Isomalt Brownie round 1 - a dang good brownie

[Kevinpa]

Ok here is round 1. Those of you that have isomalt feel free to join in.

My first attempt was fashioned after Scott's ******ic recipe and went like this:

Wet

1 stick butter (salted)
2 ounces Nestle's unsweetened chocolate(pre-melted)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
20 drops sweetzfree (3/4 C. splenda equivalent)

Dry

1/2 cup Carbalose flour
1/2 cup powdered isomalt
2 T. granular erythritol

1/2 C. Chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Foil line a 8x8 pan.
In a large glass bowl, mix wet ingredients, whisking in eggs last.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly pour dry into wet while stirring. Fold in nuts if using.

Pour batter into pan and pound on counter a few times to get as much air out as possible.

Bake 40-45 minutes.

Was a very good tasting dense cake brownie.......But not ******ic!
It was moist in the middle but towards the outer edges it was a tad on the dry side.

[Yummy's_Girl]

These sound good! Now if I could only find that nestle's unsweetened chocolate

[scott123]

Kevin, I'm curious, are you decreasing the sugary bulk in an effort to make it less laxating?

Both polyd and isomalt are a 1:1 sub for the texture of sugar. Erythritol is a little bit less- I'm guessing it's about 50% weaker.

The original recipe has 1 1/8 C. of sugary texture. Your recipe has slightly less than 5/8 C. That's going to make a pretty big difference in terms of gooeyness/chewiness/moistness.

Also, when you say 'powdered' isomalt, you mean granular, right? If it's ground to a very fine powder and then measured, the amount of isomalt might be even less (or more, depending on the final size of the granule/how compacted it is).

[Kevinpa]

No Scott, I meant powdered. When I bought my Isomalt it came in 1 1/2 lb containers. One of the containers I powdered with my coffee grinder like we discussed awhile back. I got the powder pretty fine because after I ground it the container was just a little over half full. I was assuming I had somewhere between 3/4 c and 1 c of bulk but from the results I see I was mistaken.
I used the powder because it seems to be easier to work with.
Everything said though, they really are good brownies if thats the texture you are looking for. Shortly I will be trying round 2 and increasing the bulk.

[Kevinpa]

Round 2 .....Ding!!!!

Talk about oooey goooey..........

I don't think today is my day in the kitchen.......

Wanna see what isomalt brownies look like when you forget to put the eggs in??




lol I give up for today........ :blush:

[SugarBabi]

Awww...Kevin...

[Kevinpa]

After several days and 5 or 6 different version of isomalt brownies I kept thinking that they were all good but not near the same as the original ******ic brownies that I tried back in April. Even my DW who can usually spot a change in a recipe before I even tell her said: none of these are the same.
So I went back to April when I first saw Scott123 post Jackieba's version of the brownie (the one I originally tried) and it smacked me right in the face why it was not the same.

Jackieba's version used carbquik rather than carbalose.

With that said and 2 last tries......I have found my isomalt brownie.

Servings: 9 (3x3) brownies 5.5 carbs each (6 carbs w/pecans)
(these counts are using 24 carbs for the 1 cup of isomalt)

Wet

1 stick butter (salted)
3 ounces Nestle's unsweetened chocolate(pre-melted)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
25 drops sweetzfree (1 C. splenda equivalent)

Dry

1 cup Carbquik flour
1 cup granulated isomalt
1/4 cup granular erythritol

1/2 C. Chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

Foil line a 9x9 pan.(I used an old 9x9 pan I have so I could get 9 (3x3) brownies)

In a large glass bowl, mix wet ingredients, whisking in eggs last.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly pour dry into wet while stirring. Fold in nuts if using.

Pour batter into pan and pound on counter a few times to get as much air out as possible.

Bake 75 minutes.

Hope you enjoy!

[Brendajm]

these look great, I am finishing up the ******ic brownies now, but boy are the giving me some major ga$$,, will the isomalt be better in that department? I will buy tons of it if it will be better as I am almost out of polyd.

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by Brendajm

major ga$$,, will the isomalt be better in that department?

As I have stated several time, if I look at polyD the wrong way I get major gas. But they keep telling me I am in the minority. What I have found out in my case is that if I stick to 1 portion or an occational 2nd portion in a day I have no reaction to it at all. So in my case where my rule is portion control anyway that suits me fine. I suggest you buy a small amount first to try it since it has been my observation that reaction to s/a's is a very personal thing and varies from person to person.

I know thats not much help but is as honest of an answer as I can offer.

[scott123]

Brenda, polyd and sugar alcohols are a YMMV type of thing when it comes to digestive issues. There are no guarantees with any of this stuff. From what I can tell, isomalt is shaping up to be less laxating than maltitol, at least for some people, but I can't say for certain that isomalt is going to be the solution for all the people that experience gas from polyd. So far it seems to be working well for Kevin, but your body may respond differently.

I'm curious, was the brownie recipe one of the first times you've baked something with a lot of polyd in it? For some people, it helps to build up a tolerance to polyd by having a little every day. A while back, I posted a beverage syrup that works well for this purpose.

[scott123]

Kevin, how are you storing your brownies? Refrigerator? Any issues with re-crystallization?

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by scott123

Kevin, how are you storing your brownies? Refrigerator? Any issues with re-crystallization?

