SPLENDID LOW-CARB BAKE MIX


SPLENDID LOW-CARB BAKE MIX
This tasty bake mix guarantees a low-carb result in your baking.  Regular sugar and white flour recipes will have carbs reduced by about 85%  or more.

12/3 cups ground almonds (400 mL)
2/3 cup vanilla whey protein* (150 mL)
2/3 cup vital wheat gluten (150 mL) 

In large bowl, combine ground almonds, vanilla whey protein and vital wheat gluten.  Use a large wooden spoon to stir and mix well.  See Helpful Hints below for instructions on how to use this bake mix.  Store in a closed container at room temperature.  Shake container to ensure ingredients are combined well.

Yield:  31/3 cups (825 mL)
1/3 cup (75 mL) per serving
162.9 calories
14.3 g protein
10.3 g fat
3.3 g carbs

Helpful Hints:  For some strange reason, the total yield for this bake mix is 1/3 cup (75 mL) more than the 3 cups (750 mL) one would expect.  One ingredient tends to fluff up when they’re mixed together is my best guess.  If one chooses to see the yield as 3 cups (750 mL), the carbs increase slightly to 3.7 g.

To use this bake mix:  Typically, for every cup of flour in your recipe, replace with l cup (250 mL) of Low-Carb Bake Mix, plus 2 tbsp (25 mL).  The aforementioned rules apply also to replacing any of the Ultimate Bake Mixes from my previous cookbooks (which are a cup-for-cup substitution for all-purpose flour) as well as Vital Ultimate Bake Mixes, page 20 with this bake mix. 

Once again, always add liquid cautiously to your own recipes that you wish to de-carb.  Sometimes as much as 1/2 cup (125 mL) less wet ingredients (this includes ingredients such as butter, olive oil, applesauce, pumpkin, water, yogurt, sour cream, cream, etc.) will be required. Typically, it is 1/4 cup (50 mL) wet ingredients that will need to be omitted from your regular recipe. 

This bake mix produces wonderful, moist baked goods most of the time, despite the whey content.  Useful for piecrusts, muffins, loaves, many cakes, cookies and squares and is guaranteed to lower carbs significantly in your favorite recipes!


*If the application for this bake mix is for a savory baked product, it is possible to replace vanilla whey protein powder with natural whey protein powder.

Let's see, some people feel the whey proteins are too expensive. They are expensive, but last a long time, especially if one does not bake very frequently. They also keep really well for ages at room temperature.

Instead of the vanilla whey protein, unsweetened plain whey protein can be substituted, especially for savory applications. Instead of the whey, you could use ground walnuts, Carbalose flour (look for Carbquik...it is a component of Carbquik and my bake mixes actually work really well mixed half and half with Carbalose flour), oat flour, whole wheat pastry flour (these last three have more or less the same number of carbohydrate grams) or any flour you desire.  I haven't tested any of these options, so you're on your own with experimenting.  Choose an easy muffin recipe to experiment with.

Some people balk at the idea of ground almonds, thinking perhaps that is the most expensive part of the bake mix. 2/3 cups of the ground almonds could be replaced by any of the above suggestions. Let me know if you think of something else. Ground almonds can be replaced by any ground nuts of your choice.  If you happen to be allergic to nuts, I have a nut-free bake mix that is a cup-for-cup substitution for white flour. Naturally, there is also flexibility with this particular recipe.

There you have some flexibility with this bake mix. Have fun!

You will notice I did not touch the vital wheat gluten component of this bake mix. If you are intolerant to gluten, please see my Gluten-free Bake Mix in this blog). I had a gluten-free low-carb (not terribly low-carb unfortunately with this other gluten-free bake mix) chocolate muffin this morning for breakfast with my cup of tea. It was delicious and I don't put on water weight with it, as long as I keep it to one muffin and not every day. I keep them in the freezer and defrost one overnight or in the morning in the microwave oven for about 40 seconds.


Happy Low-Carbing!