The official vitafibre thread

[Soobee]

I make sure it has bubbled all the way through. Then I add the butter and vanilla and nuke it a minute or 2 until it is the color toffee I like. Last I stir in the baking soda. Mine comes out like candy at the hard crack stage. I don't know what made yours into toffee, but it would be great if we could reproduce it. (Although the brittle is great too.)

[Bonbon41]

I guess it worked out well for me in the end - I can't eat anything hard so I hadn't been planning on eating the almond brittle myself. Now I can enjoy it too, in fact I practically enjoyed a whole batch. I'll be trying to reproduce the soft version so will let you know how it goes

[Soobee]

Made it again this morning. (Breakfast of Champions) I forgot the sweetener, so I remelted it and stirred it in. But it was still a brittle.

[Bonbon41]

With mine, I added more butter and vitafiber to the hardened stuff, perhaps that was it? After this, I also only miked a little, in shorter bursts. Not enough to darken the butter to toffee colour.

[grneyedldy]

Oh man I wish one of you would adopt me (Soobee, Bonbon) as much as I would love to eat some of the toffee/brittle you are discussing.....there is no way, never ever, not a smidgen of a chance that I would do all that you two are doing to create a delicious product. I am in awe with all of you talented patient chefs who creat such wonderful low carb goodies for us mortals.

[Bonbon41]

Ah green eyes, you make me laugh! The only thing to consider is that if you were part of the family, you might be also required to partake in the eating of the big fat funky food flops around here...and they are not exactly infrequent!

[EnglishLit]

Does anyone know how sweet vitafiber is? Is it roughly on par with polyd?

[Bonbon41]

The powder and the syrup are both about 50-60% the sweetness of sugar.

[Bonbon41]

Originally Posted by Soobee

Here is a tweaked recipe from Vangela. It is our new favorite cookie. We can't believe the great texture of the cookie. DH keeps saying, "It's just like a real cookie."

Almond Chocolate Cookies Vangela Soobee
1¼ cups almond flour
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ cup coconut oil
1/4 cup Vitafiber liquid
½ T vanilla
1/8 tsp sucralose liquid (1/2 cup worth of sweetener)
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup sliced almonds
Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix almond flour, baking powder and baking soda together. In another bowl, combine oil, agave and vanilla together. Add dry mix to wet mix. Fold in sliced almonds and chocolate chips. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of dough onto baking sheets. Flatten. Bake for 7-8 minutes until golden. Cool in pan.

This is delicious - thanks Soobee! And it is just like a real cookie texture. Crisp outside, soft and gooey inside. I did a chocolate hazelnut version. Soobee I'm starting to feel like your dessert stalker...

[moonlight74]

Has anyone tried using this to just sweeten chocolate...I know Splenda doesn't work and I can't use malitol. Would love to make some sort of chocolate bar.

I'm hoping to order this soon!

Kel

[PaminKY]

Originally Posted by EnglishLit

The marshmallow fluff recipe turned out amazing! Thanks Soobee! I used Xylitol instead of erythritol because I have a huge bag of it, and I added a few drops of marshmallow flavoring.

I used part of the fluff in my recipe for low carb whoopie pie filling, and it performed the same as regular. Very pleased with the results.

Here are some pics of the finished products!

Could you please tell me which of Soobee's recipea you used for the filling? Was it the marshmallow one on the marshmallow frosting? Can you also share your whoopie pie recipe?

Thanks

[Bonbon41]

Originally Posted by moonlight74

Has anyone tried using this to just sweeten chocolate...I know Splenda doesn't work and I can't use malitol. Would love to make some sort of chocolate bar.

I'm hoping to order this soon!

Kel

Hey Kel, I just came upon this recipe for chocolate bars sweetened with VF so I thought I'd pass it along to you.

Sugar-Free Chocolate Bars with Stevia

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
Serving Size: about 1 ounce
Calories per serving: 170
Fat per serving: 14.7g

These homemade sugar-free chocolate bars with stevia have no added sugar alcohol. This recipe adds natural sweeteners to cocoa butter and unsweetened cocoa.

