Tag: yogurt

Reader Requests: Blood Glucose Testing of Tortillas, Ice Creams, Breads, and Yogurt

Get new posts by email or rss feed

This week in my low-carb food study, I have Reader Requests!

For the past 6 weeks, I’ve been posting a series of studies on the blood glucose impact of low-carb foods (tortillas, cereal, ice-cream, bread). In the comments for each of these posts, I’ve been getting some great recommendations for other foods to try, so I decided to do a “Reader Requests” study where I measured the BG impact of the recommended foods.

The results were really interesting. In every category, there was a Reader Request that either had a much lower BG impact than what I had found or gave significant insight into the BG impact of different ingredients.

Here’s what I found:

Summary

  • Tortillas
    • The regular flour tortillas were much lower impact than I expected (30% peak BG & 70% iAuC vs. glucose), similar to that of the resistant wheat starch tortillas. This makes the resistant starch tortillas look even worse than I originally thought. Definitely never going to eat those again.
    • Neither of the recommended low-carb tortillas (Mr. Tortilla & A La Madre) beat out La Tortilla Factory for taste, texture, and BG impact, so I’m going to stick with La Tortilla Factory for personal meals.
  • Ice Cream
    • All three of the requested low-carb brands had lower BG impact than any of the brands I’d previously tested. The Two Spoons brand, in particular, was extremely good and has the only fruit-flavored low-carb ice cream I’ve seen. The Two Spoons Strawberry and Brownie Fudge flavors are my new favorite by a pretty wide margin.
  • Breads
    • The Julian Bakery breads were very low carb, but didn’t taste much like regular bread. They were interesting, but if I’m looking for a bread replacement, I’d pick something else.
  • Yogurt
    • Two Good Strawberry Yogurt had good texture and low BG impact, but the flavor was too mild and had a stevia aftertaste I didn’t like.
    • I would prefer to eat their plain yogurt and add my own mix-ins, maybe some nuts or chopped chocolate for a dessert.

Note: Readers also recommended several of the best breads that were included in the original bread post, including: Carb0naut (Can’t find the original request, sorry), Unbun Unbread (u/fawkesandholly, u/Impressive_Citron_84), Kiss My Keto (u/justjules83), and Base Culture (u/Spell_Chick).


If there’s anything else you want to see me test, please let me know in the comments.


– QD

Details

Tortillas

Tortillas tested. New requests in orange.
Blood glucose impact of tortillas.

Summary: Nothing spectacular here, but the Mr. Tortilla could be good if you prefer smaller size tortillas/soft tacos.

  • La Tortilla Factory Flour Tortilla (not low-carb, as a control) (Can’t find the original request, sorry)
    • Much lower impact than I expected (30% peak BG & 70% iAuC vs. glucose), similar to that of the resistant wheat starch tortillas. This makes the resistant starch tortillas look even worse than I originally thought. Definitely never going to eat those again.
  • A La Madre Low-Carb Corn Tortillas (Requested by u/ADifferentJason)
    • About the same BG impact as the regular flour tortillas (23% peak BG & 63% iAuC vs. glucose). Not great and not consistent with the claimed net carbs.
    • Taste was only ok, too. Will not use again.
  • Mr. Tortilla 1 Net Carb Tortilla (Can’t find the original request, sorry)
    • About the same BG impact as the best-in-class La Tortilla Factory tortillas (14% peak BG & 40% iAuC vs. glucose, or about half the LTF flour tortillas)
    • I didn’t like the taste as much as the LTF low-carb tortillas (bit too gritty), but they’re taco sized, which is very convenient for some recipes.
    • All-in-all, I found these to be ok, but will continue to buying the La Tortilla Factory low-carb tortillas going forward

Ice Cream

Ice cream tested. New requests in orange.
Blood glucose impact of ice cream per gram.
Blood glucose impact of ice cream per gram, zoomed in to only show low-carb ice creams.
Blood glucose impact of ice cream per cup, zoomed in to only show low-carb ice creams.

Summary: All three of the requested low-carb brands had lower BG impact than any of the brands I’d previously tested. The Two Spoons brand, in particular, was extremely good and has the only fruit-flavored low-carb ice cream I’ve seen. The Two Spoons Strawberry and Brownie Fudge flavors are my new favorite by a pretty wide margin.

