Chocolate Budino

 

I don’t think there’s ever a bad time for chocolate pudding, and I had Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for chocolate budino calling my name, so I went for it. “Budino” is the Italian word for pudding or custard; this version is particularly rich, what with the egg yolks and the cream, but this was worth it. I used Silk heavy whipping cream alternative instead of cream, and it worked perfectly! 

You can top this with more vegan whipped cream, and optionally dust that with cocoa or cinnamon, but it was also delicious plain. 

5 egg yolks 

1/3 cup granulated sugar 

2 cups lactose-free whipping cream (see note above), plus another ½ cup for topping (optional) 

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (60% or so), finely chopped 

2 tsp. lactose-free butter 

2 pinches sea salt 

¼ tsp. vanilla extract 

2 tsp. bourbon, brandy, or another liqueur (optional; I didn’t use it) 

In the bottom of a medium-sized saucepan, whisk egg yolks with granulated sugar until fully combined. 

Slowly drizzle in 2 cups of cream, whisking the whole time. Warm mixture over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until it is thick enough that it coats a spoon. (Don’t let it simmer or boil.)

Place chopped chocolate in the bottom of a large bowl and set a fine-mesh strainer over it. Pour egg yolk mixture through strainer, onto the chocolate. Remove strainer and stir; the heat of the egg yolk mixture should melt the chocolate. 

Add butter, salt, and vanilla, and mix until butter is melted and combined. Divide between small cups (you’ll have about 2 1/2 to 2 2/3 cups of budino mixture; I made 8 servings out of it) and chill until fully cold and set. 

Either right before you serve it or, when the chill is off the custard enough that it won’t melt the cream, whip remaining ½ cup lactose-free cream to very soft peaks. Spoon generously over each cup. Serve cold.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

I found this cookie recipe on Eat Yourself Skinny. (I haven’t had time to explore the whole site, but it does look full of good things!) The cookies are small and very plump, which gives them an adorable look! They were delicious to boot – we all loved them, and I even prefer them to the keto chocolate chip cookies I made recently. 

1½ cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat) 

½ cup almond flour 

1 tsp. baking soda 

¼ tsp. sea salt 

2 eggs 

5 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted and cooled 

¼ cup honey 

1 tsp. vanilla 

½ cup dark chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350 °F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking soda and sea salt and set aside. 

In the bowl of your stand mixture or using electric beaters, mix together eggs, coconut oil, honey and vanilla until smooth then slowly add in flour mixture until just combined. 

Fold in the chocolate chips and scoop out a tablespoon each of dough balls onto the lined cookie sheet (you should get roughly 30 balls – I got 28) and flatten them just a tad with your fingers. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until cookies have puffed up and have a nice golden coloring on the tops. Allow cookies to cool then enjoy!

Mushroom-Walnut Bolognese

I dug this recipe out of a folder and decided to make it, now that I have access to a lactose-free cream substitute here (Silk brand). I keep reading that walnuts are anti-inflammatory and full of omega-3s, and mushrooms are also recommended against diabetes. That being said, since there is “cream” and pasta (I couldn’t find a low-carb long and wide pasta, so had the real thing for the first time since early summer, I think), probably all those foods cancel each other out. In any case, this was really good! 

1 lb. cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered 

1 cup toasted walnuts 

1 yellow onion, quartered 

1 medium carrot, chopped 

1 medium stalk celery, chopped 

6 Tbsp. olive oil, divided 

1 ¼ tsp. kosher salt, divided 

½ cup dry white wine 

⅓ cup tomato paste 

2 cups low-sodium vegetable stock 

¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper 

½ cup lactose-free half-and-half substitute 

1 lb. tagliatelle pasta, cooked according to package instructions 

grated parmesan cheese, for serving 

Working in 2 batches, pulse mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Add walnuts to food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add onion, carrot, and celery to food processor; process until very finely chopped. 

Heat ¼ cup oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add mushrooms in an even layer; cook, undisturbed, until browned in spots, about 8 minutes. Season with ½ teaspoon salt, toss, and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to bowl with walnuts. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to skillet. Stir in onion mixture and ¼ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring often, until mixture is golden and almost dry, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and walnuts. Add wine; cook until absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomato paste; cook, stirring, until combined, about 5 minutes. Add stock; simmer over low, stirring once or twice, until sauce is very thick, 35 to 40 minutes. Add pepper, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and half-and-half; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes 

Toss pasta with desired amount of sauce. Serve with cheese. Place any remaining sauce in an airtight container; refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Banana Muffins

 

I tried blueberry protein muffins from A Balanced Approach to PCOS –sadly, they weren’t great. We ate 7, I think, and 2 ended up in the trash. But then I tried these banana muffins from Eat Yourself Skinny and we all really liked them! I served them with a little fruit salad composée, given that we had an abundance of fruit that (dark) morning! 