Ingredients

100g cocoa butter (about 1 cup)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used Ghirardelli)
1/4 teaspoon stevia extract powder
1/2 cup VitaFiber powder (*see Notes)
1 teaspoon sugar-free vanilla extract
Instructions

Melt cocoa butter in a chocolate melter or double boiler.
Stir in cocoa powder and sweetener(s).
Keep on heat until dry ingredients have been fully incorporated.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
Pour into chocolate bar molds.

Notes

*To make without VitaFiber, slowly increase stevia extract to about 1/2 teaspoon testing to make sure you don't add too much. Using only stevia also lowers net carbs to 2g and calories to 140.

[EnglishLit]

I made Soobee's pecan pie, except in bar form, and they came out amazing. Exactly like regular high carb pecan pie bars.

[Bonbon41]

I make it into bars too. I tweaked it into a pecan pie toffee brownie - that's what it tastes like to me! Half the texture is like a chewy toffee caramel and the rest is like a brownie. I adore it and I've already eaten the majority of three batches. Soobee should be knighted for this recipe

[magnamater]

Bonbon, that sounds amazing, the toffee brownie tweak on Soobee's recipe. Would you post your tweaks?

Thanks!

[Bonbon41]

When I made Soobee’s pecan pie for the first time, I followed the exact recipe but had to change the sweeteners because too much tagatose/erythritol hurts tummies around here. I also used my own favorite crust that is flavored with browned butter, nuts, cinnamon and sweetener. All of my crust disappeared into the pie, leaving a toffee like bottom and a brownie like top. My change in sweeteners may have been partly the cause for the change in texture. I loved this dessert so much I decided to make it again – exactly the same. But I didn’t want to bother making a whole crust if it were just going to disappear, so I incorporated all of my crust ingredients into Soobee’s recipe and that’s what this is. I love it so much that I always have some in the freezer. Had a piece straight from the freezer last night J

Soobee's VF Pecan Pie Toffee Brownies

This recipe tastes best at room temp, from the fridge or the freezer. It doesn’t freeze solid because of the vitafiber. When heated, it loses its texture somewhat. I’ve done it both with browned and regular butter and they are both equally good.

2/3 c unsalted butter (plus 2 tbsps for browned)
½ cup brown sugar substitute (I like JLS brown)
½ cup tagatose/erythritol ( I like Sukrin gold)
(if using JLS/inulin, add in later to recipe, so keep separate from tag/eryth)
1 tsp molasses
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup Vitafiber (syrup)
3.5 cups chopped toasted pecans (2 c chopped, 1.5 c whole)
1 tablespoon bourbon
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 eggs, lightly beaten (don’t beat too much)

Optional - brown the butter:
If you want to skip the browning, just add butter to the tagatose/erythritol and start in the next paragraph. In medium saucepan, over medium heat, brown the butter. Heat and stir until it is a nutty smelling amber/brown color. Don’t let the bits at the bottom turn to dark brown – stop when they are medium brown. It’s easy to go over.

Make the brownies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x11 pan.

Over med heat, add the tagatose/erythritol to the browned butter, or regular butter, molasses and salt. If using JLS or inulin, don’t add yet.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, and stirring constantly, continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the VF syrup, JLS brown, nuts, bourbon and the vanilla. Set the mixture aside to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Whisk the beaten eggs into the filling until smooth. Bake until the edges are set but the center is still slightly loose, about 35 to 45 minutes.

[EnglishLit]

Vitafiber is now live on Amazon Prime! 1.2 kg for $22, so much better than what we were paying before.

If you only use this for hot fudge sauce, marshmallows, or pecan pie, it's completely worth the price if you can afford it, imo. I can't imagine not having it in my kitchen now, and I'm glad I don't have to depend on poly d anymore.

[Bonbon41]

I'm so happy to hear this Great timing - was planning on ordering more soon. Thanks!

[grneyedldy]

How many servings would be in that size bottle of syrup? Would you use it all up in one recipe?

[Bonbon41]

if I remember correctly, the 1 kg from Bioneutra gave me about 2-3 cups.

[Bonbon41]

Just doing the math and I think it's still a better deal for me to buy from Bioneutra since I use this stuff like crazy and need the 5 kg mothership tub. It's $50 pls $17 shipping so this is still cheaper than buying 5 x 1.2 litre at $22 from Amazon. Drats!

