This batch turned out pretty much as I intended. It’s a bit more crumbly than I’d like but the taste is perfect. My recipe calls for a few “specialty” ingredients: erythritol, carbalose and polydextrose. All can be ordered on-line from www.netrition.com . They are staples in my low carb kitchen and they make wonderful substitutes for the old, carby stuff we used to eat… with very similar results.

So, here’s my recipe for Sweet, Chewy Bran Muffins:

Sweet, Chewy Bran Muffins

3 cups wheat bran
1/2 cup erythritol, granulated (or granulated sweetener of choice; Splenda won’t give the same results)
1 cup Carbalose
1/4 cup polydextrose
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk OR soured milk (put 1 tblsp vinegar in 1 cup measure, then fill with milk)
1/3 cup softened shortening or oil
1 egg

Mix all dry ingredients together thoroughly
Mix shortening/oil with egg and milk
Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. It will be a very thick mixture.

Divide among 12 greased muffin cups. They will be almost filled to top but these don’t rise much.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until they are firm to touch and you see just a bit of browning on top.

Let them cool for a few minutes before removing from pan. These will be very tender and may crumble more than “regular” bran muffins but the taste is wonderful.

Carbalose, erythritol and polydextrose can all be ordered from www.netrition.com

Ingredients:
2 cups vital wheat gluten (from health food store) 
1 package dry yeast (Rapid Rise/Highly Active)
1 cup warm water (95-105°F)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Splenda (bulk) 
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl and sift together well. Add ingredients to bread machine in the order recommended by your machine’s instructions.

Set your machine to the basic cycle (3 – 3 1/2 hours) and bake. With most machines it benefits low carb breads to allow only one kneading cycle, then allow to bake. This recipe makes a bread that’s a chewy cross between Italian and French. This bread works best in a machine, but if you want to try it by hand, use the following method:

TO MAKE BREAD WITHOUT A MACHINE:
Follow the recipe in the same order as for the bread machine.
After you mix and knead all of the ingredients together, put the dough in a clean bowl and set it into a warm, draft-free place for about 45 minutes to an hour (one option is to turn on your oven for a pre-heat for a minute and a half to get it warm, then turn it completely off before setting the dough in to let it rise in the oven.) The dough should rise to about twice its original size. Afterward, knead slightly (do not over-knead – the gluten content will keep this bread from rising well the second time unlike “regular” bread! You’ll want to be careful not to handle the dough too much after it rises the first time.) Put it in a loaf pan, cover and set in warm draft free place for another 30-45 minutes, and then bake at 380 degrees until done. (35-45 minutes – depending on your oven, you may have to shorten or lengthen the time.)

Makes 16 slices. 5 carbs per slice.

1. Preheat oven to 400 F 
     Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

2. Stack the slices of American cheese and cut into 16 very small squares. Separate the pieces, and transfer them to a small bowl

3. Add the salt, chili powder and garlic powder and toss to combine

4. Arrange the 32 cheese pieces in 4 rows of 8 on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet, leaving as much space in between each as possible.

5. Bake until puffed up, are well browned and crispy… about 7 to 7-1/2 minutes. If undercooked, they’ll be soggy so don’t be afraid to put them back into the oven for more time, if necessary

6. Cool the crackers completely before serving. They crisp up as they cool. Store in  an airtight container. They’ll keep for a few days… if they don’t get eaten up first.

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Calories: 110
Total Fat: 9 grams
Saturated Fat: 5 grams
Carbs: .5 grams
Net Carbs: .5 grams
Fiber: 0 grams
Protein: 7 grams

Borrowed from “Eating Stella Style” by George Stella

1. Preheat  oven to 325 F or 160 C

2. Put the sunflower seeds and  Parmesan in a food processor with the
s blade in place, and process until  the sunflower seeds are a fine
meal with almost a flour consistency. Add the  water, and pulse the
processor until the dough is well blended, soft and  sticky.

3. Cover your cookie sheet with a piece of baking parchment. Turn  the
dough out onto the parchment, tear off another sheet of parchment, 
and put it on top of the dough.

4. Through the top sheet of  parchment, use your hands to press the
dough into as thin and even a sheet  as you can get. Take the time to
get the dough quiet thin–the thinner the  better, so long as there
are no holes in the dough. Peel off the top layer  of parchment, and
use a thin, sharp, straight-bladed knife or a pizza cutter  to score
the dough into squares or diamonds.

*I used my rolling pin. I found it did a much better job than my hands*

5.  Bake for about 30 minutes, or until evenly browned. Peel off the
parchment,  break alone the scored lines, and let the crackers cool.
Store them in a  container with a tight lid.

YIELD: How many carbs per cracker? It will  vary with the size and
thickness of your crackers. I get abut 6 dozen, each  with just a
trace of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 1 gram of protein.  But
you can eat the whole batch for just 13 grams of usable carbs.

Per Serving (excluding unknown  items): 125 Calories; 10g Fat (70.7%
calories from fat); 6g Protein; 4g  Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber;
4mg Cholesterol; 94mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0  Grain(Starch)4mg Chole
Meat; 1 1/2 Fat.

From : The AUSSIE Low  Carb Gourmet Tony Blakemore June 2003
e-mail _Tony@carb-lite.Tony@c_ (mailto:Tony@carb-lite.au.com)
web site  www.carb-lite.web si
Over 5,000 Low Carb, LC Diabetic, LC Kosher  Recipes