Gooey Butter Cookies (GF, Low Carb)

Gooey Butter Cookies

Living in MO has got us lovin' some gooey butter cake. The cookies were one of the kids' birthday requests a few years ago. The easiest recipes include yellow cake mix as the main dry base. Keto, low carb, low sugar food items have come a long way. Not all of them are great. As I was looking through sugar free cake mixes I was pleasantly surprised by Duncan Hines' ingredient list, notably that there are 10 or so ingredients in their boxed yellow mix. This is not typical of the majority of American shelf products. As you might have noticed, healthier options are more expensive, and you generally get less in a package. For example, Dolly's DH cake mix is 15.25oz and $1.97 (12.9c/oz) at Walmart. The keto cake mix I bought is 10.6oz and $5.92 (55.8c/oz). Ridiculous. In any case, I adapted a simple gooey butter cookie recipe to add more almond & coconut flour to balance out the full amount of butter and cream cheese. They aren't as "cakey" as regular cake mix-based but are chewy and yummy! You can also reduce the butter and cream cheese by about a 1/3 to just use the cake mix if you don't have those other dry ingredients.

Ingredients (2 doz)

• 8 ounces cream cheese (full package/room temp/softened)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (room temp/softened)
• 1 large egg (room temp)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 box Keto yellow cake mix
• 1 cup fine almond flour*
• 1 Tbs coconut flour*
• 1/4 tsp baking powder*
• 1/2 to 1 cup powdered sweetener (I used allulose/monk fruit confectioners blend)

*Again, these are added to stretch the recipe up to a standard yellow cake mix amount, but not necessary.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 (F). Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Using a stand/hand mixer, combine the wet ingredients well until smooth.
3. Gradually mix in the cake mix (and optional addl dry ingredients) until well combined. 
4. Set aside a shallow bowl of the powdered sweetener.
5. Scoop and roll 1.5in balls with your hands, and then roll in powdered sweetener.
6. Place on cookie sheet about an inch apart, and gently press down into little patty/disc shapes. Since these are gluten free they won't puff up as much as flour cookies. You can also fit more onto the cookie sheet because they won't expand as much. 
7. Bake 10-15 min until starting to brown. 
8. Remove from oven, let cool and dust with more powdered sweetener if desired.

Here's a standard gooey butter cookie recipe: https://lilluna.com/recipe-tip-of-the-week-gooey-butter-cookies/

Peanut Butter Blossoms (High Protein - GF, Low Carb)

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Peanut butter blossoms are my favorite cookie at Christmas! I am always looking for lower carb & sugar alternative recipes. One of my favorite nutritionists is Maria Emmerich, and this year her recipe was popping up all over my group feeds. I adapted some of her ingredients to what I had on hand, but linked her recipe at the bottom of this post if you want to try those.

Ingredients (1-2 doz)

• 1 cup natural peanut butter (I like Costco's organic creamy; make sure it doesn't have added salts and oils)
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup PB powder (100% peanut powder)
• 1/4 cup unflavored Collagen Peptides (I used Vital Proteins that you can find at Costco or most health stores).
• 1 scoop of Vital Performance chocolate protein powder (the original recipe uses only protein powder vs PB and CP, so this will add some of the extra bulk, sweetener & salts)
• 1/4 cup granulated sweetener (I used monk fruit/allulose blend as they don't have the cooling affect of erythritol)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• (Optional: 1/4 tsp vanilla extract)
• Dark chocolate chips (I used Lily's dark chocolate baking chips)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 (F). Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl combine peanut butter and egg (and vanilla if preferred).
3. In a large bowl mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and then add the pb/egg mixture. Use a stand or hand mixer for adequate blending, mix until fully combined.
4. Using a tsp or your hands, scoop out dough and form into balls. Place 1in apart on baking sheet. This will make 1-2 doz cookies depending how large you make them.
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes and check for light browning. 
6. Remove from oven. Gently press the back of a rounded measuring tablespoon (or other small rounded spoon) into the top of the cookie to make an impression for the chocolate chips.
7. Immediately place 3-4 chocolate chips into the impressions on the cookies. (This takes the place of traditionally pressing Hershey kisses into the dough)
8. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes. The chocolate chips should melt enough to stick to the dough.

You can find Maria's original recipe here: https://mariamindbodyhealth.com/flourless-protein-peanut-butter-blossoms/

And more low carb desserts on my Pinterest board: https://pin.it/1S9Oc45qx