1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour 

1 tsp. baking powder 

½ tsp. baking soda 

¼ tsp. sea salt 

½ tsp. cinnamon 

1 large egg 

3 ripe bananas, mashed 

½ cup unsweetened applesauce 

¼ cup honey 

1 tsp. vanilla 

3 Tbsp. lactose-free plain Greek yogurt 

Preheat oven to 375 °F. Grease a muffin tin (I ended up with 15 muffins). 

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt); set aside. 

In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the egg then add mashed bananas, applesauce, honey and yogurt. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet, mixing until just combined. 

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each cup about ¾ full and bake for about 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool, serve and enjoy!

Sesame Chicken

 

This isn’t really a recipe, but it got such rave reviews in my household that I have to share! I had a big container of deep-roasted sesame dressing that I wanted to use up (it’s absolutely delicious, but I just wanted to make room in the fridge). I ended up using it to marinate chicken. I basically used split chicken breasts and poured out the rest of the container on top of them, mixed things around, then left them in the fridge all day. I roasted the chicken for 15 minutes at 425 °F. And BOTH of my kids liked it, even the Fox! He likes very few things and may not even go for a chicken nugget dipped in ketchup, so this is special indeed. I served it here with butternut squash with white beans and bacon.

Biscuits aux brisures de chocolat presque cétogènes

 

J’ai fait ces biscuits aux brisures de chocolat cétogènes en adaptant un peu la recette, parce que mon garde-manger n’est pas (encore?) équipé tout à fait comme il le faut. J’ai utilisé du sucre de noix de coco au lieu du remplacement de sucre granulé, qu’on peut trouver dans certaines épiceries ou en ligne (tout comme les brisures de chocolat – les miennes étaient de Hu). Je n’ai pas écrasé les biscuits en les faisant cuire (notez d’ailleurs que la gomme de xanthane est facultative, mais si vous l’omettez, les biscuits seront plus aplatis et moins moelleux). Les miens sont un peu plus moches que ceux sur la photo d’origine, mais je pense que ça a rapport au type de farine d’amandes utilisé ainsi qu’au remplacement de sucre. D’ailleurs, à ce sujet, je recommande fortement la farine d’amandes écalées (donc blanchies, sans pelure); ça fait un biscuit nettement plus joli! 

1 ½ tasse de farine d'amande 

½ c. à thé de poudre à pâte 

½ c. à thé de gomme de xanthane (voir plus haut) 

1 pincée de sel cachère 

½ tasse de beurre sans lactose 

¾ tasse de remplacement de sucre granulé (voir plus haut) 

1 œuf 

1 c. à thé de vanille 

¾ tasse de brisures de chocolat sans sucre 

Préchauffer le four à 350 °F. 

Mélanger la farine d’amandes, la poudre à pâte, la gomme de xanthane et le sel. Réserver. 

Faire fondre le beurre, puis le laisser tempérer pendant 2 minutes. 

Verser le beurre dans un grand bol; ajouter le remplacement de sucre. Mélanger avec une cuillère de bois jusqu'à ce que le mélange devienne pâle et léger, environ 2 minutes (j’ai fait ça au batteur sur socle). 

Incorporer l'œuf et la vanille; bien mélanger. 

Ajouter les ingrédients secs. Mélanger jusqu'à ce que les ingrédients forment une pâte homogène, mais pas plus. 

Ajouter les brisures de chocolat délicatement à l'aide d'une spatule. 

À l'aide d'une mini-cuillère à crème glacée, former environ 18 boules de 1 c. à soupe de pâte chacune (les miennes étaient plus grosses; j’ai pris ma cuillère à biscuits de 3 oz et j’en ai quand même obtenu une vingtaine). Les déposer sur une plaque à pâtisserie recouverte d'un tapis de silicone ou d'un papier parchemin. (Ici, je trouve que j’ai eu de meilleurs résultats en mettant les boules de pâte au frigo avant de les faire cuire.) 

Cuire sur la grille du milieu du four pendant environ 6 minutes, puis sortir du four et aplatir légèrement avec une fourchette. Si désiré, saupoudrer quelques grains de fleur de sel sur chaque biscuit. Retourner la plaque puis remettre au four pendant encore 6 à 8 minutes, jusqu'à ce que les biscuits deviennent légèrement dorés. (Dans mon cas, je n’ai pas ouvert la porte du four. J’ai fait plusieurs « batchs » et selon moi, j’ai eu les meilleurs résultats en mettant la pâte à biscuits froide au four 11-12 minutes, préalablement saupoudrée de fleur de sel si on veut – j’ai pris des flocons de sel de Maldon.) Les biscuits vont terminer leur cuisson une fois sortis du four; c’est donc normal qu’ils aient encore l’air un peu humides. Attendre 10 à 15 minutes avant de les déguster.

