Low carb baking

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Okay advice needed. I haven't made low carb desserts or recipes because the ingredients are so complicated and I don't have a health food store where I live. What ingredients would recommend for me to get to start baking? If you buy online where do you buy from? Do you know of a low carb starter baking kit? Thanks for your help!

Replies

  • HawkPNP
    HawkPNP Posts: 106 Member
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    I like to buy confectioners Swerve -- it is a 1:1 ratio when replacing sugar, so that is super helpful. You can get it on Amazon :)

    I know some also liked the finely ground almond flour or coconut flour.
  • crystalsan726
    crystalsan726 Posts: 795 Member
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    Thanks for your help!
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    edited October 2016
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    No help here regarding ingredients so I'm just popping in to suggest that before you spend a bunch of $ on specific ingredients, evaluate whether you'll tend to over eat them if they're available. I bought a bag of coconut flour to make those one minute mug cakes. I made one one night and it was so easy and good I made and ate another. And maybe a third.

    Of course there are many here who have better control than I. They'll pop in with suggestions and recipes.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    I tend to use coconut flour, flax meal and protein powder for my baking base "flour". It's about as low carb as I can go besides cheesecake.... Crustless sugar-free cheesecake.... Mmmm.

    For sweetening, I use liquid stevia (Sweetleaf brand?). I find 2-4 drops is about the same as a teaspoon of sugar, and one dropper full to be the equivalent of 1/4 c sugar.

    Otherwise, I don't change much at all. Google coconut flour recipes if you use it. It takes a LOT of liquid and eggs. If I make a dozen muffins, I'll use 1/2 c coconut flour, two scoops protein powder and 6 eggs with maybe some extra milk.
  • anglyn1
    anglyn1 Posts: 1,803 Member
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    I rarely bake but when I do I usually use finely ground almond flour and swerve sweetener. I don't care for coconut flour much but there are a few recipes I use a little in. Lily's makes some stevia sweetened chocolate chips that are lower carb so that is nice to have around as well.
  • HawkPNP
    HawkPNP Posts: 106 Member
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    anglyn1 wrote: »
    I rarely bake but when I do I usually use finely ground almond flour and swerve sweetener. I don't care for coconut flour much but there are a few recipes I use a little in. Lily's makes some stevia sweetened chocolate chips that are lower carb so that is nice to have around as well.

    How could I forget Lily's chocolate chips?!? They are amazing!
  • Kimo159
    Kimo159 Posts: 508 Member
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    The things I find I use in most low carb baking I've done are:
    • Swerve (confectioners and granular). You could also buy just the granular and put it in a blender to make a fine powder which would essentially be confectioners sugar.
    • Almond flour
    • Coconut flour
    It all depends what you're making though. You could look through some of the low carb recipes that you would be interested in and see what kinds of ingredients you might need.
  • slimzandra
    slimzandra Posts: 955 Member
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    LCHF baking can be an organized mess. It's an open secret, that the recipes I attempted were deliciously inedible. >:)
  • kdz0444
    kdz0444 Posts: 143 Member
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    I like using coconut flour for baking but use almond flour/meal for things I want to have more texture. I only use stevia for sweetener. Probably eventually look into using something else but for the moment that's all I use. Made some biscuits with coconut flour that taste better than regular biscuits. Lol
  • ladipoet
    ladipoet Posts: 4,180 Member
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    You've gotten lots of good feedback so far. Here are places I buy from fairly often online or that I've purchased stuff from in the past at some point:

    http://www.netrition.com/ (not everything they sell is low carb or LCHF friendly)

    https://www.amazon.com/

    http://www.holdthecarbs.com/

    https://nuts.com/ (not everything they sell is low carb or LCHF friendly)

    https://thrivemarket.com/ (not everything they sell is low carb or LCHF friendly)

    http://www.lindasdietdelites.com/ (not everything they sell is low carb or LCHF friendly)

    http://locarbu.com/ (not everything they sell is low carb or LCHF friendly but honestly you can usually find the same items on some of the other websites mentioned above for cheaper prices - I'm lucky though in that they are located close to me geographically so if I really need/want something specific from them, I can just drop by and pick it up).
  • silverfiend
    silverfiend Posts: 329 Member
    edited October 2016
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    #1 thing to get is carbalose flour. You can find it in amazon. After that its powdered stevia, sugar free chocolate chips, flax meal, coconut flour, almond flour, brown sugar splenda, sugar-free flavored syrups.....

    I think thats all I have and use.
  • silverfiend
    silverfiend Posts: 329 Member
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    also a note of caution.... LC baking is trickier than normal baking. If you know your way around the kitchen, be prepared to experiment and things will never be exactly like "normal" baking goods.
  • fatchimom
    fatchimom Posts: 256 Member
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    I also use almond flour/ meal
    coconut flour
    Swerve
    Stevia
    Amazon has just about everything.
    You really do need to be careful not to go overboard just because the dessert is "sugar free". I know, I've done it.
    I have tried to bake any bread but mI've seen some recipes that look pretty good.
    Happy baking!!!
  • DietPrada
    DietPrada Posts: 1,171 Member
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    I have almond flour in the cupboard. I VERY occasionally use it to make flat bread (almond flour, egg and cream cheese, a little garlic and Italian herbs). I use this to make a sandwich or a small pizza. But rarely, like maybe once a month.

    "Carb replacement" cooking has always been dangerously close to eating the things I have chosen to cut out of my diet, and causes the same tendency to eat too much. There's no way I could bake a low carb desert and "only have a little". These foods also tend to either a) knock me out of keto or b) stall me or c) both.
  • camtosh
    camtosh Posts: 898 Member
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    I have found some lc flour mixes at iherb.com -- they ship worldwide and since I live in Japan, that helps. The shipping company Sagawa will deliver free if the order is over $40! works for me.
  • crystalsan726
    crystalsan726 Posts: 795 Member
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    Wow thank you all for your opinions and advice! I really appreciate it!