Flourless Chocolate Cakes with Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache (Low Carb and Gluten Free)

Yesterday was my husband's 39th birthday. The poor, poor man. Not only does his birthday come just after Christmas, but he is the last of a multitude of family members to have a December birthday. By the time his natal day rolls around, we are utterly exhausted. We are partied out, we are gifted out, and we are fooded out. It is difficult to make his day special, because even he doesn't really feel like doing much. In fact, for the last two years, we have spent his birthday traipsing around IKEA, which actually isn't a bad way to spend your day (especially if you go for breakfast!). Next year will be his 40th birthday and I am determined to find a way to do something special for him. He may or may not read this post, so that's all I am going to say about that.

Having done my best to stay relatively low carb through the holidays, the idea of making a special birthday treat wasn't quite as repulsive as it has been in years past. (I know it's shocking to say that making a cake or a sweet could ever be repulsive, but just after Christmas when you've had your fill of cookies, cakes and candies, it actually can be.) So I had it in my head to make something to bake his day a bit more special. I was actually thinking of ice cream cake, for the simplicity of buying a carton of ice-cream, softening it and then smooshing it into a cake pan. Yes, I suppose I could have made the ice cream, but that would be too much work just after Christmas.

Then these pretty little things caught my eye on Stumble Upon and turned my head away from ice cream cake entirely. Dense, rich, miniature flourless chocolate cakes. And since they were already flourless, I was pretty sure I could make them low carb as well, without any loss of flavour. The ones from La Mia Vita Dolce were made with almond flour, which I have on hand at all times now. But something about the way she said that the almond flour imparted a slightly nutty taste got me thinking about the bag of peanut flour I recently picked up at Trader Joe's. Why not play up the nuttiness of the flour itself? There's nothing better than peanut butter and chocolate, so why not make it with peanut flour, and then enhance the flavour with a chocolate peanut butter ganache?



The Results: The substitution of peanut flour for almond flour wasn't quite as simple as I thought it would be. The peanut flour is ground really, really fine and has a drier texture than I expected. I found I had to add some almond milk to get anything resembling a workable batter. But once I did, I could hardly keep myself from eating all of it raw, it was so tasty! I could only hope that the cakes would be as good as the batter was.

And, thank goodness, they were. These are incredibly rich, dense morsels of an almost fudge-like consistency. They are small, to be sure, but you really don't want them to be any bigger. My older kids both really liked them but neither finished more than half of what was on their plate. The baby went wild over it, and had a fit when I cut her off. I myself was extremely full after eating mine. In fact, I got 7 little cakes out of the batter, but next time I would divvy it up even further, making 8 or 9 little cakes instead.

The only other thing I might change, although I really loved these as they were, is to add some peanut butter to the actual batter to up the PB flavour. As it was, there was a lovely hint of it in the cake, but most of it came from the glaze so it was definitely subtle. But with the basic cake, there are so many ways you could flavour this...mocha, mint chocolate, hazelnut, whatever suits your mood. I will definitely be making these again!



Flourless Chocolate Cakes with Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache - adapted from La Mia Vita Dolce

Cakes:
6 tbsp butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup granulated erythritol
10 drops liquid splenda
1/2 cup peanut flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs
1/2 cup almond milk (or whole milk or cream)

Glaze:
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 oz good quality dark chocolate (I used Lindt 85% cacao)

For the cakes, preheat the oven to 280F and grease 8 (or more) cups of a regular muffin pan.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and chocolate together over low heat and stir until smooth. Add erythritol and liquid splenda and stir until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together peanut flour and cocao, breaking up clumps with the back of a fork. Add the chocolate mixture and stir to combine (will be very thick). Stir in eggs, one at a time, and then almond milk until mixture thins out somewhat and becomes a smooth batter.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins. Because the batter is quite thick, you will need to press the batter into the cups using the back of a spoon. Smooth the tops.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cakes are just set and the middle is firm to the touch. Allow to cool in the tins, then flip out onto plates for serving.

For the glaze, melt butter, peanut butter and chocolate together in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until smooth. Spoon over cakes and sprinkle with chopped peanuts for garnish. You can serve immediately, with the glaze still warm or let it set.

Makes 8 (or more). Carb count will depend on how many you make and the type of chocolate you use in the glaze. The way I made them, each cake (with ganache) has a total of 15.75g of carbs and 4.6g of fiber. Subtracting erythritol, each cake with ganache has 9.75g of carbs and 4.6g of fiber (5.15g total net carbs).

Cranberry Lemon Sweet Rolls (Low Carb)

It would seem that I have quite a thing for cranberries these days. In the span of a month, I've already posted three recipes featuring cranberries, including the Cinnamon Cranberry Pinwheels and my low carb Cranberry Bliss Bars. And now I am about to present you with another cranberry recipe. I would say that this would be the last of them, but I shouldn't make promises I can't keep. The truth is, I really like cranberries, and I don't just use them during the holidays. When fresh cranberries become available in the fall, I buy bags of them and store them in my freezer for year-round use. So let's just say that this will be the last of the cranberry recipes...for a little while.

This recipe was really inspired by my desire to try my hand at a low carb yeast bread. Thinking about what I really wanted to have on Christmas morning led me to think of sticky buns, in all their gooey, caramel-topped glory. Having experimented some with trying to get erythritol to caramelize, I knew I probably couldn't quite pull it off in a way that would satisfy my craving, so I cast around for other sweet roll ideas. I'd seen a number of cranberry-orange sweet rolls on other blogs and thought that something like this might be a lovely complement to our eggs on Christmas morning. I figured I'd skip the cream cheese icing, as my kids don't really like it, and just do a nice lemony glaze instead.