[grneyedldy]

Thank you Bonbon for the info, but based on your math.....I'm back to waiting to win the lottery.

[ouizoid]

soooo, PB2 plus Vitafibre, so freaking good! Like delicious low fat peanut butter candy! So far I have just mixed the two, but I am thinking of making a peanut butter bar with it--

[SugarFreeLowCarb]

Has anyone tested to see if VitaFiber raises blood sugar levels? There is a thread on how Quest bars can spike insulin and the primary ingredient is VitaFiber. A reader on my blog just informed me that IMO is really just a high priced maltodextrin chemically. Apparently, not all the high glycemic carbs are removed in processing.

[Soobee]

Where did you get your information that Vitafiber is really just maltodextrin? I could not find it in the articles that I read, but I admit I have no particular scientific ability. Everything I have read about Vitafiber is positive, and that has certainly been the case with my experiences thus far. But if it is detrimental, I would certainly like to read about what is being said.

[EnglishLit]

Originally Posted by grneyedldy

How many servings would be in that size bottle of syrup? Would you use it all up in one recipe?

Not at all, no more than I would use a bottle of karo syrup in one recipe. As of now, I use Vitafiber as a corn syrup replacement. I think that per pound, it really isn't that more expensive than a lot of other alternative sweeteners on the market. For example, I pay roughly $20 for a 16 ounce bag of Just Like Sugar chicory root sweetener. And with Vitafiber the results are so superior, so there's less waste and the recipes don't fail. When used with erythritol or xylitol, it inhibits recrystallization in the recipe, so you should definitely supplement it with other, less expensive sweeteners when you can.

The last time I ordered my VF, it took nearly two weeks for it to be delivered, so I have to decide if being able to get it in two days on Prime is worth the price premium. Considering I ran out and really want to make cookies, I think that it is. I'm just glad there's an option!

[EnglishLit]

I made a "n'oatmeal" paleo cookie recipe this weekend, but I added 1/3 cup of powdered vitafiber to it. It made a fantastic, authentic crunchy cookie that tastes almost exactly like a high carb cookie you would buy store bought. My husband who is not low carb at all has been snacking on them all week, and his only complaint is that I make them a tad bit sweeter next time. Of course being low carb, I think the sweetness is perfect. :-)

I'm hesitant to post the recipe because due to the difficulty of trying to replicate oatmeal, there are a lot of nut flours involved and the ingredients list is a mile long. It is a standard Paleo noatmeal cookie, but I subbed all of the carb-y sweeteners for low carb sweeteners.

Vitafiber powder gives low carb cookies an incredibly authentic texture and flavor. I highly recommend it.

[Soobee]

Please post the recipe.

[EnglishLit]

No problem! I'm also attaching a picture so that you can see how they came out. You can sub any sweetener you like, but I find that a combination works best for me in recipes. Any kind of low carb flour or flour mix will work in place of the Bob's Red Mill, or you can just sub an additional 1/4 cup of nut flour. Any combination of nut flour will also work:

½ cup sunflower seeds
1 cup almond flour/meal
½ cup cashew meal
¼ cup hazelnut flour
¼ cup Bob’s Red Mill low carb bread flour
¼ cup flax meal
¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
⅓ cup Vitafiber powder
⅓ cup erythritol
¼ cup JLS brown
¼ cup Whey Low or tagatose
1/2 tsp blackstrap molasses (optional if you don't have a brown sugar sub)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
¼ tsp each cloves, ginger, and nutmeg (or 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice)
1 scoop cinnamon or vanilla protein powder
½ cup coconut oil
2 tbl butter, soft
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
½ cup dried sugar free cranberries

Combine all flours, nuts, and coconut in blender and pulse until blended. Pour into a large bowl, add in sweeteners and spices and whisk. Add in coconut oil, butter, extracts and eggs, and with a hand mixer, beat on medium speed for about 1 minute or until well blended. Fold in optional cranberries. Cookie dough will spread, so place in one inch balls and flatten lightly. Bake in 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Bake for an additional five minutes if you like your cookies extra crispy. They spread a bit, so if you want them small, use a small ice cream scoop or tablespoon.

[Soobee]

Just beautiful! Thanks.