  • Talenti Double Dark Chocolate (not low-carb, as a control) (Can’t find the original request, sorry)
    • BG impact was consistent with the carb count (peak BG 27% of glucose, total carbs 31% of mass), and way higher than any of the keto brands. Not surprising.
  • So Delicious Chocolate (u/alltheketoladies)
    • Lower BG impact than any of the original brands I tested (2.0% peak BG & 5.5% iAuC vs. glucose)
    • Much harder texture out of the freezer than heavy cream-based ice cream. Even after sitting out for 35 min., I had to microwave it to get to my desired softness.
    • Had a strong chocolate and coconut taste. A lot lighter/airy than the heavy cream based brands, but still had a “creamy” texture.
    • Overall, I didn’t like it as much as the other brands, but I could see some people preferring it.
  • Nick’s Coffee Karamell (u/milliondollarman2019, u/WakeOfTheFlood)
    • Lower BG impact than any of the original brands I tested (2.5% peak BG & 5.9% iAuC vs. glucose)
    • Softest texture of any of the brands. This and Two Spoons were the only keto ice creams that could be “scooped” straight from the freezer.
    • The Coffee Karamell flavor is more mild than I’d like, but it’s ok. I’d really like to try some of their other flavors, but this is the only one in my grocery that’s low-carb.
    • Way lower calories than other brands (240 kcal/pint vs. 470-680 kcal for other brands). Not sure why, though maybe it’s got a higher water content with more stabilizers & emulsifiers to soften.
    • Warning: The nutrition label on their website doesn’t match with what I found in the store. The BG impact matches up with the label, so if you’re buying this, make sure you read the label carefully.
  • Two Spoons Chocolate & Strawberry (u/Harleydemondog)
    • The lowest BG impact of any ice cream I’ve tested:
      • Chocolate: 1.8% peak BG & 4.2% iAuC vs. glucose
      • Strawberry: 2.0% peak BG & 4.9% iAuC vs. glucose
    • This has the most similar texture to regular ice cream of all the brands I’ve tried. Scoopable, but a bit hard straight from the freezer. 1 min. in the microwave at 30% power got it to my preferred texture.
    • The chocolate flavor was good, though I’d prefer a stronger flavor.
    • The strawberry was amazing. Extremely smooth, creamy taste and the strawberry mix-ins taste like firm strawberry jam. This is the only keto fruit flavored ice cream I’ve found. I’ve always preferred fruit-flavored ice-creams and this was a great example.
    • I also tried their Brownie Fudge & Coffee Toffee flavors, but didn’t do a BG test
      • Brownie fudge: My second favorite after strawberry. A stronger chocolate flavor than chocolate and the brownies gave a nice flavor and textural contrast (even stronger chocolate flavor & soft chewy texture).
      • Coffee Toffee: Very strong coffee flavor with a great texture contrast from chocolate chips and toffee. If you like coffee ice cream, I’d definitely recommend it.

Breads

Bread tested. New requests in orange.
Blood glucose impact of bread.

Summary: The Julian Bakery breads were very low carb, but didn’t taste much like regular bread. They were interesting, but if I’m looking for a bread replacement, I’d pick something else.

  • Julian Bakery KetoThin Bread (Can’t find the original request, sorry)
    • The lowest BG impact of any of the breads I’ve tested (3% peak BG & 8% iAuC vs. glucose)
    • This one was a bit odd. It was soft, moist, and tasted pretty good, but not at all like bread. You can really taste the cream cheese in it.
    • When toasted or fried, it became slightly crispy and the cream cheese taste was much less noticeable.
  • Julian Bakery PaleoThin Sandwich Bread (Can’t find the original request, sorry)
    • 3rd lowest BG impact, after Julian Bakery KetoThin & UnBun UnBread (6% peak BG & 10% iAuC vs. glucose)
    • The bread was a little wet when I opened it and tasted slightly sour. Taste was not that great, though maybe it was starting to spoil? I ate it right after opening the sealed package and 3 days after it arrived, so if it was spoiled, that’s not a good sign.

Yogurt

Blood glucose impact of Two Good Strawberry Yogurt.
  • Two Good Strawberry (u/ploddingdiplodocus)
    • Low BG impact (4% peak BG & 7% iAuC vs. glucose), a little higher than its net carb count (2% of mass)
    • Strawberry flavor is very mild and has a stevia aftertaste that I don’t like.
    • Texture is great, creamy and not chalky like some greek yogurts
    • I didn’t like this and would prefer to eat their plain yogurt and add my own mix-ins, maybe some nuts or chopped chocolate for a dessert.

