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Keto Magic Cookie Bars

Who doesn’t love cookies?! I think pretty much everyone does – and just because you are on a Keto diet, doesn’t mean you can’t have them! By using the right ingredients, you can have a sweet, low carb treat!

I made these bars 1/2 and 1/2 – half how I like it, and half how my husband likes it! You can really put anything you want on these, just make sure you adjust the nutrition information.  They are basically three layers to these bars; the crust, the toppings, and the YUMMY caramel. Here are all the ingredients you need to make these delicious bars:
Cookie bar ingredients
(Don’t mind my container for my almond flour – it’s not really ice cream!!)

For the crust, all you need is some almond flour, powdered sweetener (I use the Lakanto powdered sweetener which is made with monkfruit), vanilla extract, egg, and butter. Mix it all together and press into an 8 inch cast iron skillet. I didn’t have an 8 inch on hand, so I used my 10 inch. You’ll bake it at 325 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, just until it starts browning around the edges.

While it’s baking, you can get working on your caramel sauce. You’re going to put heavy cream, butter, Golden Lakanto, and vanilla extract. You’ll heat it up and boil over medium high heat (keep stirring so it doesn’t scorch!) and boil for about 10 minutes. It will get a darker golden color and start to thicken. Don’t cook too longer though, or it’ll get hard when you cool it. You don’t want to chip a tooth!!!

When your caramel sauce is done, set it aside to cool and thicken a little. Then take your crust and put whatever toppings you want on it. For my husband, it was JUST Lily’s Chocolate Chips (and LOTS of them!). I used Lily’s Chocolate Chips, coconut, and some chopped pecans.
Toppings on cookie

Then pour your caramel over it and put it back in the oven for about 5 minutes. Remove and cool.

I cooled it on the stove until it was cool enough to handle, then put it in the fridge til it was completed cooled off. We sliced into 6-8 servings, depending on how big you want them. If you just want a small treat, you can easily make 10-12 or so. They were super good and definitely hit the sweet spot!
Finished cookie bar


PRINTABLE RECIPE


Keto Magic Cookie Bars

Crust:

Caramel Topping:

  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup Golden Lakanto
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Toppings:

  • 1/2 bag 9 oz Lily’s Chocolate Chips
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • Whatever other toppings you might like!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Mix the almond flour, powdered sweetener (I use the Lakanto powdered sweetener which is made with monkfruit), vanilla extract, egg, and butter. Stir until well mixed and press into an 8 inch cast iron skillet. You’ll bake for about 15-20 minutes, just until it starts browning around the edges.

While it’s baking, you can get working on your caramel sauce. You’re going to put heavy cream, butter, Golden Lakanto, and vanilla extract. You’ll heat it up and boil over medium high heat (keep stirring so it doesn’t scorch!) and boil for about 10 minutes. It will get a darker golden color and start to thicken. Don’t cook too longer though, or it’ll get hard when you cool it.

When your caramel sauce is done, set it aside to cool and thicken a little. Then take your crust and put whatever toppings you want on it. Then pour your caramel over it and put it back in the oven for about 5 minutes. Remove and cool.

I cooled it on the stove until it was cool enough to handle, then put it in the fridge til it was completed cooled off. Cut and serve!


Keto Cookie Bars Nutrition


*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

Keto Cheeseballs

Before Keto, my husband frequently ordered cheese curds (nuggets, balls, whatever you want to call them – they are just cheesy deliciousness!). Well, the breading or batter is NOT Keto friendly and since my husband decided to do Keto with me, I thought it only fair that I figured out how to make one of his favorite sides at home.

Instead of a traditional cheese curds where you take premade cheese cheese curds (or mozz sticks, cheese cubes, etc) you basically make a dough and fry it up.

Here’s what you need:
Cheeseball ingredients

Only 5 ingredients will lead you to cheese heaven! And you can swap out the cheeses for whatever you like. I know it’s a Keto no-no to buy pre-shredded cheese due to the starch or whatever else they might put on it to keep it from sticking, but I don’t have time to shred all my cheese, so I go with pre-shredded. What little starches might be on it haven’t knocked me out of Ketosis yet.

Take all ingredients and mix together in a bowl until everything is well mixed.