Upside-down banana muffins

 

These muffins are not “healthy” or low-carb or anything, but I decided to try them anyway because I thought the kids would like them. It turns out the Engineer was the biggest fan! They have a bananas-foster vibe going on, which was really nice. I’d probably recommend reducing slightly the amount of butter and sugar in each cup, because I ended up with a crystallized sugar layer that, while not unpleasant, was probably not the intended result. I used only 1 banana instead of 3 – I really think that the muffins would overflow if you were to use that much! (The recipe is originally from Parents magazine, but they don’t have it up online.) 

24 tsp. lactose-free butter (see note above) 

24 tsp. brown sugar (see note above) 

1 cup all-purpose flour (I used white whole wheat) 

½ cup brown sugar 

2 tsp. baking powder 

¾ tsp. cinnamon 

¼ tsp. kosher salt 

1/3 cup canola oil 

2 eggs 

¼ cup lactose-free milk 

1 ½ tsp. vanilla 

1 banana (see note above) 

Preheat oven to 375 °F. 

Place 1 teaspoon of the butter and 1 teaspoon of the brown sugar in each of the wells in a mini-muffin pan. Bake 5 minutes and set aside (but leave the oven on). 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined. 

When butter mixture is cool, cut the banana into 24 thin slices. Place 1 in each muffin cup and fill with batter. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry (there may be melted sugar or banana on there, but there should be no batter). 

To unmold, I decided that the best thing to do was to place a baking sheet over the muffin tin, then flip the whole thing over. I pushed down on each cup to make sure the muffin was dislodged before removing the pan and placing the muffins in a container.  

Muffins can be stored for a few days at room temperature in an airtight container, or in the fridge.

Another chia bowl

I took my inspiration from this post, and it’s really more of a formula than an actual recipe. It originally called for 2/3 cup chia seeds, but after making it twice, I realize that I prefer using ½ cup, otherwise it ends up too thick for me. It also called for light coconut milk, but I think another plant-based milk would do just fine here. And while mango would have been great, I didn’t have any, so I used a clementine (and omitted the nuts). I think topping a breakfast bowl can absolutely be a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants thing. 

 

1 cup canned light coconut milk (see note above) 

½ cup chia seeds 

½ cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt 

¼ cup pure maple syrup 

¼ tsp. salt 

½ cup chopped fresh mango 

¼ cup raw coconut chips, toasted 

¼ cup chopped macadamia nuts (see note above)

In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut milk, chia seeds, yogurt, syrup, and salt. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. 

Spoon pudding into bowls (I had 2-3 servings, I think). Top with mango, coconut, macadamia nuts, and additional chia seeds.

Pizza Muffins

 

These pizza muffins definitely taste best served warm. Those of us who tasted them warm at home really liked them! The Little Prince had them for lunch at school (his lunchbox has a built-in cooler, though things are obviously no longer freezing cold by lunch time) and he wasn’t fond of them. I’d recommend warming them up and putting them in a wide, warm thermos to pack them for school. Live and learn. 

Note that I used 2 cups of white whole wheat flour. Also, since I don’t have pizza seasoning, I replaced it with my own mix of spices below. 

1 cup all-purpose flour 

1 cup whole-wheat flour 

1 tsp. baking powder 

½ tsp. baking soda 

½ tsp. teaspoon salt 

½ tsp. garlic powder 

½ tsp. onion powder 

½ tsp. dried basil 

½ tsp. dried oregano 

1 ½ cups lactose-free milk 

1 cup grated carrot 

1 cup lactose-free shredded mozzarella cheese 

¼ cup lactose-free grated Parmesan cheese 

¼ cup melted and slightly cooled lactose-free butter or neutral oil 

¼ cup diced pepperoni, plus 2 Tbsp. (optional) 

2 eggs, lightly beaten 

Preheat the oven to 375 °F and grease a standard muffin tin well. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside. 

In a large bowl, stir together the milk, carrot, cheeses, butter, pepperoni (reserving the 2 tablespoons), and egg. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. 

Divide batter among the prepared muffin tin. Top each with reserved pepperoni. 

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly. (There may be some melted cheese on it though!) 

Let cool in the pan for 2-5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. You may need to use a paring knife around the edges of the muffins to help remove them from the pan. 

Serve slightly warm.