Design/Methods

Foods. Full nutrient and ingredient info here. Key nutrition facts in the tables in above.

Procedure. At 5:00a, I took 4.5u of Novolog (fast acting insulin, duration of 2-4h), then drank a Ketochow shake (website, BG testing) at 5:30a. After that, no food or calorie-containing drinks were consumed and no exercise was performed. Non-calorie-containing drinks were consumed as desired (water or caffeine-free tea). At 10:30am-12 pm, the substance to be tested was eaten as rapidly as comfortable and notes on taste and texture were recorded (before observing any change in blood sugar).

Blood sugar was monitored for 5h using a Dexcom G6. Calibration was performed 15-30 min. before the start of each experiment.

Separately, all breads were toasted using a Brava oven (wheat toast, setting 7). Taste and texture were recorded.

Data Processing & Visualization. iAUC was calculated using the trapezoid method (see data spreadsheet for details). Data was visualized using Tableau.

Medication. During these experiments, I took long-acting basal insulin each evening at 9pm (Lantus, 1.5u) and 2000 mg of metformin and multivitamin each morning at 5am. I did not dose for the experimental food ingested.

Data

Get new posts by email or rss feed

Recipe Development: Low-Carb Adaptation of Nestle Toll House Cookies (UPDATED)

Get new posts by email or rss feed

Low-carb Adaptation of Nestle Tollhouse Cookies

Note: This is an updated version of my previous post on this recipe. Since my first attempts, I’ve tried out 10 new batches, with big improvements in taste and texture. I also worked out a low-calorie version with shredded coconut instead of chocolate.

I’ve been trying to work out a low-carb chocolate chip-cookie dough ice cream to go along with my other ice cream recipes, but I haven’t liked any of the low-carb cookie dough recipes I’ve found on-line. All of them either didn’t really taste like a traditional chocolate chip cookie dough or were too soft even when frozen.

Since the oat-fiber muffins turned out so good, I decided to see if I could use an oat-fiber/whey protein base to make a cookie dough. The results turned out surprisingly good for a first attempt. Still needs some work, but I thought I’d share now to get some advice before I keep developing.

Initial Adaptation

As a starting point, I based my recipe on the classic Nestle Toll House cookie, with the following modifications:

  • Flour →  80g oat-fiber + 44g whey protein + 16g gluten (same ratio as my oat-fiber muffins)
  • White sugar → allulose (1:1 by weight)
  • Brown sugar → allulose (1:1 by weight) + molasses (10% of sugar by weight, adapted from here)
  • Chocolate chips → 1 cup shredded coconut (I didn’t have any sugar-free chocolate chips, wouldn’t have done this otherwise.
  • Added 50% more egg to get to the right dough consistency.
  • Added a sprinkle of flaky sea salt to the top of the cookie before baking.

This was a pretty good start:

  • Good:
    • They tasted very similar to chocolate chip cookie dough (minus the chocolate) 
    • They froze to a good texture.
    • While not as good as chocolate chips, the shredded coconut gave a nice flavor and texture to the dough.
  • Con:
    • When baked, the cookies puffed up and had more of a bread/muffin texture than a cookie texture.
    • The amount of coconut was more than I’d like.
First attempt at oat-fiber cookies. Taste was good, but they puffed up and had more of a bread than cookie texture.

To fix the texture problem, I made the following changes:

  • Removed gluten (it prevented the muffins from deflating, so removing it should reducing “puffing”)
  • Went from 2 eggs to 1 egg + 1 yolk (less egg white should give a less stable structure)
  • Halved the amount of coconut.

This was a big improvement. The taste of the dough stayed the same, but the cookies spread and gave a texture very similar to a chewy chocolate chip cookie. 

Second attempt, with gluten and half of egg white removed. Taste, texture, and appearance of a chewy chocolate chip cookie (without the chocolate for now).

This will work great for cookie dough ice cream. For cookies, though, I prefer a crisper cookie. Based on recommendations for regular chocolate chip cookies, there’s a few options on how to do this:

  • Reduce the molasses content (would help the carbs count, but probably make it taste worse. Could try substituting some “brown sugar” erythritol instead?)
  • Lower the temperature to let the cookies spread more before setting
  • Reduce the amount of egg white (hard to do as I’m already at 1 egg, but I could add yolks and whites separately).

At this point, I posted the recipe to r/ketorecipes on Reddit and got additional suggestion to try a blend of erythritol and allulose (erythritol for crispier texture, but keep some allulose to mitigate “cooling effect”).

