LC Brownies that Taste Like Brownies

[Blood Sugar 101]

This is an adaptation of the "One Bowl Brownie" recipe that comes on the Baker's Baking Chocolate with flour replaced by Carbalose and Sugar by a combination of DaVinci Sugar Free Syrup and Erythritol (Z-Sweet).

If you double it, it will bake up in an 8" by 8" pan, but I make this very small batch for portion control reasons.

1 square baking chocolate (unsweetened)
3 Tbs of butter
1/4 cup Z-Sweet
1/8 cup Da Vinci Sugar Free Syrup (I used White Chocolate)
1 large egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup Carbalose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a bread loaf pan with parchment paper or grease bottom very well. Grease sides.

Melt the baking chocolate and butter. I microwaved them in a 2 cup mixing cup. Add Z-Sweet and DaVinci syrup and stir in. Stir in egg, vanilla, carbalose, and mix until smooth.

Pour into loaf pan, smoothing out.

Bake for 30 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick. It's okay if it is a little gooey. Remove from oven, cut sides free and and invert pan over a plate. Allow to cool before eating. Wrap up to keep fresh.

Nutritional Info: Makes 6 servings. Each serving 108 calories. 5 g carb 3 g fiber. 4 g protein. 9 g fat.

[CarolynF]

Looks good... I like the small size. When I put paper down when I bake, I like to spray the pan and then the paper sticks better when I am trying to spread it..

[wishbone]

...in the oven now...

[wishbone]

we may never know if they are better cold... dh has a REAL HARD TIME waiting for things to cool....he has 1/2 the pan gone....and I made a double batch!!

[Blood Sugar 101]

Originally Posted by wishbone

we may never know if they are better cold... dh has a REAL HARD TIME waiting for things to cool....he has 1/2 the pan gone....and I made a double batch!!

I take it you guys liked them...

They are a huge improvement on the real thing as far as their impact on blood sugar. This is something I've been looking for for a long time.

[MNLisaB]

Hi Jenny

These sound pretty fab, any thoughts about subbing coconut flour with baking powder/soda plus extra eggs for the carbalose? I do have some in my fridge, however it's several years old, just smells so darned funky.

[CarolynF]

Hmmm..Lisa: I might try this with the coconut flour as I don't have any Carbalose, but do have CQ (which can be sifted)..What I would do is get everything together, but the coconut flour..That stuff is like a sponge, so I would add 1-2 Tbs. and wait until it is brownie consistency. A touch of baking powder might help, too..Carbalose doesn't have baking powder in it, but CQ does.

[SweetPoison2]

Can you get the Z-Sweet and Carbalose flour at a local store?

[CarolynF]

Not usually..I have seen Carbquick at large health food stores. The z-sweet you might be able to get at a health food store..Of course, netrition has both.

[SweetPoison2]

There is no substitute for the Z-sweet?

[Blood Sugar 101]

Originally Posted by MNLisaB

Hi Jenny

These sound pretty fab, any thoughts about subbing coconut flour with baking powder/soda plus extra eggs for the carbalose? I do have some in my fridge, however it's several years old, just smells so darned funky.

Coconut flour is too high calorie for me. I'm as sensitive to calories as carbs, so one thing I love about Carbalose and Carbquik is that they are low in calories not just carbs.

I also love that the fiber really helps keep the digestive system in great shape, along the lines of metamucil but without the nasty taste and texture.

[Blood Sugar 101]

Originally Posted by SweetPoison2

There is no substitute for the Z-sweet?

You can substitute whatever you use for 1/4 cup of sugar. I personally am not crazy about the taste of too much Splenda and the powdered form of Splenda has significant carbs due to the maltodextrin. But this is a personal choice.

This was the FIRST recipe I ever came up with that worked with Zsweet. The stuff has been in my cupboard for a long time as it doesn't work in cocoa or fudge sauce which were what I hoped to use it for.

[SweetPoison2]

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

it doesn't work in or fudge sauce which were what I hoped to use it for.

Neither does splenda;( Taste awful!

[jlatislaw]

Originally Posted by SweetPoison2

There is no substitute for the Z-sweet?

Wonder if Diabetisweet would work? I know that's available at Walmart.

[jlp2009]

this sounds wonderful however, what size are the servings? I'd probably eat the entire batch in one sitting!

[Blood Sugar 101]

Originally Posted by jlatislaw

Wonder if Diabetisweet would work? I know that's available at Walmart.

DiabetiSweet contains Isomalt which like Maltitol contains 2 grams worth of carb in every teaspoon and will either turn into blood glucose or cause horrible gas and diarrhea. It also contains Acesulfame-K which is nasty tasting and of dubious healthfulness. I consider it a ripoff for people with diabetes. I would recommend the Splenda sugar free syrups instead as they have no carbs and no digestive effects. There are some very silly conspiratory theories about Splenda posted on the web that I would not worry about.

Erythritol is the only sugar alcohol which does NOT metabolize into significant amounts of glucose in the body.

[Blood Sugar 101]

Originally Posted by jlp2009

this sounds wonderful however, what size are the servings? I'd probably eat the entire batch in one sitting!

The serving is 1/6 of a bread loaf or 1/12 of an 8" by 8" pan.

[Sweet Pea]

Originally Posted by Blood Sugar 101

Erythritol is the only sugar alcohol which does NOT metabolize into significant amounts of glucose in the body.

What about Stevia? How does it affect glucose?

[Blood Sugar 101]

Originally Posted by Sweet Pea

What about Stevia? How does it affect glucose?

Stevia does not affect glucose, but my experience with it is that it gives baked goods a nasty bitter taste.

[lene]

Jenny, I don't have the carbalose flour, but do have carbquik. Would I be able to sub that for the carbalose?

[lene]

Oh, and one other question, since I have your attention. <g> What recipe do you use for your Belgian waffle in the morning? I have the carbquik on hand, and have ordered a waffle maker (I've never had one before) and my son is anticipating some morning bliss, what with bacon and waffles and coffee all available. (I ordered the Rattlesnake Brew from Dean's Beans after reading about it on your site, and we love it.) I'd prefer to start with a good recipe than just winging it, since I have no previous waffle experience to fall back on.

[Blood Sugar 101]

Lene,

If you use the carbquick the brownies will be a bit more cake-like. There's no leavening in the carbalose recipe. I haven't tried it with the carbquick. Make a small batch and see what happens.

I was eyeballing the waffles, putting 1/3 of a cup of Carbquik into a bowl, adding an egg and water until it was looking like waffle batter, then stirring in 1 pat of melted butter. That was making 1.5 or 2 waffles depending on how much water I used. Very impressionistic.

[lene]

Heh, impressionistic is pretty much how I do all my cooking, so I'll keep at it. Thanks!