Carbalose flour is the closest thing to regular flour I've found that can still be considered low carb. I don't use it all that often because I like to try to make many of my foods gluten free. I must confess, I am also not entirely sure how they modify it to make it low carb, so I try to use it in moderation. But I am not confident enough of my own bread-making skills to forego the gluten in yeast breads, so for this recipe I relied on carbalose flour with some extra gluten flour for good measure. The filling for these sweet rolls was simply some of my sugar free cranberry sauce, along with a little cinnamon and some granulated erythritol.



The Results: I was immensely pleased with these sweet rolls, and really happy I gave them a go for a special occasion like Christmas Day. They were festive and pretty, not to mention delicious. The tart cranberry filling was a lovely change from the traditional cinnamon sugar and the glaze gave a lovely hint of lemon without being overpowering. Even my kids liked them, although our recent family bout of the stomach flu meant they both only had a few bites of their breakfast in total. Or perhaps it was the excitement of the presents still to be opened that drew them away from the breakfast table early.

I wasn't at all sure that the dough was going to rise properly. I made it on Christmas Eve day, and then headed out for a run and when I came back, it seemingly hadn't risen at all. So I gave it a little encouragement in a warm oven, and that did the trick. I did the same thing on Christmas morning, after taking the rolls out of the fridge. The only change I would make to this would be to let them rise longer during the proofing stage before baking, because once the oven was up to the proper temperature, they didn't quite puff up as much as I would like. But overall, I was really happy with these sweet rolls and am very glad I have a low(er) carb alternative for special occasions.



Cranberry Lemon Sweet Rolls

Dough:
3/4 cup almond milk, warmed to 110F
6 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
3 large eggs
2 1/2 cups carbalose flour, plus extra for dusting)
3/4 cup gluten flour
1/2 cup almond flour
3 tbsp granulated erythritol
3 1/2 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast (about 1 1/2 envelopes)
1 tsp salt

Filling:
1 cup cranberries
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp granulated erythritol
12 drops stevia extract

1 tbsp cinnamon

Glaze:
1/3 cup lemon juice (1 to 1 1/2 lemons)
6 tbsp powdered erythritol

For the dough, whisk together almond milk, melted butter and eggs together in a large liquid measuring cup or bowl.

Combine flours, sugar, yeast and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. With the mixer on low, add buttermilk mixture and mix until dough comes together, about 2 minutes.

Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, 8-10 minutes. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick slightly to the bottom. If it is too wet, add a small amount more carbalose flour, 1 tbsp at a time. If it is too dry, add room temperature water, 1 tbsp at a time.

Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. You may find it needs some extra encouragement to rise properly. If so, turn on your oven to 200F for 10 minutes, then turn oven off and place bowl with dough inside.

For the filling, combine cranberries, water and erythritol in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook until berries pop. Remove from heat and add stevia. Set aside.

Grease a 13x9 inch baking pan. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press into a 12x16 inch rectangle. Spread with cranberry mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge. Carefully roll into a tight log and pinch the seam closed. Place seam side down and gently stretch the log to be 18 inches in length, evening out the thickness as you go.

Slice cylinder into 16 evenly sized rolls. Arrange rolls cut-side down in prepared baking pan and wrap tightly in plastic wrap or foil. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size and tightly pressed together, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

**Alternatively, you could place unrisen rolls in the fridge for up to 16 hours. Let sit at room temperature for at least an hour, then bake as directed. If they are not rising after removing them from the fridge, warm the oven again and turn it off, then let them sit in the oven for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F. Bake rolls until golden and puffed, 25-30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack or cutting board.

For the glaze, whisk together lemon juice and powdered erythritol. Drizzle over warm rolls and serve.

Makes 16 rolls. Each roll has a total of 20g of carbs and 5.6g of fiber. Subtracting erythritol, each roll has 10.7g of carbs and 5.6g of fiber.

Cranberry Swirl Cheesecakes with Chocolate Crust (Low Carb and Gluten Free)

It was about a month ago, as I was standing in line at the grocery store check-out, that I saw exactly what I wanted to have for dessert on Christmas Day. There it was, staring out at me from the front cover of a cooking magazine, I hardly even know which one. A beautiful vanilla cheesecake, swirled through with what appeared to be cranberry, and with a gorgeous chocolate crumb crust. I didn't buy the magazine, I didn't even pick it up and thumb through it, I just took the image home in my head and started thinking about how I would recreate the dessert to be low carb and gluten free. Because dessert is important, particularly on special days like Christmas, and I was hardly going to skip it in deference to my blood sugar.

I also knew that I wanted to make the cheesecake in miniature. Growing up, dessert on Christmas always consisted of a platter of all the little cookies and cakes we'd been making, along with those given to us by friends and neighbours. As a child, I found it so exciting to be able to pick two or three sweets, my hand hovering over the plate as I tried to decide which one to taste first. It's a tradition I have carried over into my own family and I love watching my children's faces as they pick and choose. So my version of the magazine-cover dessert had to be small enough to share space with the caramel nut bars and gingerbread biscotti on the dessert platter.

The other requirement of my low-carb Christmas dessert was that it not be obvious that it was low carb. We were having friends over for Christmas dinner, and I wanted to make something that we could all enjoy. Cheesecake truly is one of the simplest desserts to make low carb and have it still be really, really good. The crust is the only part that takes much thought, but as I discovered with my Pumpkin Bourbon Cheesecake, nut-based crusts are as good as, or perhaps better than, graham cracker crusts. Beyond that, it simply requires substituting alternative sweeteners for the sugar, and which sweetener you use is really just a matter of taste.



The Results: After telling you how important dessert is on Christmas, I have to confess that I didn't even try my little cheesecakes on the actual day. I was too full from all the other wonderful food we'd had. But my husband and our guests tried them and gave them the thumbs up, saying they never would have known it was low carb if I hadn't told them. And when I tried one the next day, I was more than pleased. The combination of chocolate, vanilla and cranberry is lovely, without any one part dominating the whole. And they weren't overly sweet and cloying, as some cheesecake can be, just nice and creamy.



