Sugar-Free Deep Dish Apple Pie (Low Carbohydrate)

Doesn't that look good?

I admit it; I've become O.P. - obsessed with pie. Ever since I went low-carb, I've been developing new recipes to satisfy my sweet tooth. I've been averaging a pie a week, alternating between apple and sweet potato, with a chicken pot pie thrown in for good measure. Yum.

As I've gone, I've continued to fiddle with the balance of sweeteners, trying to hit the sweet spot. As I have mentioned before, stevia is a completely natural, calorie-free leaf extract, but it has a funky aftertaste. Xylitol is a sugar alchohol, slightly sweeter than cane sugar, neutral in flavor, measures like sugar, 70% lower on the glycemic index than sugar, anti-cavity, BUT - extracted in a funky fashion from wood. Then I discovered a new darling; erythritol, marketed as organic "Zero" by Wholesome Sweeteners. This is also a sugar alcohol, but made naturally through fermentation, and available as an organic product. (Be careful; some of the stuff out there is made from corn cobs in China. No thank you.) No calories, zero on the the glycemic index - Ooh - so far, so great! But it is only 60% as sweet as sugar, so you need to use more, and it is wickedly expensive; about $14 for a 12 ounce bag. Ouch!

So, the blending continues.

Deep Dish Apple Pie

Whole grain pie dough for one crust

8 baking apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 Meyer lemons: all grated zest, plus 2 TB juice (or more to taste)
OR 1 Eureka/Lisbon lemon: all grated zest, plus 1 TB juice (or more to taste)
2 TB xylitol
1/2 tsp powdered stevia extract
1/4 cup erythritol (Zero)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2-4 TB (1/4 -1/2 stick) sweet (unsalted) butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg whisked with 2 TB water, milk or cream for glaze
1 tsp sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 425 F, and bring the crust to room temperature.

Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples, put them in a large non-reactive bowl, then toss with the lemon juice and zest.

Combine the salt, sweeteners and spices in a small bowl, and whisk to combine them well.

Sprinkle sweetener/spice mixture over the apples, and toss well to combine.

Pour the apples into a deep-dish pie plate. Dot with the butter.

Roll out the pie crust, and carefully transfer it to the top of the apples. It's fragile; try using a spatula to help transfer it over. If it breaks on the way, just patch it up. Tuck the excess dough down into the sides of the pie dish. Make an egg wash, whisking one egg with 2 TB heavy cream, milk, or water.  Daub the crust surface with the wash, then sprinkle with a teaspoon or so of sugar.  (Yes, real sugar.  The sugar alcohols don't do well in this application.)  Cut a circle of steam slits with a sharp paring knife.

Put the pie onto a cookie sheet to catch the drips. Bake the pie at 425 for 25 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 F, and bake until the fruit is tender when pierced with a skewer and the crust is golden brown; about 25 more minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cool 15 minutes or to room temperature before eating; this helps thicken the juices.

High-Protein (Low-Carb) Focaccia Bread

Fresh baguettes and rich, herb-y focaccia; chewy and crispy on the outside, tender and chewy on the inside. Tear a piece off, wipe up the last delicious bits of vinaigrette and fresh tomatoes. Mmmm.... doesn't that sound delicious? And here I am, able to pick up a fresh loaf of either one, so good you can close your eyes and pretend you're in Paris or Italy. Lucky me!

Except, of course, NOT ANY MORE.

Life was looking up - way up - after I invented a high-protein, low-carbohydrate bread recipe. I am now baking a fresh loaf a few times a week, for toast and sandwiches - yummy. However, even that new treat cannot take the place of the way a simple piece of good, chewy bread behaves with pesto slathered on it.

Yes, folks, it was time to do something about it! This recipe I've devised for low-carb focaccia fits the bill; chewy, rich, great alone, used to soak up sauce or as a platform for cheese, Italian cold-cuts, or pesto. It's fantastic fresh out of the oven, and if you have leftovers, you can restore them to close to their fresh-baked consistency with a visit to the oven or toaster-oven.

High-Protein (Low-Carb) Focaccia

Special Equipment: A bread machine - but directions follow at the end if you don't have one.