Preheat your oil of choice on the stove or in a deep fryer. I used a small cookie scoop (I have this same exact one and LOVE it!) to scoop out a little dough and drop it in the fryer. These do puff out, so you want to make sure they are small.

Frying cheeseballs

They don’t take too long to cook up, just a minute or so. Keep an eye on them and remove from oil and drain on paper towel when golden brown.
Bowl of cheeseballs

This makes a BIG batch and they are SO good reheated in the air fryer. We dipped them in ranch and they were so good! For my husband they had a little too much parmesan cheese, so I’ll back off on that next time. It makes 6 generous servings and they are only 2 net carbs per serving! I found these to be very filling, so I got a lot more servings.

Let me know what you think and if you try it with any other cheeses!


PRINTABLE RECIPE

Keto Cheese Balls

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Servings: 6
Net Carbs: 2 per serving

2 1/2 cups shredded cheese – can be either one kind or different ones mixed
3/4 c grated or shredded parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/4 c almond flour
1 tsp baking powder

Take all ingredients and mix together in a bowl until everything is well mixed.

Preheat your oil of choice on the stove or in a deep fryer. I used a small cookie scoop (I have this same exact one and LOVE it!) to scoop out a little dough and drop it in the fryer. These do puff out, so you want to make sure they are small.

They don’t take too long to cook up, just a minute or so. Keep an eye on them and remove from oil and drain on paper towel when golden brown.


Cheeseball Nutrition


*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

Keto Zucchini Au Gratin Casserole

When the only side dishes you’ve really eaten on a regular basis involve potatoes or pasta and you then switch to Keto or low carb, it can be hard to figure out what sides you CAN eat. Since my husband is a non-veggie eater, I just make sure I make plenty of the main course for him since he is more carnivore Keto. I, on the other hand, LOVE veggies – BUT I get tired of eating steamed broccoli or cauliflower all the time. I mean, who wouldn’t?? It becomes so monotonous.

So what else can you make? Well – PLENTY! There are a million and one things you can make. You just have to learn what your Keto friendly options are and figure out different ways to make them – and there are a LOT!

Zucchini is one of the most versatile vegetables in my opinion and when you add cheese – well, ’nuff said!

I love simple recipes and I love casseroles – which leads me to this Keto Zucchini Au Gratin casserole. You are basically layering veggies and cheese and pouring a creamy sauce over it. The result is cheesy deliciousness! I love all the yummy browned cheese on the top
Zucchini au gratin done

Part of the simplicity of this dish is that there aren’t very many ingredients to it. They include:

  • zucchini
  • onion
  • pepper jack cheese
  • butter
  • garlic powder
  • whipping cream
  • xanthan gum
  • salt and pepper if desired

That’s it!!

It’s just as easy to throw together too. The most time consuming part is cutting the vegetables. You can put the whole dish together in about 5 minutes.

Start by slicing your zucchini and the onion (and shred your cheese if you didn’t get pre-shredded). I like to use a Mandoline Slicer, this way I get nice and even cuts. Once you’ve got that done, you’re going to take a 8″ casserole dish and start layering. You’re going to make 3 layers, so divide the zucchini, onion, and cheese into thirds. Start the layering with the zucchini, the onion, and the cheese. No need to be fancy with it, you’re just going to scoop it out and eat it when it’s done anyways!

Finish all three layers and then in a separate dish, whisk together the butter, whipping cream, garlic powder, and xanthan gum. Pour it over the veggies. Your prep is DONE!!

See, I don’t think you can get much easier than that! All that’s left to do is bake it!

Bake at 375 for about 40-45 minutes or until it’s nice and brown on the top, like this deliciousness ↓↓↓Zucchini au gratin done


PRINTABLE RECIPE


 

Keto Zucchini Au Gratin Casserole

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 9
Net Carbs Per Serving: 2

4 cups sliced raw zucchini
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1 1/2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 tsp xanthan gum

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Start by slicing your zucchini and the onion (and shred your cheese if you didn’t get pre-shredded). I like to use a Mandoline Slicer, this way I get nice and even cuts. Once you’ve got that done, you’re going to take a 8″ casserole dish and start layering. You’re going to make 3 layers, so divide the zucchini, onion, and cheese into thirds. Start the layering with the zucchini, the onion, and the cheese. No need to be fancy with it, you’re just going to scoop it out and eat it when it’s done anyways!