Cranberry Swirl Cheesecakes with Chocolate Crust

Cranberry Sauce:
1/2 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp granulated erythritol
10 drops stevia extract

Crust:
3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp granulated erythritol or xylitol
2 tbsp butter, melted

Filling:
1 1/2 packages cream cheese (12 oz), softened
1/4 cup granulated erythritol
1 large egg
1 egg white
2 tbsp whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
15 drops stevia extract

For the cranberry sauce, combine cranberries, water and erythritol in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook until berries pop and mixture thickens, about 8 minutes. Add stevia and mash berries with the back of a fork. Set aside and let cool.

For the crust, line a 12 muffin pan with paper liners and preheat oven to 350F. Mix almond meal, cocoa, sweetener and butter in a medium bowl until mixture begins to clump together. Divide evenly among prepared muffin tins and press down into bottom of paper liners to form a crust. Bake 8 minutes. Set aside and reduce oven temperature to 325F.

For the filling, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in erythritol, then egg and egg white, until each is incorporated. Beat in cream, vanilla and stevia until fully combined and mixture is smooth and pourable.

Divide filling among muffin tins, smoothing carefully with the back of a spoon. Dab one or two teaspoons of cranberry sauce over the top of each cheesecake and swirl with a toothpick to create a marbled effect. Bake until cheesecakes are puffed and set, 25-30 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool completely, then transfer to refrigerator to chill for at least 3 hours. Remove paper muffin liners before serving.

Makes 12. Each cheesecake has a total of 10g of carbs, but only 3.6g if you subtract erythritol.

Reindeer Food and Holly (Merry Christmas!)

I'd hoped to be able to post at least one more recipe before the craziness of Christmas descends upon us, but it is not to be. I have three, count 'em, three sick kids right now, and I haven't been feeling so hot myself. Needless to say, the Christmas spirit in this house is a little dampened and I have not been able to get to all the cooking I had planned. I have no new recipes to offer you, so I thought I might distract you from this fact with a few pretty pictures of my holly in the snow and an idea for a fun, easy project for little kids.

After almost no snow for the entire month of December, it looks like we will indeed have a white Christmas here in New England, and for that I am grateful. It certainly cheers the little ones to look out from the windows and see all the glittery white stuff on the ground. I am also grateful that it looks like we will all be feeling a lot better for Christmas Day itself. At this point, we really can't ask for much more than that, so I will take pleasure in the little things. Like snow on holly and a quiet Christmas with my family.



And Reindeer Food. If you have any little ones in the house that still believe in Santa Claus, they will love this idea. I am stealing it, without shame, from the preschool my older two both attended for several years. It's simple and fun. Just mix some oats with any sort of craft glitter you might have on hand. If you don't have any glitter, throw some Christmas sprinkles in. Then, on Christmas Eve, have the little ones sprinkle it onto the snow (or the grass, or the patio) for Santa's reindeer. Make sure you go out after the kids are in bed to sweep some of it up so they know the reindeer came to eat it! If you have snow, make a few hoof-prints around the reindeer food to show that Rudolph and his companions had their fill.



So, to all of my readers, friends and family, I wish you and yours the best of the holidays!

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (Low Carb and Gluten Free)

I've been absolutely surrounded by amazing Christmas cookies lately. Some I've made myself, some are from friends and neighbours, and some I've just ogled online. It's been pretty hard to resist temptation and I have to confess, I've had a nibble here and there. Nothing too out of control, so I've managed to keep my blood sugars in check, but it is rather frustrating to be so surrounded and not to eat. Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink. Yesterday, I decided to remedy the situation and make some cookies that I could indulge in without having to worry about how my pancreas might (or might not) respond.

The inspiration for these cookies came from my blogging friend, Lora, of Cake Duchess fame. She'd made some lovely Chocolate Mint Thumbprints a few weeks ago that instantly had me scheming to make a low carb version. Obviously, I couldn't really use any of her recipe to formulate my own, as it was filled with flour, sugar and white chocolate. But I thought that the base of my Pecan Turtle Cookies would make a good thumbprint, and I figured I could invent a minty buttercream-type filling. This go round, I added a little instant coffee to the cookie batter, to intensify the chocolate flavour (but not so much that you can actually taste the coffee).

To make them look a little more festive, I wanted some sort of sprinkle on top. I probably could have sparingly used some regular sprinkles, so as not to up the carb count with the sugary decorations. But I had another idea in mind. This past weekend, while decorating gingerbread men with my kids, I'd made a little of my own red sanding sugar simply by adding a little red food colouring to coarse sugar. So I decided to attempt the same with granulated erythritol.



The Results: Well, I'd been wrong about the chocolate base making good thumbprints. The consistency just wasn't right and the little holes I made filled in as they baked. So I had to spread the peppermint icing on top, rather than fill the cookies with it, but beyond that, they are wonderful. Santa would never know that you were trying to put him on a diet if you put these cookies out for him on Christmas Eve! And I am particularly proud of my red sanding erythritol. It worked perfectly and definitely jazzed up a rather plain-looking cookie.



Chocolate Peppermint Cookies - base cookie adapted from Tiana Coconut

Cookie:
1/4 cup coconut oil or butter
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
3 eggs
1/4 cup granulated erythritol
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
12 drops stevia extract
1/4 cup sifted coconut flour

Icing:
1 oz cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp coconut oil, softened but not melted (could use butter but icing won't be bright white)
3 tbsp powdered erythritol
1 tbsp heavy cream
8 drops stevia extract
1/4 tsp peppermint extract

Sprinkles:
1 tsp granulated erythritol
a scant drop red gel food paste

For the cookies, preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Melt butter or oil in a small saucepan over low heat and stir in cocoa powder and coffee granules until thoroughly combined and mixture is smooth.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs, erythritol, salt, vanilla and stevia together. Beat in cocoa mixture until thoroughly combined. Whisk coconut flour in until there are no lumps. Let batter rest for 4-5 minutes until slightly thickened.

