 3 bags and hoped for the best.

This week I made my first 'trial' using my regular flour biscuit recipe I've been making since the late 90's and I was very, very happy with it!

Typically over the past couple years I've used this recipe for my favorite keto biscuit - using almond flour. If you are avoiding wheat products and byproducts completely then I'd use that one but if you are just following a low carb or keto lifestyle, but you have no wheat allergies, and you can find or order the keto flour, then it might be worth trying. Almond flour baked goods are fine most of the time, but sometimes I really crave a more 'real' bread or biscuit product. This one is obviously not made with all purpose or bread flour so it's not exactly like the good old Southern biscuits I love but it's close enough that I'm 100% happy with it.

Homemade Keto Biscuits

2 c Keto Wheat Flour from King Arthur
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt

3/4 T sweetener, granulated
1/4 c real butter
3/4 c heavy cream or half and half

Preheat your oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with no-stick baking spray. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender, two forks or your fingers (my personal favorite) until the butter is incorporated into the flour mixture and it's course crumbs. Stir in the cream with a fork or wooden spoon until it forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. (Keto flour sometimes needs a little more liquid so you might have to add 1 c cream if your dough is too dry and not coming together to a nice wet dough ball.)

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface (I turn it out directly onto the parchment lined baking sheet), sprinkle with more keto flour and knead only about 2-3 times until no longer sticky. Pat or roll out to about 3/4 - 1" thick round and cut with a floured round biscuit or sharp edged cookie cutter.

Cut straight down, don't twist! This ensures high rising biscuits. Re roll scraps up to a couple times, but keep in mind every time you re-roll the dough gets a little stiffer and your biscuits a little tougher. Bake about 10-12 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Makes about 8-10 biscuits.

(I put the leftovers in a simple ziploc baggy and they were really good the next day and still quite tender and moist)

King Arthur, Keto Wheat Flour Blend, Non-GMO Project Verified, 1-to-1 Substitute for All- Purpose Flour, 16 Ounces

King Arthur Flour Baking Sugar Alternative, Made with Plant-Based Ingredients, Keto-Friendly, 1 to 1 Substitute for Granulated Sugar, 12 Oz

1/25/21

Rugelach - Keto Style (A filled, rolled pastry) I made Almond Filled and Sugarfree Raspberry Filled

From my Instagram account photos

I'm more of a plain pastry, pie crusts, no fruit or flavoring kind of girl. Because of that, I would opt for a pastry over a cookie any day. But even pastries are usually too 'filled with fruity' to for me. But when I make my own, I get to choose. And I get to make them low carb and sugar free.

Rugelach is a word you might not know but a 'cinnamon spiral' or 'filled pastry roll' and you would recognize it. The kind most people make with real sugar and flour already has the rest of the 'low carb ok' ingredients like cream cheese and butter so we are half way there.

For mine, I wanted to fill it with almond paste. But store bought almond paste and marzipan are filled with sugar so I made my own. I divided the dough in half and did half almond and half sugar-free raspberry jam. Both were good but the water content of the raspberry filling made them flatten out, while the homemade almond paste kept its shape.

I liked them as they were with no glaze but my family is more normal than I am and like icing and frostings on their baked goods. So I whipped up a simple glaze of confectioner style sweetener and a little almond milk... Oh my, they were pretty! And my husband gobbled them up - which he normally doesn't eat too many baked goods. He declared these something I needed to make again soon. Since I kept the second half of the homemade almond paste in the refrigerator, I can make them again this week.

Basic Pastry Dough - LC and SF

1 c almond flour
1/2 c coconut flour
1/2 t xanthan gum
dash salt
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 - 8 oz. pk. cream cheese

1/2 c butter

Similar to a Fathead Dough but without the mozzarella, just put the ingredients into a food processor bowl with an S blade and pulse until it comes together to make a dough (pretty quickly). Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill until you are ready to use it.

When you know what filling you want, get out your dough, and divide it in half. Roll it into a large circle, roughly 12 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the filling you've chosen and then use a pizza roller/cutter to cut the dough into 12 triangle shaped pieces. Start at the wide end and roll up your pastry, ending with the pointy triangle on top. I used a metal icing spatula to help me roll up the filling smoothly.

Bake at 350 degrees on parchment paper for about 20-30 minutes depending on your oven and how big or thick your pastries are. When they are a nice golden brown, remove from the oven and let them cool completely.

Depending on the filling you chose, you can top or drizzle with a glaze (mentioned in the paragraph above) or drizzle with melted sugarfree chocolate, cinnamon/sweetener mixture, cocoa, etc.