Finish all three layers and then in a separate dish, whisk together the butter, whipping cream, garlic powder, and xanthan gum. Pour it over the veggies.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until it’s nice and brown on the top.


 

zucchini nutrition


*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

Low Carb Dessert Bites

I’m always looking for something new, but simple and low carb to make for dessert. My husband has always been a dessert eater and he eats it every night, so I don’t want to always have to make some more elaborate dessert. I want something quick. Being a working mom, I don’t always have a lot of time to make dessert either. So this one fits the bill perfectly. It’s only a total of 3 ingredients.

These are incredibly versatile, you can make them however you’d like. For these dessert bites, you need the shell, a filling, and a ‘sealer’. I used Legendary Foods Nut Butter for the filling (the pecan pie for mine and the chocolate peanut butter for my husbands), Cut Da Carb wraps for the shell, and butter to help ‘seal’ the bites.

Ingredients

Cut one wrap into 12 squares.
shells cut

Put about 1/2 tsp in the center of each (can possibly put a little bit more depending what the filling is – these are little runny when first opened), then brush the edges with melted butter and fold.

Fry in hot oil (med high heat). It does not take long and these will brown/crisp up nicely! Don’t leave these unattended or you’ll have burnt little nuggets! Once browned, remove and drain on paper towel.
Out of the fryer

You can dust with some powdered sweetener, drizzle with sugar free syrup, or just serve with some whipped cream! Heck, if you’re feeling adventurous, do all three!

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Low Carb Dessert Bites

1 Cut Da Carb wrap
2 tbsp filling of choice (I used Legendary Foods Nut Butter )
1/4 tbsp butter
oil for frying
garnish of choice

Cut wrap into 12 squares. Fill with 1/2 – 1 tsp nut butter. Brush edges with melted butter and fold. Drop in hot oil and fry about 15 seconds. Remove and drain on paper towel. Garnish and serve. Enjoy!


Note: You can really put any type of filling you want in these and next time I’m thinking of making cheesecake ones.

Dessert Bites Nutrition


*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

Keto Breakfast Lasanga

Breakfast food is definitely my favorite food to eat. And while I used to use pancakes as my go-to, I can’t do that since starting Keto, so I had to find new things to make for the family. So here are some of my husbands favorite things all rolled into one huge breakfast lasagna!

But lasagna has noodles, and those are Keto friendly, right?! Well, yes – you would be right! So for this, we are using thinly sliced deli meat as our ‘noodle’ layers!

First thing to do with this (after preheating your oven to 375) is scramble your eggs in a 12-Inch Frying Pan . Sometimes I like to add a little heavy whipping cream to the beaten eggs and they fluff up a little more when cooked.

Once the eggs are just undercooked, remove from heat and put in a separate bowl. You don’t want to over cook your eggs because they are going to bake again in the oven.

Then grab about a lb of pork sausage and cook in a  12-Inch Frying Pan over medium heat.

Once the sausage is cooked, add 1 1/2 c beef broth (low sodium) and 2 blocks of cream cheese. Continue cooking until cheese is melted and sauce thickens (about 4-5 minutes or so).

Now that you’ve got the eggs and the lasagna ‘sauce’ done, time to start layering. You’ll need a 9 x 13 casserole dish (I highly recommend one with a lid unless you’re feeding a big family because this is filling and there will be leftovers!)

You are going to layer the sauce first, then ham, cheese, eggs, sauce, eggs, cheese, ham, sauce, eggs, cheese, ham, and the remaining cheese. You’ll use a total of about 1 1/2 c of mozzarella and 3/4 c of grated parmesan cheese.

Once everything is together, back for 30-35 minutes or until cheese is browned.
breakfast lasagna done

Let it sit for a good 5-10 minutes. It’s going to hold the heat in very well and you need to let the sauce thicken back up before you cut it.

Once it’s cooled, slice and enjoy! Only 4 net carbs per serving!!