Drop batter by spoonful onto prepared baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until top is set. Remove from oven and let cool completely on baking sheet.

For the icing, beat cream cheese and coconut oil together until smooth. Beat in powdered erythritol, cream, stevia and peppermint until smooth.

For the sprinkles, mix granulated erythritol and food colouring together in a small bowl. Use the back of a fork to grind colour into crystals. Once it is coloured to your liking, let sit for an hour or so to dry out.

Spread each cooled cookie with some mint icing, and sprinkle with red erythritol crystals.

Makes 16 cookies. Each cookie has 8.5g total carbs, but only 3g if you subtract erythritol.

Feta-Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf with Tzatziki Sauce (Low Carb)

When I think of comfort food, I don't necessarily think of meatloaf. The first thing that comes to mind is soup (or stew, or chili - anything of the broth-based variety). Next come casseroles and lasagnes. Meatloaf probably rates a distant third in my comfort food line-up. And yet, I love meatloaf and every time I have it, I wonder why I don't have it more often. It's an easy meal to throw together, and it's wonderfully versatile. You can spice it up with any number of flavourings, you can dress it up with toppings and sauces. It gets a bit of a bad rap because everyone has had bad, dry, flavourless meatloaf at some point, but it shouldn't be relegated to "only choke down under grandma's watchful gaze" pile. It's easy to make good meatloaf, and good meatloaf is delicious.

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were kicking around ideas for dinner. As he had just come home from our local wholesale club with a large tub of feta cheese and a big package of ground turkey, I was focussing on those two ingredients. We wanted something easy to put together, and the idea of a greek-inspired meatloaf just came to me. My husband is a true lover of feta cheese, and his biggest concern was that the flavour of the cheese not get lost in the rest of the meatloaf. So I decided to pack it into the middle of the loaf, so as to get a concentrated area of feta-ness. Spinach and feta go so well together, I thought I might mix frozen spinach right into the meatloaf base. And to top it all off, a wonderful garlicky tzatziki yogurt sauce.

To keep it low carb, I skipped the bread crumbs and used coconut flour to help bind the meatloaf and keep it moist. I loosely (very loosely) followed a recipe for turkey meatloaf from Ina Garten just to get my proportions right. Other than that, this meatloaf was purely my invention.



The Results: This was a really good, interesting take on meatloaf. The flavours of the feta and tzatziki were a wonderful addition to this comfort-food dish and I would happily make it again. I would make one change, though, and that would be to add some gyro spices or seasoning to the basic mix. The meatloaf derived most of its flavour from the feta and tzatziki sauce, and I think some seasoning that was reminiscent of gyros would enhance the dish even more.

I didn't label this recipe gluten free because I am not certain if Worcestershire sauce has any gluten. If you want to make it gluten free, skip the sauce or find a brand of steak sauce that contains no gluten.

Feta-Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf with Tzatziki Sauce

Tzatziki Sauce:
1 cup yogurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 medium cucumber, cut in half longwise and thinly sliced
1 tsp chopped, fresh dill
1/4 tsp salt

Meatloaf:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 lbs ground turkey
1/4 cup coconut flour (or 1/2 cup bread crumbs)
1/2 cup chicken stock (reduce to 1/4 cup if using bread crumbs)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

For the sauce, mix all ingredients in a medium bowl and chill until serving.

For the meatloaf, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 325F. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, salt and pepper and saute until onions are translucent but not browned, about 15 minutes. Add in spinach and stir until heated through.

In a large mixing bowl, combine onion mixture, turkey, coconut flour, chicken stock, egg and worcestershire sauce. Mix until very well combined.

Place half of the turkey mixture on prepared baking sheet and shape into a flat rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Cover with feta cheese, pressing on feta to adhere to meatloaf. Place remaining turkey mixture overtop of feta and shape the whole thing into a rough loaf.

Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until internatl temperature reaches 160F on an instant read thermometer.

Cut into slices and drizzle with tzatziki sauce, passing remaining sauce at the table.

Serves 6.

Cinnamon Cranberry Pinwheels

I read a lot of food blogs. And by that, I mean I read a LOT of food blogs. I already read quite a few as it was, and then I joined Twitter. I resisted joining Twitter for a long time because I knew exactly what would happen - that I would read even more food blogs. The great thing about Twitter is that I have connected with a lot more food bloggers. The bad thing about Twitter is that I have connected with a lot more food bloggers! Ah well, this blog is so named because I really do dream about food all day. Twitter just gives me more food to dream about.

I get a lot of inspiration from my fellow food bloggers, but as a general rule, I don't make any of their recipes wholesale. At the very least, I make a few minor changes to suit my own tastes or what I have on hand. Often, I am looking for recipes that I can modify to be low carb and/or gluten free, which usually means a major overhaul of the recipe. But every so often, I come across a recipe that I have to just make as is. This one, from Baked By Rachel, was one such recipe. I saw it and instantly knew that I wanted to add it to my Christmas cookie line-up to give away to friends and family. The pinwheels are so colourful and festive, and I thought that the cranberry-cinnamon flavour combination would be lovely. A nice addition to my Gingerbread White Chocolate Biscotti and Caramel Nut Bars.



The Results: They are lovely cookies indeed, especially if you like the tartness of cranberries to come through. The dough almost seems like shortbread in texture, and the hint of cinnamon complements the cranberry very well. As Rachel noted, they don't spread much and the dough is a bit hard to work with for rolling up into logs as it is fragile. They don't come out as nice round cookies because of this, but they still look remarkably pretty.