I split them up in 3's Scott, 1 group I left out on the counter, another i put in the fridge, and the third I put in the freezer........so far no re-crystallization.

Note: the ones I left out on the counter ......the crust is chewy to die for.......

[sungoddess]

OMG these are incredible. Not only are you and Scott chemical wizards, but you have the art of food photography down to an art!! It is your pictures that cause the drool to pour out. I am curious how you take these shots Kevin, because my food photos pale in comparison. Do you have a close up setting that you use? I think you and Scott and Linda should do cookbooks with wonderful colored pictures in them. I would buy and so would many people.

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by sungoddess

I am curious how you take these shots Kevin, because my food photos pale in comparison. Do you have a close up setting that you use?

Sun, I have a Sony Mavica CD1000 digital camera with a 20x precision digital zoom. On top of that it has a macro setting that allows me with the zoom set to wide, to take crystal clear picture from as close as 13/16 of an inch(2cm) away from an object I want to photograph.

[sungoddess]

Originally Posted by Kevinpa

Sun, I have a Sony Mavica CD1000 digital camera with a 20x precision digital zoom. On top of that it has a macro setting that allows me with the zoom set to wide, to take crystal clear picture from as close as 13/16 of an inch(2cm) away from an object I want to photograph.

well then, I will not be able to duplicate your pics!!! LOL But boy, I would like a camera like that. Very cool. Thanks for letting me know. Just wanted you to know how impressive those pics are.

[Kevinpa]

Like Emeril says....since we can't do smell-a-vision, this is the next best thing......

[LauraFL]

Originally Posted by Yummy's_Girl

These sound good! Now if I could only find that nestle's unsweetened chocolate

This has been my problem too.

Kevin, I tried googling it and continued to follow the prompts until the last one said "chocolate" and I ended up on a site selling music CD's with this weird looking guy on the cover. I guess I'm not the best at searching things out on google!

What's the difference between Carbalose flour and Carbquik? I have the latter and am glad you changed your recipe to it. I caved and ordered the isomalt. [COLOR="Blue"](ssshhhhhhh. Don't tell anybody.)[/COLOR]Not the most patient person I guess! :blush:

Your recipe sounds so good. I want to make it and eventually try Scott's too, although the thought of having an ****** while eating a brownie kinda creeps me out.

[Kevinpa]

Laura, any unsweetened chocolate will work. I use Nestles pre-melted because its easy....if I had as much trouble as you finding it I would just buy the squares you have to melt....

carbquik is made from carbalose but has some things added to it like fat for 1 thing I believe.

Carbalose has a good bit of fiber in it but its not the best tasting in my opinion......it needs to have resistant starch added to it to dilute the bad tasting fiber.......IMHO

For certain things I prefer carbquik.....but again thats my opinion.....others would disagree.

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by scott123

Kevin, how are you storing your brownies? Refrigerator? Any issues with re-crystallization?

Ok Scott, after 16 hours in the refrigerator I took this picture 30 seconds later. No re-crystallization at all that I can see.

[sungoddess]

Originally Posted by lowcarbcontender

Your recipe sounds so good. I want to make it and eventually try Scott's too, although the thought of having an ****** while eating a brownie kinda creeps me out.

Really??? The thought of it exhilarates me!!!!! hahaha

[LauraFL]

To each his (or her) own baby! It still creeps me out on so many levels.

[Tweaker Geek]

I made Kevin's version #3 of these brownies again today and this time I used 1 teas. of vanilla extract and 1 teas. of peppermint extract along with 2 Tbsp. of DaVinci Peppermint Paddy syrup, 1 Splenda Quick-Pack and 1 cup of sugar-free chocolate chips. The quick-pack replaces the 1/4 teas. Sweetzfree. OMG I can't tell you how delicious they smelled baking! I haven't tried any yet but I know they are going to be the best yet - Peppermint Paddy Chocolate Chip Brownies - yummm!

[Kisal]

I don't have isomalt, but I do have Diabetisweet. That would work as a sub, correct?

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by Kisal

I don't have isomalt, but I do have Diabetisweet. That would work as a sub, correct?

Yes it would Kisal but what you have to remember is that isomalt is only 40% as sweet as diabetiSweet measure for measure. Diabetisweet has Ace-K added to bump up its sweetness level to that of sugar.

[Tweaker Geek]

Just a quick update here - the brownies with the peppermint extract and peppermint paddy syrup are the BEST EVER!!

I would seriously put them in competition with any brownie out there, they're that good! Wunerful, Wunerful!!

[Kisal]

Thank you, Kevin!

And thanks for the reminder about the sweetness level of Diabetisweet! I had completely forgotten that. :blush:

[mac24312]

Kevin..I know this is OLD post but I want to try these but dont have the melted unsweetened Chocolate..cant find it around here...can I just melt the Unsweetened Chocolate Squares? I dont think my body will like the Poly D right now...

HUGS!

[Kevinpa]

I always used Nestle's unsweetened chocolate for 2 reasons. It didn't need to be melted and I like the taste of Nestle's better than Bakers. Any will work so let your taste be your guide.

[mac24312]

Thanks..did you powder your isomalt first or just use it the way it is in these..

Thanks!

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by mac24312

Thanks..did you powder your isomalt first or just use it the way it is in these..

Thanks!

as is