PRINTABLE RECIPE


Keto Breakfast Lasagna

1 lb deli sliced meat (I used ham)
18 eggs
1 tbsp heavy whipping cream (optional but recommended)
1 lb ground pork sausage
1 1/2 c lower sodium beef broth
2 – 8 oz packages cream cheese
1 1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 c shredded parmesan cheese

First thing to do with this (after preheating your oven to 375) is scramble your eggs in a 12-Inch Frying Pan . Sometimes I like to add a little heavy whipping cream to the beaten eggs and they fluff up a little more when cooked.

Once the eggs are just undercooked, remove from heat and put in a separate bowl. You don’t want to over cook your eggs because they are going to bake again in the oven.

Then grab about a lb of pork sausage and cook in a  12-Inch Frying Pan over medium heat.

Once the sausage is cooked, add 1 1/2 c beef broth (low sodium) and 2 blocks of cream cheese. Continue cooking until cheese is melted and sauce thickens (about 4-5 minutes or so).

Now that you’ve got the eggs and the lasagna ‘sauce’ done, time to start layering. You’ll need a 9 x 13 casserole dish (I highly recommend one with a lid unless you’re feeding a big family because this is filling and there will be leftovers!)

You are going to layer the sauce first, then ham, cheese, eggs, sauce, eggs, cheese, ham, sauce, eggs, cheese, ham, and the remaining cheese. You’ll use a total of about 1 1/2 c of mozzarella and 3/4 c of grated parmesan cheese.

Once everything is together, back for 30-35 minutes or until cheese is browned. Let it sit for a good 5-10 minutes. It’s going to hold the heat in very well and you need to let the sauce thicken back up before you cut it.

Once it’s cooled, slice and enjoy! Only 4 net carbs per serving!!


Breakfast Lasagna Nutrition


*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

Low Carb Eggs Benedict

One of my favorite and go-to breakfast dishes is Eggs Benedict. A while back I did make an Keto Eggs Benedict Casserole, and it was good, but sometimes I just wanted a more traditional Eggs Benedict and that yummy runny yolk. I’m not a fan of poaching eggs though, it never seems to turn out right for me. Now you CAN make these with my Keto English Muffins, but I really didn’t think they were needed.

All I used was eggs, canadian bacon (or you can use ham – whatever you’ve got! – or throw a spin on it and use sausage patties), and pre-packaged Hollandaise mix (not true Keto, but I’m a dirty keto-er).

Start by frying up the meat you choose to use. In another pan, get working on the hollandaise.

I just fried up the meat til it was warn and browned. Then I made some over easy eggs (which I forgot to take pictures of..oops!)

Then put down a few slices of ham on your plate, the eggs, and spoon that creamy hollandaise over the top.
Eggs benedict

How good does that look???? Best part (besides the taste)? It’s only 1 net carb!!

PRINTABLE RECIPE


Low Carb Eggs Benedict

3 – 4 slices canadian bacon (or meat of choice)
1 package Hollandaise sauce mix (check your mix to see what other ingredients you need)
2 eggs

Fry meat until cooked thoroughly/browned. Make hollandaise sauce according to package instructions. Over medium heat, crack an egg (but don’t break the yolk) and cook for approx 2 minutes, then flip and cook 1 more minute. The yolk should still be runny but the egg white cooked.

Place the meat on the plate, top with eggs, then sauce. Eat and enjoy!


Eggs Benedict Nutrition

*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

Keto Peanut Butter Fudge

It wasn’t the holidays without having fudge, and my favorite kind is peanut butter. This is was my first Christmas that I was trying to stick to Keto (at least more than I did last year) so I wanted to make sure I had some of my favorites made so I could still feel like I was ‘splurging’. This fudge was incredibly easy to make, did NOT taste sugar free at all, and was KID APPROVED! As you can see, my daughter couldn’t get enough of it – she just had to lick the beaters from the mixer! (Don’t mind her mis-matched outfit – it’s pretty typical for this 4 year old little girl haha)
Licking beaters

This recipe was pretty simple, but one ingredient may surprise you – it’s more for texture than anything and doesn’t affect the flavor, but you can’t really tell the difference between this fudge and the regular sugary stuff. That ingredient is unflavored whey protein powder. If you try to mix it in while the fudge is too hot, it does NOT mix well and looks oily and separated, so you may have to let it cool a bit and try again. It will be smooth and creamy!