In the end, I did sort of change something, by making more filling. I didn't think I had enough when I was spreading it on the rolled out dough so I quickly made a little more. I realized when cutting it into cookies that I had spread it quite thickly, but I rather like them like this. So I will write the recipe to reflect little more filling but you could pare it down if you like.



Cinnamon Cranberry Pinwheels - adapted from Baked By Rachel

Dough:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Filling:
3 cups cranberries
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup water, divided
2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp cinnamon

For the dough, cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg and vanilla, scraping down bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add flour, salt and cinnamon and beat until dough comes together.

Divide dough in half and form into balls. Wrap in plastic and flatten into discs. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Meanwhile, heat cranberries, sugar and 1/2 cup water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until cranberries pop and mixture just comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup water and cornstarch. Stir into hot cranberry mixture until thickened. Add cinnamon and stir until combined. Let mixture cool completely, at least 1 hour.

When the dough is firm enough to work with, roll out one disk into a rough rectangle, about 12x10 inches, on a lightly floured surface. Spread with half of cranberry mixture, leaving 1/2 inch around border of dough.

Starting at one of the shorter ends of the rectangle, roll carefully up into a log. Pinch and seal ends and wrap tightly in plastic and then in aluminum foil. Repeat with second disk of dough.

Freeze for at least one day and up to two months. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Using a large, sharp knife, slice logs into 1/3 inch slices. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until edges are just starting to brown. Cool 5-10 minutes on baking sheet and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes approximately 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Walnut Torte with Coffee Whipped Cream (Low Carb and Gluten Free)

In this household, it's not only holiday season, it's also birthday season. We have a multitude of family members born in the late fall and early winter, so the usual hustle and bustle of the holidays is magnified with the hustle and bustle of birthdays. This is especially true when those family members are children. Although it means significantly more work for us parents, I feel that little kids need their own birthday celebration separate and apart from the holiday festivities. My beautiful Celia turned four this past weekend, and as my dad, who is also a December baby, was here with his wife, we had a little family celebration. There were cupcakes for the kids, and a low carb, gluten free walnut torte for the adults.

My beautiful girl

I may have mentioned my passion for walnuts on this blog a few times, so I will try to refrain from boring you with that again. Suffice it to say that when flipping through old back issues of Bon Appetit, a recipe for a flourless walnut torte stopped me dead in my tracks. A quick glance at the ingredient list confirmed what I already suspected - that I could make a sugar-free version of this that would be virtually indistinguishable from the original. The only change I needed to make was the sweetener.

The Results: This really makes for a wonderful, elegant dessert. The texture is remarkably light, almost airy, from all the egg whites and whipped cream. And walnuts and coffee go surprisingly well together, it's a flavour combination I wouldn't think of on my own, but I won't hesitate to make again. And if you are diabetic or a carb-counter, this is a dream dessert as each slice has only 2.9g of effective carbohydrate. Everyone agreed that you wouldn't have a clue that this was a low carb version unless someone told you.



Walnut Torte with Coffee Whipped Cream - adapted from Bon Appetit, Oct. 2005

1 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
4 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup granulated erythritol
16-20 drops stevia extract

1 cup heavy cream, chilled
2 tbsp powdered erythritol
1 tsp instant coffee crystals
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
12 drops stevia extract
2 tbsp chopped walnuts for garnish

Preheat oven to 350F and butter the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

Process 1 cup of walnuts in a food processor until finely ground, but not clumping together. Do not overgrind as you will get walnut butter!

In a large bowl, beat egg yolks with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Gradually add erythritol and then stevia extract, beating until well combined. Stir in ground walnuts.

Using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold into nut mixture in two additions. Transfer batter to prepared baking pan and bake until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 40 minutes.

Cool for 5 minutes and then run a sharp knife between cake and pan sides to loosen. Remove pan sides and let cool completely on a wire rack. Cake will fall in center.

Using an electric mixer, beat cream, powdered erythritol, coffee, vanilla and stevia until peaks form. Spread coffee whipped cream onto top of cake. Sprinke with chopped walnuts and serve.

Makes 10 servings. 10.1g total carbs per serving but only 2.9g if you subtract erythritol.

Caramel Nut Bars

Let's be honest here - I would not be low carb if I didn't have to be. Some of the sweet comments I receive on this blog suggest that I am somehow virtuous for creating my low carb treats, but virtue has nothing to do with it. The simple truth is that I have a sweet tooth and I love to indulge it. And if my health weren't on the line every time I eat something sugary, you can bet that I would be indulging it with sugar. I've never had to watch my weight, and although I love healthy foods, I've never been good at denying my cravings for sweets.

And let's face it. For all that I am able to create some very satisfactory low carb sweets, nothing truly compares to sugar. It behaves in a way that no other sweetener can fully imitate. This recipe is a case in point. The way the butter and sugar caramelize together to create a chewy, gooey, sticky topping has no equal. And the holy trinity of baking - flour, butter and sugar - form a shortbread crust that is tender and delightfully crumbly. And the nuts...well, if you follow me you probably already know my passion for nuts of all kinds. Perhaps not the human, crazy kind of nuts, but I am sure you know what I mean.



Have I sold you on these yet? Because I could go on and on, ad nauseum, singing their praises. These are the ultimate in carbilicious indulgence. I have made these for Christmas every year for 11 years, ever since I discovered them in Bon Appetit, December 1999. The only change I have wrought on these amazing bars is to add walnuts and almonds in with the pecans. The original is all pecan, but I was once making several batches for a cookie swap and ran out of pecans. The mixed nut results were, in my humble opinion, better. More complex and flavourful. At the cookie exchange I was asked for the recipe at least half a dozen times. Everyone who has ever tasted them has given them rave reviews.

Let me just say that it was pure torture, photographing these bars. Because I love them, and the smell of caramel and toasted nuts and shortbread was almost more than I could bear. Try them, and I guarantee that you will love them too.



I've added this recipe to the Holiday Recipe Exchange being held by My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats...Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Kerrygold.