Dough
1 TB regular (fast-acting, not instant) yeast
1 tsp salt
1 cup vital wheat gluten
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup soy protein
1/4 cup flax meal
1/4 cup plain whey powder
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups water

Topping
3 TB olive oil
1 TB finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp coarse sea salt

Bring all of the ingredients to room temperature, and add them into the loaf pan of a bread machine. Set the machine for "White," "Large," and "Dough." Start the machine, let it run through the mixing and kneading cycles. Check the dough as it comes together; it should be very elastic and almost spongy, without sticking to the sides of the pan. If the machine is complaining, or the dough seems dry, add a little more water. If it is too moist, add a teaspoon of flour or gluten. Repeat as necessary until it is the right consistency. Let the machine run through all of the cycles of kneading and rising.

When the dough has gone through its final rise phase, get out a baking sheet with sides, and put a coating of olive oil all over it. I like to use a small silicone pastry brush; works like a charm, and can be thoroughly cleaned - no more rancid oil in my pastry brush!

Take the dough out of the loaf pan, and, using your hands, coax, smash, stretch, and smear the dough out to cover as much of the pan as possible. Using your finger tips, leave dimples and impressions in the dough to hold the olive oil.

Now, cover the pan and let it go through one more rising. I like to just put another baking sheet over the first, as I hate to waste anything. Let the dough rise until it is doubled again, for about an hour. If it hasn't risen much more, don't worry about it. It will rise some more in the oven.

Meanwhile, finely chop the rosemary and mix it with the olive oil in a very small bowl. Preheat the oven to 425 F. When the dough has risen, and the oven is hot, spread the olive oil/rosemary mixture all over the bread, letting the oil pool slightly in the dimples. If your coarse sea salt is VERY coarse, you can crush it slightly with a mortar and pestle, or with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the bread.

Put the pan in the oven and bake it until it is gorgeously golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove, and eat it - preferably right away! Store any leftovers in an airtight container. As I said earlier, heat up the leftovers in a toaster oven or oven, and they will be restored to almost fresh-baked goodness for as much as a week later.

If you don't have a bread machine: Put the yeast in a large bowl. Heat the water until it is lukewarm (105-115 degrees F), and whisk it into the water until it dissolves. Let the yeast wake up for a few minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together all of the dry ingredients in another large bowl. When the yeast/water mixture is a little foamy, add the olive oil, and then the rest of the dry ingredients. If you are using a stand mixer, use your paddle attachment to combine them well, and then switch to the dough hook and knead the bread for about ten minutes. If you are using your hands, do the same with your hands and a spoon, and knead it until it is quite elastic. Follow directions above for reaching the right consistency. Cover the bowl with a clean dishcloth, and let it rise until it is doubled in size, about an hour and a half. Follow all of the rest of the directions above from there.

Maple Almond Granola with Flax

When Johanna (now 11) was a little tiny slip of a girl, we went on a road trip with "Poppa Joel" to Stratford, Ontario, where we saw a few shows, and stayed in this very cool B&B that was a converted caboose. When the local railroad pulled up spikes in the 1960's, they sold off the old cars for a song, and the B&B proprietors had purchased one for use as a playhouse for their boys. When the boys grew up and moved on, there they were with a caboose in the backyard..... So they outfitted the old car with a shower, toilet, and narrow beds, and made it into a B&B for the theatre-going set. You could climb up a ladder into the little parapet on the top, and look out at the flat, green fields of soybeans all the way around. Breakfast was served on the patio of the main house, where the proprietors lived. On the table that morning was a jar of the best granola I'd ever had, and the folks were nice enough to share the recipe with me. Of course, once I had a look at the recipe, I blanched, and promptly altered it again and again, tinkering with it until it was much more healthful.

My mother recently visited me, and she enjoyed my granola so much that she ate it every day, and then asked me repeatedly for the recipe to take home. Let me repeat that for emphasis: my Mom asked me for a recipe. I can assure you that does not happen very often!

I think you will enjoy this as much as we do.

Maple Almond Granola with Flax

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, combine the following ingredients:

8 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 heaping cup unsweetened coconut curls (the broad flakes, not the little ones)
1 heaping cup toasted almonds (you can substitute walnuts, hazelnuts, or pecans)
½ cup hulled pumpkin seeds
½ cup hulled sunflower seeds
1 cup flax seeds
¼ cup sesame seeds

Stir until well combined. If ingredients are not in a harmonious balance, add some more of whatever item you like.