Round 1: Optimizing Texture

Based on the ideas above, I tried the following experiments:

  • All: I bought some Montezuma 100% cocoa chocolate from Trader Joe’s (surprisingly not bitter!) and used that in all recipes. I really l like the taste and texture it adds, particularly the contrast with the sweet taste of the cookie.
  • Reduced baking temperature and increased time (375 °F/11 min., 350 °F/13 min., 325 °F/15 min., 325 °F/16 min.)
    • Taste: no change
    • Texture: no significant change, maybe slightly less chewy…
    • Spread: no change
    • Conclusion: Original time/temp (375 °F/11 min.) is best
  • Went from 1 egg + 1 yolk to 2 yolk, plus added 10 g almond milk (needed to get dough to correct consistency)
    • Taste: creamier, less drying
    • Texture: slightly crispier
    • Spread: Much more spread during baking, similar to a regular cookie
    • Conclusion: Definite improvement in taste and I prefer the more spread out/thinner shape
  • Replace 50% of allulose with erythritol
    • Taste: no change (no perceptible cooling effect)
    • Texture: much crispier
    • Spread: no change
    • Conclusion: Much closer to my preferred texture

This was a big improvement in just a few tries and pretty close to what I wanted. I had originally planned to try out a bunch more variations (flour:fat & flour:protein ratio, amount of molasses, type of protein, etc.), but these were so good I decided to just combine the improvements and see if that did the trick.

Replaced whole egg with egg yolk and added almond milk. Improved taste and spread like a regular cookie. Still too chewy, thought.  
Replaced half of allulose with erythritol. Crispier on the outside, but still chewy in the middle.

Round 2: Combining Changes & Low-Calorie Version

Based on the success of round 1, I made a batch combining all the improvements together. I also made a couple batches using yogurt and shredded coconut in place of the butter and chocolate to reduce calories.

  • 2 egg yolk + 30 g almond milk + 50% erythritol
    • Taste: Fantastic, really tastes like a Nestle’s toll house cookie.
    • Texture: crispy on the edges, soft/chewy on the inside. I’d prefer a little crispier, but this is great.
    • Spread: Just like a regular chocolate chip cookie
    • Conclusion: Got the combined improvements from Round 1. While it could always improve, this was almost exactly what I was looking for.
  • Replace butter with yogurt & chocolate with shredded coconut. Removed almond milk (dough was already too “wet” before adding)
    • Calories: Drops from 106 to 36 calories/cookie
    • Taste: Not as good as the butter/chocolate version, but pretty good. Much “lighter”.
    • Texture: Way too “bready.” Must be an effect of the yogurt. 
    • Spread: Much less
    • Conclusion: Ok for a first try, but the “bready” texture is a real problem. Will try less yogurt.
  • Same as above except half as much yogurt + 10g almond milk
    • Calories: Drops from 106 to 36 calories/cookie
    • Taste: Same. Not as good as the butter/chocolate version, but pretty good. Much “lighter”.
    • Texture: Back to normal. Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside.
    • Spread: Still didn’t spread as much as the butter/chocolate cookie, but not a big deal.
    • Conclusion: This was great. I prefer the taste of the chocolate/butter based cookie, but I can eat a lot more of these. Will definitely make again.
All improvements combined (no egg whites, 50% erythritol, added almond milk). Taste, texture, and spread exactly how I want!
Cross-section so you can see the crispier outside and chewy center.
Goes great with almond milk!
Low-calorie version with yogurt instead of butter and shredded coconut instead of chocolate. Almost as good and 1/3rd the calories.

My original plan was to do a whole bunch more batches with different substitutions and varying ratios, but I’m really happy with how these turned out. I might come back to this recipe in the future if I want to really dial it in or get a different effect, but for now I think I’ll leave it as is and start working on something else.

Hope you enjoy it,


– QD

Low-carb Adaptation of Nestle Toll House Cookies

QD
A low-carb adaptation of Nestle Toll House Cookies
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 11 minutes
Total Time 21 minutes
Servings 16 cookies
Calories 106 kcal

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375 °F.
  • Whisk together oat fiber, whey protein, baking soda, and salt.
  • Cream butter, allulose, erythritol,  molasses, and vanilla with a stand or electric mixer.
  • Beat in egg yolk and almond milk, then slowly beat in oat fiber mixture, then fold in chopped chocolate.
  • Transfer to a lined baking sheet (I use a 1″ cookie scoop) and bake for 11 min.
  • Let cool on a wire rack, then serve.