Caramel Nut Bars - adapted from Bon Appetit, Dec. 1999

Crust:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cups cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Topping:
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the crust, preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 13x9 inch baking pan with parchment paper, with a 1-inch overhang on the short sides of the pan. Grease paper and sides of pan.

Blend flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles a fine meal. Press evenly into bottom of prepared pan and bake until set and lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Set aside while preparing the topping.

For topping, stir brown sugar, corn syrup and butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture boils. Boil 1 minute. Add nuts and cream and boil until slightly thickened, about 3 more minutes. Stir in vanilla and pour hot topping over crust.

Bake until caramel has darkened and bubbles thickly, about 20 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Remove by lifting overhanging ends of parchment and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into bars with a heavy sharp knife.

Serves 32. Can be stored for 1 week between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container.

And The Shortbread Goes To...

Okay, let's get down to brass tacks. I know that you are only reading this to see if you won any of the yummy Walkers Shortbread. And I don't blame you. I would do the same thing. I have no recipe to offer you this afternoon, although I have a post in the offing that you will definitely want to read (my Caramel Nut Bars are not to be missed, so tune in tomorrow!).

First, however, a few gratuitous shots of Shortbread. Just for the hell of it!

Lookit, how pretty!

All ready for their close-up!

Leave 'em out for Santa and he will surely appreciate it!


In the spirit of full disclosure, I did not use a random number generator to pick the winners. I tried that before and I don't trust them, I don't think they are that random. Out of curiousity, I played with the numbers once and in three consecutive turns got #1, #2 and #3. So today, I went the low-tech way, wrote everyone's names on slips of paper, all 81 of them, and had my kids each pick a name out of hat.

And now, without further ado, I'd like to congratulate Cindy. She will be receivingn the Festive Shapes Shortbread. And Anonymous with the email that starts catherine.ellie will be receiving the Stem Ginger Shortbread and the Shortbread Rounds. I will be emailing you both directly to get your mailing address. Let it be known that if I don't hear back from you within a week, I will go ahead and pick another winner.

I also want to make mention of commenter "Allie Tries to Cook" who made me laugh my butt off with this answer to my question about how you like to eat your shortbread... "alone. in the closet. hiding from kids! Merry Christmas!" Brilliant - me too, Allie, me too! She hasn't updated her blog in a few months. Allie, please keep blogging! You're great!

Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Pancakes (Low Carb and Gluten Free plus the regular kind)

I suppose the phrase "new tradition" is something of a contradiction in terms, what with tradition being all about the past and what's come before. Nevertheless, my husband and I started a new holiday tradition last year and it's one we hope to continue for many years to come. It's certainly a big hit with our children. Now that the older two are capable of helping to decorate the tree, we have a little tree trimming party. And to get us all in the holiday spirit, we have pancakes for dinner. I've never been a huge pancake person, but my kids adore them and they think it's a special treat to have them for dinner.

This year, I made two separate batches of pancakes so that I could fully participate in our newfound tradition. My pancakes were made with coconut flour, while the rest of the family had the regular kind (albeit somewhat healthified with whole wheat and flax seed meal). I also thought I would up the ante and go with a holiday flavour like Gingerbread and toss in some chocolate chips for fun. I figured I could pull this off even with the low carb ones, if I used my homemade chocolate chunks.



The Results: I figured wrong! Hoooo boy. My lovely sugar-free chocolate chunks were not made for a hot skillet and they quickly melted and ran all over the place. This is not to say that the low carb pancakes were a total disaster, as they tasted quite good. But they didn't look all that great and I was a little worried that the chocolate in the pan would burn. So I scooped out all the chocolate chunks out of the remaining batter and finished up with plain gingerbread pancakes. They were delicious, especially topped with some of my sugar free cranberry sauce.



The pancakes for my husband and kids, however, worked out perfectly. They smelled temptingly of all the spices, and the chocolate chips made them an extra special holiday treat. I resisted tasting them myself, but they got rave reviews from all family members, including my very picky 14 month old. You really can't ask for more than that!

So whether you're low carb, gluten free, or have no dietary restrictions whatsoever, I have a holiday pancake recipe for you! Enjoy!

Coconut Flour Gingerbread Pancakes - adapted from Tiana Coconut

2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
2 tbsp coconut oil or melted butter (plus more for pan)
2 tbsp almond milk, coconut milk or whole milk
1 tsp granulated erythritol (or sugar or equivalent sweetener)
1/4 tsp salt
Optional: 1/3 cup sugarfree chocolate chips (of the storebought variety!)

In a small bowl, whisk together coconut flour, spices and baking powder. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, blend together eggs, oil or butter, milk, sweetener and salt. Mix in coconut flour mixture and stir vigorously until well combined. Batter will be thick.

Heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil or butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Spoon batter into skillet and spread with back of spoon to form 4-inch (or larger) rounds. Cook until edges are set and slightly browned, and spatula can be inserted underneath to flip over. Cook other side until golden brown.

Serves 2. Each serving has a total of 12g of carbs, and 5g of fiber, but only 5g of carbs per serving if you subtract erythritol and fiber.

Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Pancakes - adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flax seed meal
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk or whole milk
3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1/2 cup chocolate chips
oil or butter for pan

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, flax seed meal, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, combine milk, butter and egg and whisk to combine.

Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir gently until just incorporated and a few lumps remain. Do not overmix.

Heat oil or butter in a large skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Swirl to coat bottom of skillet. Spoon 1/4 cup of batter per pancake into skillet (3 or so pancakes will fit at a time). Sprinkle each pancake with 1-2 tsp of chocolate chips. Cook until edges are set and bubbles appear in top of pancake.

Flip and continue to cook until golden brown on both sides. Keep warm in 200F oven until ready to serve.

Almond Milk Eggnog and a Holiday Shortbread Giveaway!