In a 2 cup, microwave-proof measuring cup, put:

¼ cup flax oil
¼ cup organic, expeller pressed, neutral oil, such as canola or sunflower oil
¾ cup + 2TB maple syrup

Heat these in a microwave until just bubbling. (In my microwave, this is 3 minutes, but most microwaves run hotter.) Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients, stir until well coated. Pour mixture into a roasting pan and spread it out evenly. (The pan should be big enough to stir easily.)

Toast in pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes, then stir well. Toast for another 12-15 minutes, until top surface is golden, stir well. Toast for 8-10 minutes, stir well. If granola is evenly toasted and golden, it is done. If not, put it in for another 5 minutes. (A dark roasting pan will toast faster an darker than a light one, so act accordingly.)

Notes: You can substitute other rolled grains for the oats in any combination; rye, spelt, etc. I have called for the minimum amount of oil and sweetener I’ve ever seen in any recipe. You can increase them if you like, but I do not recommend increasing the amount of flax oil, as its strong flavor can easily overpower the more pleasing flavors. (I tried it – yuck!)

This is utterly delicious sprinkled over the top of a good plain yoghurt..... Sigh. If only I weren't all low-carbified.....

Mocha Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Ice cream. Ahhh. What is more delicious on a sunny afternoon? I can't think of anything off the top of my head, frankly.

This chocolate coconut milk ice cream, featuring the gorgeous caramel notes of coconut palm sugar, is rich, creamy, smooth, just sweet enough.... oh, baby! Then come its hidden virtues: low-carb, low-glycemic, vegan, and lactose-free. This recipe can be enjoyed by just about anyone. Your mouth will have trouble believing that this is a healthy treat!













Mocha Coconut Milk Ice Cream
makes approximately 1 quart

2 cans full fat coconut milk (14 oz each)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 pinches salt
1 cup plus 2 tsp Coconut Palm Sugar
1 cup fresh brewed espresso; decaf or caffeinated (2 double espressos) or best quality, fresh brewed, VERY strong coffee

Toppings: Toasted unsweetened coconut curls, and/or toasted almond pieces

Tools: a blender, immersion blender or food processor
an ice cream maker

Combine all of the ingredients, and using either an immersion blender, blender, or food processor, process briefly to combine and emulsify the ingredients. (I swear by my immersion blender.) Place the mixture in the refrigerator and chill until completely cold.

Following your ice cream maker's instructions, pour the mix into the bowl of the ice cream maker and churn until it reaches the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. (If you have too much ice cream mix to fit in the maker, set it aside to freeze as a second batch. The ice cream freezes so fast that even a low-tech ice cream maker like my ancient Donvier stays cold enough to freeze the extra mix.)

Unlike ice cream made with dairy products, coconut milk freezes VERY fast and VERY hard, and is at its most luscious creamy state of goodness when it is softer than dairy ice cream. Therefore, it is best to serve it right away, rather than freeze it and serve it later. Since it comes together so fast, you can have everything ready and then make it just before serving. Or, if you wish to freeze it, be sure to allow ample time for it to soften; far more than you would for dairy ice cream. This is one ice cream that could probably make it safely to a party in a hot car!

The ice cream is delicious on its own, but topping it with toasted coconut curls and/or almond slices makes it even more divine.

Notes: if you don't have a blending tool, this can be made with a whisk. The coconut palm sugar dissolves very quickly, but the cocoa powder tends to clump. You may wish to put the cocoa through a sieve if you are using this method.

Coconut Milk: you can use light coconut milk, but it just won't be as good.

(Low-Carb, Low-Sugar, High Protein) Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookie Variations

Have you heard the anecdote about Julia Child's mayonnaise recipe? Her discovery was so ground-breaking that when she sent the recipe to her friend Avis De Voto to test, Julia marked it "top secret;" she was afraid it would fall into the hands of recipe rustlers! I've been feeling a little bit that way about a couple of my recipes; they are so off the map, and so delicious, well. This peanut butter cookie recipe is one of those recipes. I've been cooking and tweaking and experimenting away, driven towards perfection like a low-carb Julia. I keep pushing the envelope; how much high protein, high fiber, low carbohydrate, and low glycemic items can I add to a cookie before it ceases to be a cookie and becomes some dreadful "healthfood bar"? The answer: I still don't know! So far, I have only walked in the valley of deliciousness.

