Happy Halloween. Because candy and Halloween go together, I am posting a great sweet snack that I developed. Sometimes, I want a sweet snack but want a healthy one that is lower in carbs. This is the first recipe that I have posted that is not sugar free. It contains a little bit of coconut palm sugar. According to my coconut palm sugar package, it is low-glycemic and nutrient-rich but it is just as high in carbohydrates as regular sugar. I use 1/3 of a cup of Swerve (erythritol) which does not have any carbs and 1/3 of a cup of coconut palm sugar. I use the coconut palm sugar because I do not like the taste of straight erythritol. If you don't have a problem with erythritol this recipe will work with all erythritol and no coconut palm sugar, and will be better for your blood sugar.  I use raw almonds that I soak overnight and then dehydrate until they are crisp again (to see why I do this click here). I chop up my almonds in my ninja (or food processor) and store them in zip-lock bags in the freezer. This makes it fast and easy for when I want to make candied cinnamon almonds or peanut butter granola.

Candied Cinnamon Almonds

2 Cups of raw, chopped almonds

1/3 cup Swerve (erythritol)

1/3 cup coconut palm sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a large frying pan. Place on the stove over medium heat.  Stir constantly: the swerve and coconut palm sugar will melt and begin to coat the nuts. Stir for just a bit more to get good coverage of the nuts.  Carefully pour the hot nut mixture onto a parchment covered counter or other heat resistant surface.  Spread the candied nuts on the parchment sheet.  Allow to cool, break apart and enjoy.

In honor of Fall and because my husband loves pumpkin pie and thinks that we should eat it year round, I have developed a low-carb pumpkin pie shake. It is seriously delicious and satisfying. The pumpkin pie shake has over-taken the chocolate shake as Mark's favorite. I have posted the recipe below on the blog called "Delicious Low Carb Shakes" on the October 15th post along with the other shake recipes.

This is one of our favorite low-carb treasures. It is a delicious, thick and creamy strawberry or chocolate shake. I just developed a pumpkin pie shake which is my husband's new favorite; his favorite used to be chocolate. My favorite is the strawberry shake. A regular "frosty"  has 50 grams of carbs for a small. The chocolate version of this has less than 6 carbs.

The inspiration for this shake is the "60 second Chocolaty Frosty" from Melissa at satisfyingeats.blogspot.com. She had the brilliant idea of freezing unsweetened almond milk in ice cube trays and using the almond milk cubes as the base of the shake. I have made these shakes for many friends and family, and everyone loves them.

Strawberry Shake

4 cubes of frozen, unsweetened Almond Milk (about 4 ounces)

4 ounces of frozen strawberries

1/2 cup  unsweetened Almond Milk

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 small spoonful of stevia (to taste) (I use Bolivian)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Add all ingredients to blender or ninja. Blend until smooth.

Chocolate Shake

8 cubes of frozen, unsweetened Almond Milk (about 8 ounces)

1/2 cup  unsweetened Almond Milk

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 TBL powdered swerve (erythritol)

1 small spoonful of stevia (to taste) (I use Bolivian Stevia)

2  1/2 TBL unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Add all ingredients to blender or  ninja. Blend until smooth. 

Pumpkin Pie Shake

To make this shake, you need to have frozen cubes of pumpkin puree as well as the frozen Almond Milk cubes.

5 cubes of frozen unsweetened Almond Milk (about 5 ounces)

3 cubes of frozen pumpkin puree (about 3 ounces)

1/2 cup unsweetened Almond Milk

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 TBL powdered Swerve

1 small spoonful plus a pinch more of Bolivian Stevia (to taste)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Add all ingredients to blender or ninja. Blend until smooth.