To start, you need to melt the butter and cream cheese together over medium heat.
Melting ingredients for fudge

Stir as it melts to combine, then add in peanut butter and stir until all combined. Add in vanilla and sweetener, remove from heat. Using a hand mixer, mix until ingredients are all combined. Lastly, add in the unflavored whey protein powder. If it separates and looks oily, wait a couple minutes, then mix again. Put in a greased 8×8 dish and cool. Once cool, you can cut and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in the fridge, or put in the freezer. Super simple, creamy, peanut butter Keto fudge that is kid approved!!

Peanut Butter Fudge

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Keto Peanut Butter Fudge

8 oz cream cheese
1 cup butter
1 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 c powdered Lakanto sweetener
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c unflavored whey protein powder

To start, you need to melt the butter and cream cheese together over medium heat.

Stir as it melts to combine, then add in peanut butter and stir until all combined. Add in vanilla and sweetener, remove from heat. Using a hand mixer, mix until ingredients are all combined. Lastly, add in the unflavored whey protein powder. If it separates and looks oily, wait a couple minutes, then mix again. Put in a greased 8×8 dish and cool. Once cool, you can cut and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in the fridge, or put in the freezer.

Nutrition PB Fudge.jpg


*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!

Keto Chicken Enchiladas

My husband doesn’t like a lot of different food cuisines, he likes to keep it pretty simple. Mexican food for him consists of tacos or enchiladas. I’ve mastered Keto tacos with the help of a cheese shell, so next up was enchiladas.

Once I found Cut Da Carb wraps, I knew I had to try them as a tortilla replacement – and let me tell you, you CANNOT tell the difference in this recipe. The only difference is it is a LOT less carbs!!

So there aren’t many ingredients to this dinner. I like to keep things very simple.

All you need is some chicken, the wraps, enchilada sauce, and cheese. See, simple!

Start by putting the chicken into a 9×13 casserole dish and bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F. Bake until done, about 22-25 minutes. Don’t over cook the chicken because you’re going to be putting it back in the oven. Once the chicken in done and cooled, shred or chop it up into smaller pieces.

You can use chicken breasts if you prefer. With the Keto diet, I like the extra fat you get from the chicken thighs, but either will work or do a mix of both.

Then take 4 of the Cut Da Carb wraps and tear them each in half. On each half, you’ll put some chicken and roll them up. Place the enchilada rolls into a 9×13 casserole dish. You’ll have 8 rolls. Open the can of sauce and pour over the top. Then top with the shredded cheddar (or other cheese of choice).

Bake in your preheated oven for about 15 minutes, then I like to flip the broiler on and brown the cheese for just a couple minutes.

Let it cool and top however you’d like! I am good with just a little (ok, maybe a LOT) of sour cream.

It’s not the LOWEST carb dinner, but it’s definitely lower than a lot that I used to make. You could make each ‘roll’ bigger and put more chicken in each one and eliminate some of the wraps, which would cut some of the carbs. Regardless, it’s a lot less carbs than the regular version and just as yummy! (Scroll down for printable recipe.)

Chicken Enchiladas Nutrition

PRINTABLE RECIPE

KETO Chicken Enchiladas

1 – 1.5lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
4 Cut Da Carb wraps
1 – 14-15 oz can enchilada sauce
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Start by putting the chicken into a 9×13 casserole dish and bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F. Bake until done, about 22-25 minutes. Don’t over cook the chicken because you’re going to be putting it back in the oven. Once the chicken in done and cooled, shred or chop it up into smaller pieces.

You can use chicken breasts if you prefer. With the Keto diet, I like the extra fat you get from the chicken thighs, but either will work or do a mix of both.

Then take 4 of the Cut Da Carb wraps and tear them each in half. On each half, you’ll put some chicken and roll them up. Place the enchilada rolls into a 9×13 casserole dish. You’ll have 8 rolls. Open the can of sauce and pour over the top. Then top with the shredded cheddar (or other cheese of choice).

Bake in your preheated oven for about 15 minutes, then I like to flip the broiler on and brown the cheese for just a couple minutes.

Let it cool and top however you’d like!


*Disclaimer: I am NOT a certified nutritionist and your nutritional information may vary depending on exact ingredients you use. I highly recommend you calculate your own and just use this as a guideline. The links for products are affiliate links so I may earn a very small commission if you purchase through them – but it doesn’t cost you anything additional!