Of course, many of you have no concerns at all about carbohydrates. Lucky you! However, everyone can appreciate having healthier treats, less sugar, and more protein and fiber in their or their children's diets. I have included variations that I think will accommodate many different situations.

Disclaimer: These are very, very peanut buttery. Although 99.9% of those who have eaten these cookies declare them universally delicious, one young taster spat out her bite, declaring it to be "too peanutbuttery!" Don't say you weren't warned.

EVEN NEWER! EVEN MORE IMPROVED! The last recipe was very good, but I had to keep tinkering - this is EVEN BETTER!

Peanut Butter Cookies
makes 2 dozen substantial cookies

1 1/2 cups creamy, unsweetened, salted peanut butter
1 stick (4 oz) salted or unsalted butter


1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 TB applesauce

1/4 cup + 2 TB Coconut Palm Sugar (or 1/4 cup brown sugar)
1/4 cup + 2 TB xylitol
1/2 cup erythritol
8 tiny scoops stevia powder

3 TB flax meal
6 TB soy protein
2 TB whey powder
3 TB almond meal
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, using the "spoon and sweep" method

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Optional:  6-8 ounces sugar-free chocolate bars, broken into large chunks, or sugar-free strawberry jam.

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

2. In a small bowl, measure all the sweeteners and whisk to combine.

3. Measure the protein powder, whey powder, and flax meal and put into a medium sized bowl. Using the "spoon and sweep" method (spoon the flour loosely into the cup until full, then scrape off excess with a knife) measure the flour and add to the other flours. Add the salt and baking powder and whisk to combine.

4. Place the peanut butter and butter in a mixing bowl and cream until it is very smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl periodically.  (I use the paddle attachment.)

5. With a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg, vanilla and applesauce and mix until just combined.

6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sweeteners, process until well combined.

7. Scrape down the sides again and add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure it is all incorporated. You will have a very dense dough. Squeeze it into a ball; if it does not hold together well, add another tablespoon of applesauce and mix well. If it is too moist, add a teaspoon of flour. Continue either item until the dough is corrected.

8. Using your hands or a spoon, make balls of dough and place them about 1 1/2" apart on the cookie sheet. You can make the cookies as big or small as you like (Don't worry, they don't run at all.) You can fit 12 to 15 medium-sized cookies on a sheet pretty easily. Using a fork, carefully press the balls flat from both directions, leaving the characteristic crosshatch mark on the surface. If they break apart, just squeeze them back together with your fingers.  OR, instead of the cross hatch pattern, gently press your thumb into the center of the ball of dough to make a depression.

9. Place the optional - but highly desirable - chocolate or dollop of sugar-free jam on the surface of each cookie.  (Also pictured above is a variation with dark peanut butter cups; off the menu for me, but yummy for non-dieting family members!)  And, of course, you can make all the different variations in one batch.

10. Bake the cookies until they are just golden brown, and slightly puffed, 12 to 15 minutes or so. Using a spatula, put on a rack until cool (or cool on the cookie sheet). Repeat until you have baked all of the dough.

Notes from Christine: "What is the spoon and sweep method, and why should I bother using it?" I learned this method from the Bakers' Dozen Cookbook; Flours and other ground items can settle or be crushed down while in transit or sitting in a canister. This means that if you just scoop up a measuring-cupful and level it off, you are very likely to wind up with more flour than the recipe really calls for, making the results too dry and crumbly, because the proportion of fat and liquid to solids gets thrown off. I have, on occasion, skipped doing it this way and been really disappointed with the results. In a more precise world, we would use a scale and weigh the flours and sugars like the Europeans, but American recipes are all designed by volume rather than weight. If you "Spoon and Sweep" you will get much more consistent results.

"What's with all of these obscure sweeteners?" Erythritol and Xylitol are sugar alcohols; super low-glycemic, super low-calorie, super low-carbohydrate, and good for your teeth.

Xylitol is a little sweeter than cane sugar, has a fairly neutral flavor with a little bright, almost pepperminty quality, and can be found easily at a well-stocked health food store or really good grocery store.

Erythritol, very neutral in flavor, is about 60% as sweet as sugar, and is very difficult to find in stores, except in individual packets.

