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Peanut Butter Balls
These super easy and delicious keto treats are known as our favorite Low Carb Peanut Butter Balls. They come together so fast and the kids can help, too.
SPecial ingredients
Everyone has peanut butter in their kitchen…or most people any way. Coconut Flour is also becoming a staple in many low carb or gluten-free kitchens. There are, however, two ingredients you might not know about…. YET.
Low Carb Maple Syrup is not a regular item. I use Allulose Maple Syrup has quick become a staple for us. You will probably never find this in your local supermarket, but that never stops me. I buy my Allulose syrup online every time.
I also use a powdered low carb sweetener made by a company called Lakanto. You can use granular Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener or just plain erythritol, but you must powder it in these Peanut Butter Balls.
My secret to lasting weight loss
Maintaining my weight loss, and quite frankly staying healthy, has always been the main driver for this website. Making treats like these Low Carb Peanut Butter Balls is really my trick. Sorry, it’s that simple for me…I meal prep and almost always cook at home.
I wrote a few articles about this and will write more, but I want everyone to know that cooking at home is one of my major keys to success. Every meal does not have to be epic, but when I am prepared I have a much better chance at success.
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Why do we use stevia drops or sugar alcohols or a combo of both in low carb/keto baking and cooking?
Stevia and Monkfruit are extracts, kinda like vanilla extract. Just a little packs a big punch of sweetness. But in baking (or cooking, too) we usually need the bulk of sugar alcohols like erythritol or xylitol or allulose.
These sugar alcohols have the bulk like real sugar, but sometimes they do not have enough sweetness. So a combo of an extract and an alcohol brings a recipe to an equivalent sweetness and consistency of traditional recipes.
For example if I am making an old fashion/conventional batch of cookies the recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar. In low carb/keto baking that same recipe is not always a 1:1 alteration. Meaning I can not just substitute 1 cup of a sugar alcohol for the traditional sugar in that batch of cookies. I need the bulk of the 1 cup of sweetener plus a little bit of the extracts to bring up the sweetness.
The other part in cooking or baking low carb/keto with sugar alcohols and sweeteners is that they do not alway bake OR store the same way as traditional cookies. There’s some science going on in the bowl and the baking with the flours, sugars and fats.
Back to our cookies example…when you are using almond or coconut flour in place of the traditional flour and you are replacing the traditional sugar with sugar alcohols the amounts used and the baking time is a little different. Traditional wheat flour has protein in it and coconut flour is VERY absorbent. Plus…when those cookies cool sometimes they are rock hard or have a cooling effect in your mouth.
Back to your original question…stevia drops are readily available at most supermarkets. A few drops to your coffee or to a chaffle or a salad dressing can help replace the sweetness without the bulk of traditional sugar. True monkfruit extract is harder to come by and more expensive, but it does the same thing.
One last thing…and this could just be my experience…when I combine monkfruit with a erythritol it lessens the mouth cooling effect for me….for me this combo tastes and bakes the most like traditional sugar.
The brand I use is called Lakanto Monkfruit sweetener (CLASSIC). I use this brand because they already have combined the two ingredients. Then as I’m making a recipe I may add a few drops of stevia to up the sweetness to mimic a “traditional sugar” recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter all natural and creamy
- ¼ cup low carb syrup (Allulose Maple Syrup)
- ½ cup coconut flour + maybe 1 tsp more
- ¼ cup low carb sweetener powdered (Lakanto Monkfruit Powdered)
Topping
- ¼ cup low carb chocolate chips (Lily’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips)
- ¼ tsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a bowl mix together the peanut butter, low carb syrup, coconut flour and low carb powdered sweetener using a fork or sturdy rubber spatula. Dough should form into a firm ball. Let sit for about 1 minute to let the coconut flour stiffen the dough up.
- If dough is too sticky then add 1 tsp coconut flour to help absorb some of the moisture.
- Using a small scooper or a small spoon place balls of dough on the parchment paper baking sheet. WHen all your dough is on the sheet roll each spoonful of dough into a ball in between your clean damp hands. You should get about 15 balls. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer.
- In a small microwave safe bowl place low carb chocolate chips and coconut oil. Place in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time until melted all together. Remove peanut butter balls from the freezer. Using a small spoon drizzle melted chocolate over each of the peanut butter balls and then place back in the freezer.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
MEDICAL AND NUTRITION DISCLAIMER…Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nutritional break downs are done using a commercial nutrition calculator. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctorbefore starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers, this should never be construed as medical advice.