1001 Low-Carb Recipes: Hundreds of Delicious Recipes From Dinner to Dessert That Let You Live Your Low-Carb Lifestyle and Never Look Back (129 page)

Turn off the slow cooker, uncover, and let cool for at least 20 to 30 minutes before you try to remove the pan from the slow cooker. Chill well before serving.

Yield:
12 servings

Each with 13 g protein, 10 g carbohydrate, 4 g dietary fiber, 6 g usable carbs. (Analysis includes Crisp Chocolate Crust. Analysis does not include any chocolate sauce or melted chocolate you might add! You could cut this into eight, more generous servings if you’d like.)

Because rolling this pie crust out doesn’t work well, you’ll have to settle for one-crust pies. But that’s lots better than no-crust pies! I’m very pleased with how the texture of this crust worked out; it’s brittle and flaky, just like a pie crust should be.

½ cup (60 g) almond meal

cup (40 g) rice protein powder

¼ cup (25 g) wheat gluten

1 pinch baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

cup (80 ml) coconut oil, chilled

1 tablespoon (14 g) butter, chilled

3 tablespoons (45 ml) ice water

Put the almond meal, rice protein powder, gluten, baking powder, and salt in a food processor with the S-blade in place. Add the coconut oil and the butter and pulse the food processor until the shortening is cut into the dry ingredients—it should be sort of mealy in texture.

Do use ice water, not just cold water (I put an ice cube in a cup, cover it with water, and let the water sit for a minute). Now add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of this water to the dough, pulse the food processor briefly and then repeat 2 more times with the other 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of water.

I find that pressing this crust into place works better than rolling it out. Dump out the dough into a 9-inch (23-cm) pie plate and press it into place evenly across the bottom and up the sides; then crimp the top rim, if you want to be spiffy about it.

You can now bake the pie shell empty and use it for any recipe that calls for a prebaked pie shell or you can fill and bake it according to any recipe that calls for an unbaked pie shell. If you want to prebake the pie shell, preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C, or gas mark 8). Prick the bottom of the pie shell all over with a fork and then add a layer of dried beans, marbles, or clean, round pebbles—this is to keep the pie shell from buckling. Bake for 10 minutes, take it out of the oven, and remove the beans, marbles, or pebbles, dealing gingerly with any that may have embedded themselves a bit. Return the crust to the oven for another 3 to 5 minutes and then cool and fill.

Yield:
8 servings

Each with 15 g protein; 3 g carbohydrate; 1 g dietary fiber; 2 g usable carbs.

1½ cups (225 g) almonds

¼ cup (6 g) Splenda

2 squares bitter chocolate, melted

3 tablespoons (42 g) butter, melted

2 tablespoons (15 g) vanilla whey protein powder

Preheat oven to 325°F (170°C, or gas mark 3).

Using the S-blade of a food processor, grind the almonds until they’re the texture of corn meal. Add the Splenda and pulse to combine. Pour in the melted chocolate, then the melted butter, and run the processor until they’re evenly distributed— you may need to stop the processor and run the
tip of a knife blade around the outer edge to get everything to combine properly. Then add the protein powder and pulse again to combine.

Pour out into a 10-inch (25-cm) pie plate you’ve coated with nonstick cooking spray. Press firmly and evenly into place. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool before filling.

Yield:
10 servings

Each with 7 g protein; 6 g carbohydrate; 3 g dietary fiber; 3 g usable carbs.

1½ cups (225 g) almonds

5 tablespoons (70 g) butter, melted

cup (40 g) vanilla whey protein powder

¼ cup (60 ml) Splenda

¼ cup (30 g) unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons (30 ml) water

Preheat oven to 325°F (170°C, or gas mark 3).

Put the almonds in a food processor with the S-blade in place. Run the processor until the almonds are finely ground. Add the butter, protein powder, Splenda, and cocoa and pulse the food processor until everything is well mixed.

Add the water and pulse until you have a soft, sort of sticky mass.

Pour this into a 10-inch (25-cm) pie plate you’ve sprayed well with nonstick cooking spray and press evenly into place, building all the way up the sides. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool before filling.

Yield:
12 servings

Each serving will have 5 grams of carbohydrate and 3 grams of fiber, for a usable carb count of 2 grams; 6 grams protein.

This is a great substitute for a graham cracker crumb crust with any cheesecake. And I think it tastes even better than the original.

1½ cups (225 g) hazelnuts

cup (40 g) vanilla whey protein powder

4 tablespoons (56 g) butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).

Put the hazelnuts in a food processor with the S-blade in place. Pulse the processor until the hazelnuts are ground to a medium-fine texture. Add the protein powder and butter and pulse to combine.

Spray a pie plate or springform pan, depending on which your recipe specifies, with nonstick cooking spray and press this mixture firmly and evenly into the pan. Don’t try to build the crust too high up the sides, but if you’re using a springform pan, be sure to cover the seam around the bottom and press the crust into place firmly over it.

Place the crust in a preheated oven on the bottom rack and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned and slightly pulling away from the sides of the pan. Remove the crust from the oven and let it cool while you make the filling.

Yield:
12 servings

Assuming 12 slices of cheesecake, this crust will add to each slice 4 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 3 grams of usable carbs and 10 grams of protein.

1½ cups (225 g) almonds

¼ cup (30 g) vanilla whey protein powder

¼ cup (56 g) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).

Using a food processor with the S-blade in place, grind the almonds to a consistency similar to cornmeal. Add the protein powder and butter; pulse to combine well. Turn out into a pie plate you’ve sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and press firmly and evenly into place, building up around sides. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are starting to brown lightly. Remove from oven and cool.

Yield:
8 servings

Each serving will have 6 grams of carbohydrate and 3 grams of fiber, for a usable carb count of 3 grams; 7 grams protein.

To use with Margarita Cheesecake (page 514), Emeril made his crust with crushed pretzels to get that salty note so characteristic of margaritas. We’re not going to use pretzels, so I came up with this crust instead. It’s great with the margarita-flavored filling!

1½ cups (225 g) almonds

cup (40 g) vanilla whey protein powder

¼ cup (6 g) Splenda

¼ cup (56 g) butter, melted

1 tablespoon (15 g) kosher salt (I like kosher salt for this because the larger grains make a real contribution.)

Preheat oven to 325°F (170°C, or gas mark 3). Have on hand a 9-inch (23-cm) springform pan assembled and well sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

Put the almonds in a food processor with the S-blade in place. Run the food processor until the almonds are ground. Add the protein powder and Splenda and pulse to mix. You may need to open the processor and run a knife around the bottom edge of the bowl to get everything into the path of the blade. Now, turn the processor on and pour in the butter while it’s running. Let everything blend—and once again, you may need to do the knife-around-the-bottom-edge-of-the-processor trick. When the butter is evenly distributed, turn off the processor. Add the kosher salt and pulse the processor just enough to distribute the salt throughout the mixture.