Stevia is a natural, calorie-free leaf extract, super concentrated and very sweet, but with a weird aftertaste and no volume; due to its highly concentrated state, one tiny tiny scoopful (which comes with it in its container) is equal to a teaspoon of sugar. It is easily purchased at Trader Joe's or any grocery store.

Coconut Palm Sugar is made from the nectar of the coconut palm blossom, extracted and then cooked down, much like maple sugar or cane sugar. It, too, can be found at a really well-stocked grocery store. (Berkeley Bowl carries them both. Coracao Confections, which uses it in their line of treats, also sells it.) I have been buying all three items online from Emerald Forest, a Colorado-based company which manufactures these sweeteners in their own facility. Be aware that some Xylitol and Erythritol brands in American packaging are actually imported from China and repackaged. That is why I buy both of them directly from Emerald Forest or Global Sweeteners.

Sugar-free Chocolate: You can get good sugar-free chocolate, sweetened with maltitol (another sugar alcohol) from See's, and decent stuff from Trader Joe's - a great buy. My favorite is xylitol-sweetened chocolate from Emerald Forest; however, it's pretty expensive for putting on cookies. 

If you don't have erythritol, use an additional 1/3 cup xylitol instead.

If you don't have coconut palm sugar, substitute 1/4 cup xylitol or 1/4 + 1 TB erythritol or 1/4 cup
brown sugar.

If you are using "natural" unsalted, fresh ground peanut butter, add an additional 2/8 tsp salt, plus 1 TB trans-fat free shortening.  Use a food processor to cream up the peanut butter some more.


Salted vs. Unsalted Butter:  What can I say?  One day, I accidentally used salted butter instead of unsalted in these cookies.  Guess what?  They tasted better!  All these years of following others' instructions to use unsalted butter, and it tastes better here!  Why?  Because the contrast of salt and sweet that is an integral part of the yummyness of peanut butter cookies is played up more by the extra salt.  That's why!  But if you like it less salty, or want to consume less salt, use the unsalted butter.  Okay?

And if you aren't concerned about sugar or carbohydrates, substitute 1 cup brown sugar for all the sweeteners combined.

And lastly, if you like, you can substitute all the proteins and powders with whole wheat pastry flour; that will add to the carbohydrate load, and subtract from the protein, but it will still be a healthy treat.

Roasted Five Spice Chicken

Johanna and I were sitting outside of Little Vietnam Cafe just off of Clement Street in San Francisco, enjoying delicious Vietnamese food, the beautiful weather, and summer solstice, when I suddenly remembered that I had made no plans at all for that night's dinner. Perhaps you've had a similar experience; "mmmm... Green papaya salad; crispy, refreshing papaya shreds, zesty dressing, crunchy peanuts and sesame seeds. Mmmm.... grilled five spice chicken.... Dang! I have to go grocery shopping! What should I make tonight?"

So, as I considered the excellence of five spice, the Asian spice blend of star anise, cloves, Szechuan pepper, Szechuan cinnamon (cassia bark) and fennel, dinner formulated in my mind; I would stop at Berkeley Bowl on the way home and pick up some organic chicken thighs and figure out how to marinate them with five spice powder for dinner.

I consulted a few sources and formulated a recipe; Super tasty? Check. Fast? Check. Easy? Check. Ingredients already in my pantry? Check. In short, a winner, and another fantastic recipe to join the roasted chicken recipe collection. I will be making this dish again - and again.

Five Spice Roasted Chicken

3 pounds of chicken parts (I like thighs)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 TB dry sherry or rice wine
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 TB five spice powder
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
4 cloves minced garlic

optional: 1/4 cup brown sugar
hot sauce to taste
1 chopped green onion


Wash and dry the chicken parts, and cut off any obvious excess fat, leaving the skin on.

Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a large container and stir to mix. Add the chicken parts, turning them to make sure they are well covered in the marinade. Cover the container and put in the refrigerator. Marinate for at least two hours, turning the pieces occasionally to ensure even marination. You can marinate overnight, which makes it that much more convenient, and will probably make it even tastier. (I'll do this next time and report back!)

Pre-heat the oven to 400 F, and take the chicken out of the refrigerator while it comes up to temperature. Spread the pieces of chicken on a roasting pan skin-side up (I used the broiler pan that came with my stove; it drains the fat away and helps the skin get nice and crispy.) Reserve any leftover marinade to baste the chicken with. Roast the chicken until it is done and the skin is nice and crispy, basting occasionally with the marinade, about 45 minutes.