I'd never had homemade eggnog until the first time I spent Christmas at my in-laws house. Up to that point, I assumed it came in a carton and that was that. Like Athena from Zeus's head, it sprung fully-formed from grocery store shelves. So my father-in-law's homemade version came as quite a revelation. Thick and frothy and rich, it was truly a meal unto itself. It was gorgeous, and I've thought about it every year since (as I bought my fully-formed version from the grocery store).

This year, when faced with the necessity of making my holiday favourites more friendly to my blood sugar, I finally got up the gumption to make my own eggnog. And I took it one step beyond just substituting a low carb sweetener for the sugar. A lot of diabetics find the lactose in milk to be too much for their endocrine system. I myself can drink it in small quantities but I decided to experiment anyway, as almond milk has become a low carb staple in my pantry. It's wonderful stuff in it's own right, much tastier than soy milk, and is a great replacement for milk when baking and cooking. So I simply followed the eggnog recipe in my America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, swapped almond milk for milk and erythritol and stevia for sugar, and hoped for the best.



The Results: Bottoms up! I am thrilled to discover that eggnog made with almond milk tastes just like the regular kind. It was wonderfully thick and rich, and there wasn't a hint of almond flavour. With a little whiskey or rum, and the traditional sprinking of nutmeg, it's a perfect low carb treat with which to ring in the holidays. Or have it alcohol-free as a breakfast or brunch treat. My only complaint is that the recipe said it made 10-12 servings and it was more like 8 servings.

I decided to make mine with the whipped cream that the traditional recipe calls for, to make a really rich eggnog, but if you wanted to go dairy-free (besides the eggs, of course), you could add in more almond milk after the custard is chilled. The custard itself was incredibly thick, so you would want to add something to thin it out a bit and make it more drinkable.

And if you wanted to make this with almond milk but use regular sugar, you can sub in 1/2 cup sugar where I've put in erythritol, and omit the stevia extract.



Almond Milk Eggnog

6 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated erythritol
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups unsweetened almond milk (like Blue Diamond)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
20 drops stevia extract
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled
Whiskey, rum or brandy (or whatever liqueur you like)

Whisk eggs, yolks, erythritol and salt together in a large saucepan. Slowly whisk in almond milk until well combined. Using a candy thermometer, cook mixture over low heat while stirring constantly, until it becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and registers 180F, about 20 minutes.

Strain egg mixture into a large bowl and stir in vanilla, stevia and nutmeg. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill for at least three hours and up to 2 days.

Just before serving, whip cream into soft peaks and gently fold into the egg mixture. Add 1 oz liquor or liqueur to each glass and pour eggnog over. Stir gently and sprinkle with grated nutmeg.

Serves 8. Each serving has 9.5g total carbs, but only 3.5g if you subtract erythritol.




And now, on to The Giveaway!

So what does homemade eggnog have to do with giving away Walkers Shortbread? Not a darn thing, beyond the fact that they both tend to be consumed at during the holidays. And the fact that I thought they would look nice together in my photographs. If you haven't yet seen me wax poetic about Walkers Shortbread, check out my Brie and Caramelized Onion Tarts. And then check out all their wonderful products at https://www.walkersus.com/default.aspx?affiliateid=14

The kind folks at Walkers sent me far more shortbread than we could possibly eat, especially given the fact that it's not exactly a diabetic-friendly treat. So what better way to share the joy than to give it away to my readers? They were generous enough for me to pick two winners, one of whom will get a box of their Pure Butter Shortbread in Festive Shapes, and the other will receive some of their Shortbread Rounds and some of their Shortbread with Stem Ginger. I can attest to the deliciousness of all of these products, although I am partial to the ginger shortbread myself. They are perfect for holiday entertaining, giving away to friends and family, or keeping them all to yourself!

To Enter:
1. Open to residents of the US or Canada

2. Leave me a comment telling me how you best like to eat your shortbread - alone, with toppings, dipped in milk, standing on your head, what have you. Be sure to leave me a way to contact you!

3. Contest will run until Thursday, December 9th, 12am EST.

4. I will announce the winner on Friday, Dec. 10th.

5. I don't like to require anyone to follow me for a giveaway, but if you want to become a follower, either here or on Twitter, or like me on Facebook, come back and tell me you did so, and you can have another chance to win!

Cranberry Bliss Bars (Low Carb and Gluten Free)

It likely won't win me any friends here in the Boston area to admit this, but I am not a fan of Dunkin' Donuts. Around these parts, people take pride in the fact that there is a DD on every corner, and that you can give directions based on the nearest one, but I just can't warm to either the coffee or the donuts. If pressed, I suppose I can always fall back on the handy excuse that I am a transplant from the Great White North...you know, all that snow and ice north of the border tends to addle our brains. But the truth is that I am a Starbucks girl through and through. I love the coffee, I love the ambience, I love the big wingback chairs where you can hang out a la the cast of Friends. And before I was diagnosed with diabetes, I loved the baked goods too.

I've tried the Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars a few times and although I liked them well enough, I think I like the idea of them even more. They seem so Christmas-y, with all the cranberries, white chocolate and ginger. Obviously, eating the real thing is no longer an option for me. But the thought struck me earlier in the fall to attempt a low carb version for this Christmas season. Surely it couldn't be too hard to recreate, could it? I figured I would have to forego the white chocolate, since I haven't found a decent sugar-free version of it to use in baking. But perhaps I could make the rest of the bar flavourful enough that the white chocolate wouldn't be missed.

It wasn't hard to come up with a good base for these bars. I simply took the recipe for my Walnut Blondies with Chocolate Chunks and made it with all almond flour, since it has a more neutral taste than walnut meal. I put fresh chopped cranberries into the bars themselves, along with chopped crystallized ginger and some chopped walnuts. For the topping, I made a cream cheese icing similar to the one from my Pumpkin Spice Bars, but with a touch of orange zest to round out the cranberry and ginger flavours. And I topped the whole thing with unsweetened dried cranberries.