Filling ideas:

Sugar free chocolate chips

Cinnamon and Sweetener Mixture

Chopped walnuts and/or pecans

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Sugarfree jams (note my opening paragraph for these)

Almond Paste

These are almond filled and no glaze... I love them this way as they aren't overly sweet to me. But most people love them drizzled with a glaze and/or sliced almonds or even a powdered sweetener dusting.

The golden brown color... just the right time to take out of the oven

Low carb and sugar free - Blueberry Cake Donuts (2 versions - fried and baked)

I knew I had put one of my donut recipes up on An American Housewife already (the apple cinnamon version) and I was shocked to see it was a full year ago. What!? That's impossible... well, it feels like it anyway. A year? But yes, January of 2020. Ahh... 2020. There you go. A year that messed with everyone's head.

So the apple cinnamon baked donut recipe is up here, but today's my favorite kind. Blueberry Cake Donuts. The photos above are from my Instagram account obviously as you can see I said the recipe would be on my website soon. Today is 'soon'.

TWO VERSIONS

I do not like donuts as a rule. I do not like yeast, raised, glazed donuts at all. Not even a smidgen. Not even the big popular name brand that everyone swoons over. Krispy might be in their name. I gag even thinking of having to eat one and I know with all that sugar I'd throw up. Literally.

But I've always loved plain cake donuts and crullers. The only two kinds I like. And if given the choice of flavors of cake donuts I'd either choose completely 'plain' or blueberry.

I had been craving a blueberry cake donut and I had ordered blueberry extract flavoring online last summer with the intention of making them and a blueberry keto granola cereal. I finally got the time to make the donuts and had time to make them two (2) different ways to see if I liked one more than the other. Because I typically do not love 'baked' donuts. You might as well just make a muffin. It's not the same as a lovely, delicious, traditionally fried donut. But I did make them both ways this last time.

For this recipe, it's best to make the dough up the night before you want to make them so it has time to chill for a few hours.

Blueberry Cake Donuts (keto - low carb and sugar free)

1 c almond flour
1/2 c coconut flour
1 t xanthan powder
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t sea salt
2 eggs
1/2 c mixture of 2-3 granular sweeteners (or a brand that uses a mixture already such as allulose/erythritol or monkfruit blend)
1/3 c almond milk
2 T melted shortening (not coconut oil)
1/8 t gelatin powder - unsweetened, plain gelatin
flavoring of choice - about 1/4 - 1/2 t depending on your tastes and the strength/brand you use

For the glaze:
Extra 'powdered' or 'confectioners' version of sweetener like Lakanto or SoNourished
almond milk

In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients; almond and coconut flour, xanthan, baking powder and salt.
In a second bowl mix the eggs with the sweetener until frothy (about 3-4 minutes) and then sprinkle the dry gelatin powder over top.

Add the melted shortening and almond milk to the egg mixture with the flavor extract or emulsion you are using; and whisk everything together for a minute to blend smooth. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together briefly; either with a paddle attachment on a mixer or by hand with a stiff rubber spatula or wooden spoon. When blended together, cover and chill overnight or at least 6 hours.

Prepare oil for frying (if you are frying them) - I found the fry best in a cast iron deep pan with Crisco shortening. I fried some (below) in regular canola oil first because I have a large bottle of it on hand to use up, but the almond/coconut flour really soaks up the oil something fierce! I had to use a second paper towel on top of the donuts and press down to remove some of the oil. Brand name shortening (Crisco) nice and hot (360-ish degrees) sealed it better so they weren't as oily. If you are going to bake them, prepare your donut pan by greasing it heavily with shortening or butter.

Roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment. The dough doesn't raise like wheat flour does so roll it pretty thick - about 3/4 of an inch or so. Cut out your donuts with a round cutter and a smaller one to cut the inside donut hole.

Fry your donuts in the hot oil, one ring/donut hole at a time until they are golden brown on each side (which depending on the temperature of the oil is about 1 1/2 minutes. If they get dark brown too soon it's because your oil is too hot. If your oil is not hot enough they will soak up the oil like a sponge and be inedible.)

Remove to a platter lined with paper towels to drain.

If you are baking them: roll the dough into a 'snake' form that is about the same size as the molds in your baking pan. Form them round the molds. Bake in a hot oven (350-375) until they are raised, and golden brown. I found they puff up really well while baking but do fall a little bit when they come out of the oven to cool. Let cool complete and dip the tops in a glaze.

Your glaze is made by mixing dry confectioner's (powdered) sweetener with a tiny bit of almond milk or cream. Amount vary but you can start with 1/2 cup sweetener and add almond milk or cream by the teaspoon, stirring until you get a glaze that isn't too liquid and isn't too thick. Add more/less sweetener or almond milk for your consistency.

Chill the donuts for a little while so they set up nicely before eating.