Serve it with brown rice which has been cooked with chicken broth, and an aromatic white wine such as a Riesling. (We like "Big House White;" while you can get it in a bottle for about $8, you can buy a box of it, equivalent to 4 bottles, for $20. It's cheaper, keeps the wine from going bad, convenient, and earth friendly, as it uses so little packaging.)

Where can I get Five Spice Powder? Most grocery stores now carry it, and around here we can get a little box of organic Five Spice made by Spicely.

High Protein (Low Carbohydrate) Bread

High Protein, Low Carb Bread with Sugar-Free Strawberry Jam

With that first batch of ultra-delicious sugar-free strawberry jam that solved my "boo-hoo, no more jam for me" moment, (also fig jam and raspberry jam) I inadvertently created a new boo-hoo moment. Because, of course, jam must go on something, and the item it seems best designed to go on is bread. And even the 100% whole grain, organic lovely stuff I've been buying at the Vital Vittles bakery up the street from us (day old - $2.50 a loaf!) has plenty of carbohydrates. Sure, I can pile on the jam, but one piece of bread a day? Only open faced sandwiches? Humph.

Fortunately, the boo-hoo bread moment went by as quickly as the boo-hoo jam moment; like the little red hen, I knew I would have to make some myself.

How do you make low-carbohydrate bread? I mean, bread means flour means carbohydrates, right? Well, I've been practicing by substituting out 50% of the flour in my quick-breads (banana, sweet potato, apple sauce) with an array of proteins, and I realized that I had what I needed right in my freezer drawer. I dusted off my bread machine ($15 at Salvation Army) got out some bread recipes, and got to work. The first try, where I substituted 50% of the flour with protein, was very good. But as usual, I wanted to push the envelope; how much protein could I substitute in before it stopped being bread? Version II, which left just 1/2 a cup of whole wheat flour, was fantastic - way better even than the bread I used to make with flour; more tender and chewy, rather than the crumbly dense stuff you get with whole grain. Protein-packed, but still full of fiber, plus the goodness of the Omega three fatty acids flax seeds bring to the party. Peanut butter and jam sandwiches, here we come!

High Protein (Low Carbohydrate) Bread

Makes 1 large loaf; 1 pound 11 ounces

Special Equipment: A large capacity bread machine

Bring all your ingredients to room temperature:

Lowest Carb Version

1 TB regular yeast
1/2 cup psyllium husk fiber (available at health food stores in the bulk aisle)

1/2 cup flax meal - packed (Bob's Redmill is available at Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup whey protein concentrate (unsweetened, unflavored) Be careful - not whey powder, whey protein concentrate - lowest carb, highest protein)
1/2 cup almond meal - packed - (available at Trader Joe's)

3/4 cup vital wheat gluten (available at health food stores in the bulk aisle)
1/2 cup soy protein powder, hemp protein, or coconut flour

1 tsp salt
3 TB Agave nectar OR brown rice syrup
3 TB flax oil
approximately 1 3/4 - 2 cups water - more as needed

1/3 heaping cup sunflower, flax, poppy, or other edible seed or nuts

Put all the ingredients except for the seeds in the pan of your bread machine. Program the machine for the white bread cycle, light baking, and large size. The machine will go through two kneading cycles. If the machine complains, add a little more water. The texture of the dough should be VERY soft and spongy, maybe even a little sticky; when you prod it with your finger it should give easily, like a fat tummy. If it's a little moist, that's okay; the seeds will absorb some of the water. At the end of the first cycle, the machine will stop and give a beeping sound; add all but 1-2 TB of the seeds. At the end of the second kneading cycle, sprinkle on the rest of the seeds. (If you add them at the beginning they will be pulverized, if you add them all at the end, many of them will fall off.)

Let the machine do its thing, and in a few hours you will have truly delicious bread; bread so good that you will have to fight the rest of your family for it.

