Cinnamon Cream Cheese Squares - Low Carb and Keto-licious!

Low Carb Keto and Gluten Free Cinnamon Cream Cheese Squares Hit the Mark!

Low Carb Keto Cinnamon Cream Cheese Squares
from Cut the Wheat, Ditch the Sugar

Finally! Sheesh, where the heck have I been gallivanting? I’m thrilled to bring you our last guest blogger of this season, Leeann Mullen Teagno of Cut the Wheat, Ditch the Sugar blog. Cut the Wheat, Ditch the Sugar is a low carb, keto recipe blog filled with savory and sweet recipes that flat-out make low carb cooking easy peasy light and breezy. Her love for cooking and her calling to help inspire low carbers live a healthy LC lifestyle, eating simply prepared, real food, is a blessing to the community.

And today, Leeann wants to know, do you hanker after crescent rolls and all those gooey, yummy, high carbage crescent-rollicious recipes you used to enjoy in your former high carb life? Do you want a low carb crescent roll recipe that will satisfy you without spiking your blood sugar or insulin, that's gluten free and diabetic-friendly to boot?

Leeann is a fellow Cyster (read that as "sister"—a play on words for women with PCOS or poly cystic ovarian syndrome aka metabolic syndrome) and long-time low carber with a passion and talent for food blogging and recipe development. The first line of defense for people with metabolic syndrome is diet modification. We have higher than normal insulin levels and as such, our cells have down-regulated and become insulin resistant which causes blood sugar disruption which can then progress to full-blown T2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, asthma and a whole host of auto-immune diseases. So Leeann and I share a passion for living a low carb lifestyle--it's perhaps one of the only things that will save our lives--and it just might save your life, too.

Not only is Leeann a talented recipe developer, food blogger and photographer, she’s also a professional word-smith and is truly blessed with the ability to make ya smile as you read and salivate—mostly salivate—over her droolicious photos. I've no doubt you will love her blog. She also has a low carb support group on face book. Click on the link and join us there, too.

I’m so excited to tell you about today's post. Leeann brings you wonders of great joy, of the almond persuasion (which as you know, I cannot). Leeann’s recipe for crescent roll-inspired, Cinnamon Cream Cheese Squares, looks divine. You're gonna love it!

So quick! Run and make them, then hustle back and post about how much you love them. Please? I want to live vicariously through each of you!

Oh and while you’re at it, don’t forget to check out Leeann’s blog, Cut the Wheat, Ditch the Sugar for more low carb and keto recipes and meals sure to delight even the most jaded palate! She just posted about fish tacos (ohmahgersh one of this Tex-Mex girl’s very favorites) and included Fluffy Chix Cook and Fast Days Healing Days in her post! Imagine! Pair her fish tacos with DocP's original psylli wrap recipe or Susie's tweaks of any version (original to latest tweak) and bam, mam! You have a winner winner taco dinner—low carb street legal. She's also been dabbling in the "dark arts" lately (aka delving into the world of low carb ice cream - seen here and here!!!)

Can’t wait to hear back from you!

Sincerely,

Psyilli Susie T. Gibbs
aka Fluffy Chix



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Cinnamon Cream Cheese Squares

by Leeann Mullen Teagno

Cut the Wheat, Ditch the Sugar Blog

 

Ahh, crescent roll dough in a can. You used to be the handiest thing in the kitchen next to my knives. You could be sweet. You could be savory. You could be a main course. You could be an appetizer. You could be a side dish or a dessert. And let’s not forget all of the times you scared the woozles out of me when you popped open like a jack in the box.

But alas, those days are long gone. Past lovers we might be, but that doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying some of the same treats I used to enjoy with you, oh crescent roll dough. That’s right. I’m having a love affair with your grain free brother. He’s made of almond flour and he’s better than you’ll ever be. Is he the same as you were? Oh no. He’s not. He’s fluffier and moister. He’s not quite as chewy. But man, does he know how to please a hungry lady such as myself.

OK, that was kind of weird. But seriously, am I the only one who had a love affair with crescent roll dough at some point? Pizza pockets. Pizza. Pizza rolls. Pizza pinwheels. And other non-pizza related goodies. Too bad those days are long gone—but my heart is thanking me for it.

Cream cheese squares were a favorite of mine in my crescent roll days. The recipe was basic—a can of crescent roll dough. A brick of cream cheese. Some sugar. Some vanilla. Some cinnamon. It all came together to make a little 8x8 pan of sheer deliciousness, trans fats and all. What could be better?

Well, my low carb, grain free cinnamon cream cheese squares, to start. They’re not exactly the same as their trans fat and refined carbohydrate-laden cousin—they’re more coffee cake-esque, but the flavor is all there, and boy is it amazing. It’s moist. It’s pretty easy to make. And even your grain and sugar loving houseguests will gobble this up like there’s no tomorrow. And you’ll smile graciously as they do so. Trust me—this stuff is amazing.

So, without further ado, here are my modified cinnamon cream cheese squares. Take a stab at them, sweets. You won’t regret it!

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Squares

by Leeann Mullen Teagno

Cut the Wheat, Ditch the Sugar

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Ingredients

Crust

• 2 C almond flour
• 2 T coconut flour
• 3 T sweetener (I used Swerve)
• 6 T butter, slightly softened
• 6 egg whites, whipped until stiff (about 5 minutes)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. xanthan gum

Filling

• 12 oz. cream cheese (1 ½ bricks), at room temperature
• 3/4 C sweetener (I used Swerve)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping

• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon and 1/3 C sweetener (I used Swerve), mixed together
• 3 T melted butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease an 8x8 or 9x9 square cake pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together crust ingredients almond flour, coconut flour, sweetener, salt, baking powder and xanthan gum until evenly mixed.
3. Cut in butter by adding it in small chunks and using a pastry cutter to make a fine, crumbly meal out of it. There will be small chunks of butter remaining, but no large chunks should be visible.
4. Fold in egg whites by hand. You will lose much of the volume from the egg whites, but fold slowly and carefully. The resulting batter should be evenly mixed and somewhat fluffy in texture.
5. Place half the crust dough into the center of the greased baking dish and use a spatula to carefully and evenly distribute it throughout the bottom of the dish.
6. Par-bake the bottom crust for 10 minutes or until it begins to slightly firm up. While you wait, prepare your filling.
7. To prepare the filling, combine room temperature cream cheese with sweetener and vanilla extract. Stir or whisk well until it is all combined and smooth.
8. Remove the par-baked crust from the oven and allow to cool for about five minutes.
9. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the top of the par-baked crust.
10. Carefully spread the remaining crust mixture over the top of the cream cheese layer. To avoid mixing the cream cheese in with the top crust layer, I recommend applying the top crust in small dollops all over and then smoothing them together as opposed to doing one large dollop in the middle of the dish. This will prevent the cheese from mixing into the top crust.
11. Smooth the top crust and sprinkle it evenly with all of the cinnamon and sweetener mixture.
12. Carefully pour the melted butter over the top, taking care to drizzle it all over so that it doesn’t all settle in one place.
13. Bake the dish on the middle rack for 30-40 minutes or until the top is deep golden brown and caramelized and firm to the touch.
14. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing, or let sit over night. The squares are delicious warm or at room temperature.
15. Slice into 12 squares and enjoy.

Nutritional Information

Squares contain 3g net carbs per serving (1/12th of recipe).

The saga continues.

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