Notes

0.9g net carbs per cookie.
Nutrition information calculated by adding up macros of the individual ingredients. Allulose not included in the Total or Net carbs.
Cookie dough can be frozen and stored for at least 1 month before baking.
Unlike regular cookie recipes, this does not benefit from letting the dough rest in the refrigerator before baking (spreads less and doesn’t taste quite as good). If you don’t want to bake immediately, put the dough in the freezer.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookieCalories: 106kcalCarbohydrates: 6.8gProtein: 3.5gFat: 9.8gFiber: 5.8g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was in the comments

Low-carb, Low-calorie Coconut Cookie

QD
A low-carb, low-calorie adaptation of Nestle Toll House Cookies
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 11 minutes
Total Time 21 minutes
Servings 16 cookies
Calories 36.3 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 80 g oat fiber
  • 44 g whey protein isolate
  • 0.5 tsp baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 55 g yogurt
  • 75 g allulose
  • 75 g erythritol
  • 7.5 g molasses
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 10 g unsweetened almond milk
  • 40 g shredded coconut

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375 °F.
  • Whisk together oat fiber, whey protein, baking soda, and salt.
  • Cream yogurt, allulose, erythritol, molasses, and vanilla with a stand or electric mixer.
  • Beat in egg yolk and almond milk, then slowly beat in oat fiber mixture and shredded coconut.
  • Transfer to a lined baking sheet (I use a 1″ cookie scoop) and bake for 11 min.
  • Let cool on a wire rack, then serve.

Notes

0.7g net carbs per cookie.
Nutrition information calculated by adding up macros of the individual ingredients. Allulose not included in the Total or Net carbs.
Cookie dough can be frozen and stored for at least 1 month before baking.
Unlike regular cookie recipes, this does not benefit from letting the dough rest in the refrigerator before baking (spreads less and doesn’t taste quite as good). If you don’t want to bake immediately, put the dough in the freezer.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookieCalories: 36.3kcalCarbohydrates: 5.9gProtein: 3.2gFat: 2.2gFiber: 5.3g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was in the comments

Get new posts by email or rss feed

Recipe #2 – Quick, Customizable Keto Frozen Yogurt

Keto Frozen Yogurt

My last recipe for Keto Chai Tea Ice Cream got requests for more ice cream recipes on Reddit. Since people are interested, I thought I’d put up the rest of my ice cream recipes. They’re in various states of development, so with each recipe, I’ll note what I plan to do to improve and then update once I’ve tried.

This next recipe is for frozen yogurt. It’s adapted from a recipe in Genius Desserts, with allulose swapped for sugar and vodka added to reduce the freezing point and improve texture.

What I like about this recipe is that it’s extremely simple and customizable. You just mix a quart of yogurt with sweetener, your favorite flavorings, and some alcohol, freeze and you’re done.

For yogurt, Two Good brand is my favorite for taste and texture, but any low-carb yogurt will work.

Unlike the Keto Chai Tea Ice Cream, this one does freeze solid and you need to let it warm up before eating if you want a good texture. Next time I make it, I’m going to try swapping ice cream stabilizer for vodka to see if I can reduce the freezing point.


– QD

Keto Frozen Yogurt

QD
Super-simple low-carb frozen yogurt
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Servings 6 3/4 cup
Calories 80 kcal

Equipment

  • Ice cream maker

Ingredients
  

  • 900 g full-fat yogurt I use Two Good brand, but pick your favorite
  • 30 g vodka
  • 2 tsp. vanilla or any other flavoring you like (I really liked crystallized lemon)
  • 200 g allulose (or other sweetener)
  • 0.25 tsp. salt

Instructions
 

  • Mix all ingredients until fully incorporated.
  • Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Note: This step is optional with vanilla or if the flavor is already incorporated in the yogurt. It was necessary when I used solid flavorings, like crystallized lemon.
  • Freeze in ice cream maker per manufacturers instructions.

Notes

Nutrition calculated by adding up macros of the individual ingredients. Allulose not included in the Total or Net carbs.
This recipe is really flexible. You can swap in your favorite full fat yogurt with whatever flavoring you like. Vanilla can be omitted or replaced with other flavors (I particularly liked adding crystalized lemon).

Nutrition

Serving: 0.75cupCalories: 80kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 12gFat: 2g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was in the comments

Get new posts by email or rss feed