Notes from Christine: Why a bread machine? Frankly, I don't hold much truck with one-trick equipment; that might fly in one of those fantasy kitchens, but my un-remodeled 1920's kitchen has so little space in it, everything must earn its keep. But a few years ago, my mother and all my sisters went out and bought bread machines at thrift stores for $5-$20, and I was much taken with being able to have fresh delicious bread even in the middle of nowhere, so I went off to the thrift store, too. I keep it on the floor, under my worktable, behind the trashcan. It deserves the spot, now more than ever.

What's with the gluten? I keep reading about how gluten is bad for you. Gluten is a protein which naturally occurs in wheat; gluten forms chains when it is exposed to warmth, water, and kneading. The chains are what give bread that characteristic chewiness. Some people have sensitivities or auto-immune reactions to gluten; this recipe is not for them. For most of us, gluten is not a problem at all.

Psyllium Husk Fiber  This stuff is insanely high in fiber and low in carbs. It is available in bulk in health food stores; here in Berkeley, I can get it at Berkeley Bowl or Berkeley Natural Grocer. It does absorb a LOT of water, and it takes a while to absorb it. When I make the bread, I use 1/2 cup of psyllium and the higher amount of water. At first it seems too wet, but after I've added the flax seeds, and by the time the kneading cycle is done, it's just the perfect consistency; spongy, springy, but not sticky.

Where do I get all this stuff? A really well-stocked grocery store or health food store carries all of this stuff. I bought all of it at Berkeley Bowl; Bob's Red Mill makes all of these products. Trader Joe's also sells almond and flax meal.

Why are you using agave nectar or brown rice syrup instead of a sugar-free sweetener? I like to cut carbs and sugar wherever I can, but yeast likes to eat the real thing! Choose a low-glycemic sweetener to make everyone happy. In fact, if the sweetener is too low in carbs, the bread turns out short and dense; I used coconut palm sugar for a little while there and it just didn't rise properly.

What if I'm a vegan? The only animal product in here is the whey powder. You can easily substitute soy protein for that, instead.

What if I don't have a bread machine? Here are alternative directions:

Warm the water up to 105-115 degrees F, and pour it into a large bowl. Add the sweeteners and the yeast, and whisk to combine. In another bowl, whisk all of the flours and solids. Ad the flax oil to the water. Add the flours, and using either your hands, a wooden spoon, or a mixer paddle attachment, mix until everything is well incorporated. Add all but 1-2TB of the seeds to the dough. Switch to a dough hook if using a mixer, and knead for 10 minutes, or knead by hand until dough has become elastic. Oil the bowl to keep the dough from sticking, make a ball out of the dough, cover with a cloth, and let rise until it is doubled in size, about an hour. Punch down the dough, and shape into one large or two small loaves. If you have pans of the right size, use them. Otherwise, put the loaf on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the remaining seeds. Cover with the towel and let rise until it is doubled again. When it is getting close to time, preheat the oven to 350 F. When it is doubled and the oven is pre-heated, uncover and bake the bread, about 45 minutes.

Ch-ch-ch-changes: If you visit this blog often to use the recipes, from time to time you may see a change. I am always experimenting with my recipes, trying to see how low I can go on the carbs, and how high I can go on the protein and fiber. As I improve it, I update the recipe.The latest (as of 1/22/14) is that I upped the amount of almond meal by 1/4 cup. I really can't believe how much tastier it is from the change - and it was plenty tasty before! That extra 1/4 cup of almond meal rendered the crust chewier and more satisfying, the center moist but not spongy, the flavor delicious. I just ate a slice with butter and sugar-free homemade jam - divine! The only problem is now it is so yummy I want to eat more of it.....


Nutritional Analysis:  Friends have been asking for this for a while - "how many carbs does this bread have?" And I really wanted to know, too. So I finally sat down and did the analysis; if you use ONLY the lowest carb options above: flax meal, psyllium husk, whey powder, etc., the results are phenomenal!  One loaf of bread weighs about 1 pound 14 ounces, and yields 13 very generous slices. How generous? One slice is enough for my breakfast, and back in the day I would have eaten two slices of regular bread.

1 slice of bread (2 1/2 ounces): 7 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, 9 net grams of carbohydrate, 1.75 grams of omega 3 fatty acids - just from the oil alone! 150 calories. Compare that to one 2 ounce slice of Vital Vittles Organic Flax-Seed Oat Bread: 4 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, 21 net grams of carbohydrate, 140 calories. And mind you, this is fabulous, ultra whole-grain stuff; not processed smoosh bread.