Two Of My Favorite Things

Now don't get me wrong my favorite thing in the world is chocolate, well chocolate and bacon. As much as I would like to only eat those two things for the rest of my life, I'd also like to live past 30 so I don't. The hardest part of low carb for me is the desserts being gone from my life. I can pass up pasta, or bread but not dessert. Skeptically I tried a new recipe tonight and with a few tweaks, it was amazing! Even my non low carb eating best friend loved them.

My inspiration was the Low Carb Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars from I Breath, I'm Hungry's blog. (http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2012/10/low-carb-raspberry-cheesecake-bars.html) But eating low carb is expensive so I try and do without speciality items and purchase in bulk. This led me to make some changes to the recipe and so Low Carb Red Zinger Bars were born.

Low Carb Red Zinger Bars

Coconut Cookie Crust
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. splenda
1/4 c. almond flour
1/2 c. coconut flour
1/2 tsp. coconut extract
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Cream Cheese Filling
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. splenda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup unsweet frozen raspberries, defrosted
2 tsp splenda

Cream together the butter and sugar substitute. 

Add the almond flour, coconut flour and baking powder, mixing until thoroughly combined.

Press into a lightly greased 9 x 9 pan and set aside.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar substitute together until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until thoroughly combined. Pour mixture over the crust. 

In a small bowl, mash the raspberries and sugar substitute together with a fork. 

Drop by spoonfuls over the cheesecake mixture and then swirl it gently with the fork until distributed over the entire top – don’t over mix. This is key because I definitely over mixed. 

Bake in a 350 degrees (F) oven for 20 minutes. Remove and chill before serving.

Sassily yours, 

Evan