Thursday, May 8, 2014

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!


http://www.fluffychixcook.com

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Squares

by Leeann Mullen Teagno

Cut the Wheat, Ditch the Sugar


Pin It!!

Ingredients


Crust


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.
Join Fluffy Chix at their new nest (click on the image)...

http://www.fluffychixcook.com

38 comments:

  1. That looks so YUMMY! Can't wait to try it!

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  2. Hi Leeann! Do you use the granulated Swerve or the powdered version?

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  3. Hi, Linda. In this version, I used granulated-- but you could use powdered if you prefer. :)

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  4. This looks wonderful; as soon as I can have coconut &almond flour it's definitely going into the oven.

    And, on another topic, how ya doing, Sooze? Swelling going down (I hope!)?

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  5. It's cooling while I type! I added shredded coconut to the crust, and lemon oil and some cinnamon to the cream cheese mixture.

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  6. Leeann, I just made this with a few little mistakes, I only used 5 egg whites somehow I missed one it still came out delicious! Can't wait to try it with six.. Also I actually mixed the melted butter,cinnamon and Swerve all together (guess I was really careless tonight!) So I just spread it like icing on the top and it worked great, I may even do it that way in the future. Thank you for the recipe. It is super sweet and wonderful warm. I can't wait to try it in the morning when its cool with a cup of coffee. Fantastic recipe!!

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    Replies
    1. I'm not Leeann but we love your feedback!!! So glad it worked, isn't she fabulous?!!

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  7. Is there a different flour I could use instead of almond flour? I'm allergic to almonds. This looks AMAZING and I would love to make it.

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    Replies
    1. You can try a blend of coconut flour, oat fiber (not oat flour), and a few pork rinds mixed with a couple of tablespoons of vanilla whey protein. You will have to play with it because it isn't a 1:1 sub.

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  8. Cannot wait to try this this weekend!

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    Replies
    1. It's so good, can't wait to hear how you like it!

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  9. This is the first recipe I've made/found that didn't taste like a low carb knock off! It tasted like high carb, sugary goodness! Thank you so much. My husband and I are still talking about it :)

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  10. Any idea of the calorie and fat count?

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    Replies
    1. Rose.. I did a quick calculation of calories and came up with approx. 278 per sq. Fat of 7.8 per sq. Don't quote me on it.. its a rough estimated. But I think close enough.. these are really good!!

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  11. I made that same mistake of mixing the melted butter into the sweetener and cinnamon. In the oven now. It sure was labor intensive and now I have dirty bowls to clean. I wish I had a cook and a maid. :)

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  12. Hi!
    I'd l o v e to try making these, they look and sound fabulous! However, I'll be the only one eating them, so I would need to be able to freeze them. Will they stand up to freezing and thawing ??

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  13. Fantastic!

    These were one of my favorites in my high carb days.

    Thank You.

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  14. I did this on Spark People to be able to save it and it is showing for 9 servings. Any idea why going from 12 to 9 would make it jump 38 carbs a serving?

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, type. Here is how it reads. Definitely not the smaller amount of carbs.

      Nutritional Info
      Servings Per Recipe: 9
      Amount Per Serving
      Calories: 389.5
      Total Fat: 37.1 g
      Cholesterol: 72.3 mg
      Sodium: 349.0 mg
      Total Carbs: 41.6 g
      Dietary Fiber: 3.1 g
      Protein: 10.6 g

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    2. How is 41.6g of carbs considered low carb!

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    3. Anonymous, you should probably at LEAST read the other comments before posting this duplicate question since it was addressed earlier.

      That is total carbs including erythritol based sweetener. Since that has almost zero effect on most people's blood sugars, most of us food bloggers subtract the sugar alcohol carbs from erythritol out of the recipe. If you do that, you see the net carbs of 3g per serving.

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    4. I'm not sure where people are getting those nutrient values from. Swerve is not included in the carb count as it is 0 net carbs. It is 3 net carbs per serving as listed.

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  15. Guinan, these *should* freeze well. It might slightly affect the texture, but I think it'll be OK. :) Michelle, you are probably not deducting sugar alcohols (and maybe fiber-- not sure). I remove the sugar alcohol carbs to get a net carb count.

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  16. any substitute for xanthan gum?

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    Replies
    1. Can I also get the substitute for xanthan gum. I am in South Africa. Thanks.

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    2. glucomannan, guar gum, acacia gum, and that's about it.

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  17. any sub for xantham gum??

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  18. These are amazing! I've made them twice and am making the, again this weekend (I keep them stocked in my freezer for a quick sweet) They freeze well. I substitute instant coffee for the cinnamon in the topping.

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  19. So excited to try this. Have to get xanthum gum. Then I'll be ready. Thanks for the encouragement.

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  20. Wish this recipe was broken down into a muffin in a mug size ;-)

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  21. Could the xantham be left out?

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  22. I made this .. and they are wonderful!!!

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  23. This dish is delicious! You must try it! I especially love the swerve, cinnamon, & butter topping. Like a cinnamon toast topping on a cheese danish.

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  24. Closest thing to cake we have had in 8 months and it was great!

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  25. are these induction friendly ?

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  26. This recipe was so delicious that it did not survive one day in my house. Thanks for sharing it

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  27. Made these last night- amazing!!! Thank you for this fantastic recipe!

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