You might also be interested in some of the products related to this post, available in some grocery stores - but not many that I've found - so I buy about 80% of my low carb, keto and sugar free products online from Amazon and/or Netrition.

LorAnn Blueberry Bakery Emulsion, 4 ounce bottle

Wholesome Yum Besti 1:1 Natural Sugar Replacement - Keto Monk Fruit Sweetener With Allulose (16 oz / 1 lb) - Non GMO, Zero Carb, Zero Calorie Sugar Substitute

Anthony's Organic Coconut Flour, 4 lb, Batch Tested Gluten Free, Non GMO, Vegan, Keto Friendly

RIHAI Stainless Steel Round Cookie Cutter Set, 12 Circular Biscuit Cutters Round Donut Ring Molds for Baking 1.2 Inch Height

1/23/21

Low Carb/Sugarfree Orange Chicken (with a spicy option that is similar to General Tso's meets Orange Chicken)

Lousy photos for this one... I honestly wasn't even going to bother taking photos at all, but at the last second I picked up my older model cellphone (seriously - think the old, small SE) and took a couple pictures to post on Instagram. Those are the pictures I have to work with for this post. And when I served it with yummy stir-fried ~~rice~~ cauliflower it looked awesome and tasted even better. But I was too lazy to care enough to grab my phone to take a picture.

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Note: the one ingredient you might not have on hand for this and you'll want to check your cupboard for is the orange oil/extract or emulsion. I have to order mine online as I've yet to find it locally but Amazon always carries it and often times, Netrition has it as well. Walmart usually has it although it's through 3rd party sellers and they often jack the prices up. I'll put links on the bottom of the post.

Keto Orange Chicken
(sugarfree and low carb)

1 T grape seed or other oil
1 T ginger powder
1 T minced garlic
2 T rice vinegar
1 T sesame oil
2/3 c (scant) white vinegar
3 T liquid aminos (soy sauce alternative)
1 t xanthan gum (thickener)
1 c granular sweetener mixture of your choice
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 1/2 t dried orange zest
1 t orange extract

Heat the oil in a pan, add the rest of the ingredients as you whisk, bring to a boil and turn down the heat to simmer. Simmer until it reduces a bit and thickens to a nice sauce.

Use over prepared chicken chunks, and serve with a side of riced cauliflower and you can add broccoli.

Notes: This is the perfect recipe to make the day after you make homemade 'chicken nuggets' or chicken chunks. Make double, save half for this meal the next day. Also, I keep SunBird fried rice mixture packets on hand in the cupboard. When I make this dish, I serve it with plain 'rice' (riced cauliflower) directly with the orange chicken and then make up a side of stir fried 'rice' using the SunBird packet. I also added about a cup of fresh broccoli pieces to the orange chicken along with chopped green onion tops.

For the Chicken Chunks:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
egg whites
oil
Breading: depending on your level of acceptable carbs use 3-4 cups crushed rice crispies, panko crumbs, crushed pork rinds or a mixture of crushed pork rinds with almond flour, or keto bread crumbs
2-3 t paprika
2-3 t onion powder

Cut the chicken into chunks. Mix 3 or 4 egg whites (depending on bit your chicken breasts are) with about 3 t oil of your choice in a bowl. Put the breading of choice and spices in a second large bowl or a Ziploc baggy. Now dredge the chicken into the egg white oil mixture and then breading, place on a heavily oiled pan (I line mine with foil for easy clean up).

Spray with Pam or drizzle with more oil of choice and bake at 450 until the chunks are done, starting to get brown on the tops and crisp. Remove from the oven (about 25-30 minutes depending on the size of the chunks you cut).

I brush the chicken with a light sauce made from:

6 T melted butter
5 T tapatio' sauce

This makes our orange chicken spicy like General Tso's but with a heavy orange flavor too. You don't have to brush the chicken chunks with anything though if you like your orange chicken sweet but not at all spicy.

I had a video on my instagram of the sauce simmering and I was stirring it... this is a screen shot of that, which doesn't look as cool but you can see how the sauce is thickening up - although the red pepper flakes are at the bottom of the pan so you can't see any of the spices in this picture.

I buy my low carb, sugarfree or keto items online from either Netrition or Amazon mostly. Here are a couple links to their extracts/emulsions although the morning I'm posting this link, Netrition doesn't have the plain orange in stock - only the orange cream which isn't the same. Amazon always had it in stock though and Walmart usually does although the prices sometimes run higher.

I can currently find my stir-fry seasoning packets at one local store near me, but not always. And the other items that you might not always have on hand are the sesame oil, liquid aminos or rice vinegar; both easily found in most grocery stores or Walmart. You can use soy sauce instead of the aminos!