The Results Merry Christmas to me! These turned out just as I had hoped and they make a wonderful low carb holiday treat. The bar itself has a nice gingery kick to it and the icing has a lovely sweetness with just a hint of orange. The fresh cranberries in the bar and the unsweetened dried ones provide a nice tartness that compliments the other flavours.

The only thing I would change here would be to bake them in a bigger pan, so that they were thinner like the original ones from Starbucks. That way, I could have a greater icing to bar ratio. But that's just personal preference. I will write the recipe up as I made it, and if you want to bake in a bigger pan and make a little more icing, have at it. Just adjust the baking time accordingly.



Cranberry Bliss Bars

Bars:
1 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated erythritol
1 tsp vanilla extract
20 drops stevia extract
2 cups almond flour
1 tsp ground ginger
4 eggs
1/2 cup fresh cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger (optional)

Icing:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp butter, softened
1/3 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp powdered erythritol
10 drops stevia extract
1 tsp grated orange zest

1/4 cup unsweetened dried cranberries (I made my own from this recipe, but you may be able to find them at a local health food store)

Preheat oven to 325F and grease an 8x8 inch baking pan. Line pan bottom and sides with parchment paper and grease parchment.

In a large bowl, mix melted butter with erythritol, vanilla and stevia extract. Add almond flour and ground ginger, stirring to incorporate. Add in eggs and stir until all ingredients are well combined. Stir in chopped cranberries, and walnuts and ginger if using.

Pour batter into prepared pan and spread the top. Bake for 40 minutes or until top is golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool completely in pan.

For the icing, beat cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add cream and beat thoroughly, scraping down beaters and sides of bowl as needed. Beat in erythritol, stevia and orange zest until smooth.

Spread icing over cooled bars and sprinkle with dried cranberries. Chill in refrigerator until icing is firm, about 1 hour. Cut into bars or triangles.

Makes 16 large bars or 25 smaller ones. Total carbs for larger bars is 9.8g, and for smaller bars is 6.3g. If you subtract erythritol, large bars have 5.3g of carbs and smaller bars have 3.4g

Brie and Caramelized Onion Tarts with Oatcake Crust

I have never been to Scotland. It's a shame, really, as I believe that Scotland and I would get along very well. Minus the weather, which isn't very pleasant. And the haggis, which I suspect isn't very pleasant either. Yes, Scotland and I would get along famously. After all, I did attend a girl's school for 7 years that was named after a castle in Scotland, and we were divided up into "clans" (I was a Campbell) and wore kilts and ties in the Hunting Stewart tartan. Surely this qualifies me as something of an expert on all things Scottish?

I also know my way around scottish shortbread and oatcakes like I was born to it. Every Christmas as a child, I would see the familiar red tartan of a Walkers Shortbread box peaking out of my stocking. It was in hot contention with the Toblerone bar as my favourite treat from Santa, and I often would have devoured half the box before breakfast. We would have the oatcakes with brie and other cheeses as an appetizer before Christmas dinner, and I always marvelled at how they seemed more like cookies than crackers. So when the good folks at Walkers contacted me about sampling their products and creating a holiday recipe for them, I was just tickled. What wonderful memories these cookies and crackers bring back for me.

They kindly sent me several different boxes of their wonderful shortbread, and I have quite a few ideas of how to work these into some holiday recipes which I hope to post at a later date. But what I was really excited about was the box of oatcakes, so that I could make a holiday appetizer worthy of my Christmases past.



The Results: It took a few tries to get it right, but my handy-dandy taste tester (aka my husband) didn't mind one bit. The first round was a bit too sweet so we cut back on the carmelized onions and fig jam, to allow the brie and the oatcakes to shine through. The resulting tarts are wonderful! The crust is crumbly but holds together, and the oatiness compliments the tangy brie so well. And the touch of sweetness from the onions and jam rounds the whole taste out beautifully. They are a lovely, elegant appetizer and I plan to serve them to our friends who will be joining us for Christmas dinner.

I used 4 1/2 inch tart pans, but you could do them as little mini tarts or as one large 9-inch tart served in slices. Just adjust the baking time of the crust accordingly.

So many thanks to the good folks at Walkers for allowing me to play with their products! If you've never had Walkers shortbread before, you are missing out and you need to rectify this immediately. It was a Christmas tradition in my household, perhaps it should become one in yours too!

Check out all the shortbread, oatcakes and other goodies at:

https://www.walkersus.com/default.aspx?affiliateid=14



Brie and Caramelized Onion Tarts with Oatcake Crust
Crust:
10 Walkers Thick & Crunchy Oatcakes
2 tbsp butter
1 egg white

Filling:
3 tbsp butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
7-8 oz brie, chopped into 1/4 inch chunks
1 tbsp fig jam
1 tbsp water

For the tart crusts, preheat oven to 350F and place four 4 1/2 inch tart pans with removable bottoms on a large baking sheet. (Alternatively, you could make one large tart in a 9 inch tart pan, or 12-16 mini tartlets). Process oatcakes in food processor until they become fine, even crumbs, about 30 seconds. Place crumbs in medium bowl and stir in butter and egg white until well combined.

Divide oatcake mixture between prepared pans. Using your fingers, press mixture firmly to bottom and up sides of pans. Bake in oven 10-12 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Melt butter in a large, heavy-duty skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add fresh thyme and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until onions are golden, about 15 minutes.

Divide chopped brie between tart shells, sprinkling in an even layer over each crust. Sprinkle onions evenly over cheese in tarts. Bake until brie is melted and slightly bubbly, about 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir fig jam and water together. Drizzle over tarts. Once pans are cool enough to handle, remove tarts. Serve warm.