Category Archives: Desert

Low Sugar Pumpkin Pie

PumpkinPie

Thanksgiving and The Holidays are coming so I thought it might be the time to start talking, PIE. I was working on the perfect pumpkin pie starting about 20 years ago. Through successive versions I finally got to where I thought I had it. It was delicious, but it had more calories and fat in it then I really intended. For a few years I left it well enough alone until we decided to start lowering the amount of white sugar in our diet. The pie had to be changed.

So I started working on a no sugar pumpkin pie. I switched the sugar to Splenda. That was a big start, but Molasses is basically burned sugar and that’s part of what gives pumpkin pie it’s distinct flavor. Try as I could, I could not find a replacement, even Pusser’s Black Rum didn’t do it.

So I settled on a low-sugar pie. It’s still over the top in flavor (also calories so don’t eat a lot of it). We leave out the graham cracker crust, but it’s still dynamite. We love it, hopefully you will too. This makes a big pie. If you need smaller, cut the recipe in half  and cook in Large Ramekins (PAM sprayed) for 20 min. @ 350 then check for doneness with a toothpick.

We like a thick pie so we use a large spring form pan.  There’s no crust on this pie so the spring form makes it easy to remove and plate up, cut and remove attractive slices. I like it with a spritz of whipped creme, my wife likes shredded dark chocolate on top. Enjoy.

Low Sugar Pumpkin Pie

2 15 oz. cans of Pumpkin
4 Eggs beaten
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
4 Tbs. of Mollasses
2 shots dark or Spiced Rum
3/4 cup of Splenda
4 Tsp. Cinnamon
2 Tsp. Ginger
2 Tbs. Cornstarch
1 Tsp. Ground Nutmeg
Dash each Salt and cardamom
Squirt of Lemon Juice, dash each of Vanilla and Almond Extract
PAM

Directions

Pre Heat Oven to 450 degrees F
Beat the 4 eggs and add the heavy cream, Rum, Molasses, dashes of lemon juice, vanilla and almond extract.

Add the two level Tbs. of Cornstarch, 4 Tsp. of Cinnamon, 2 Tsp. of Ginger, 1 Tsp. of Nutmeg, dashes of salt and cardamom. Then add the two cans of pumpkin. Mix this all throughly and scrape the sides to get it all mixed. Spray your pie pan with PAM.

Pour into the pie pan. Place in the 450 degree oven for 15 mins. Then reduce the oven to 350 degrees F for 50 mins. Let it cool before serving. We usually refrigerate it until needed. Whip cream on top, YUM!

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My book “Small Foods” available on Amazon, has lots more recipes, sorry no deserts, just Entrees and all of them ramekin sized. We will add the deserts section in the next book.

 

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Filed under Cooking, Desert, low sugar

Snappy Snap Cookies

SnappysI decided to add a deserts section to the next book. The idea is that they would be low, or no sugar and small, a few bites are really all you need. I’ve been making low sugar ginger snaps for years ( they do contain Molasses ). These are very spiced up cookies (not hot spice, just lots of spice flavor). Lynda loves these, so I thought I would share the recipe. It’s just a basic cookie dough recipe without all the sugar, I use Splenda instead. Makes about 36 or so.

Ingredients

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2.5 cups of All Purpose Flour
1 cup of Splenda
1 egg
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3rd cup Molasses
1/2 stick melted Butter
2 Tsp. Baking Soda
2 Tsp. each Cinnamon and Ginger
1 Tsp. each Ground Cloves and Nutmeg
Dash or two of salt
Tsp. or two of Splenda for the topping

Directions

Beat the egg in a medium bowl, add the vegetable oil and molasses and mix it all together.
In a large bowl add the flour, Splenda, baking soda, spices and salt and mix them together thoroughly.
Whisk the liquids into the dry ingredients and add the butter. Knead this in your hands until everything is completely mixed together.
Put a sheet of non-stick aluminum foil on two cookie trays. Roll out a handful or so of the dough on a board to about 1/4 ” thickness and punch out the cookies. Separate them from the board with a metal spatula (thin flipper), sprinkle with a little bit of the Splenda and put them on the cookie sheet. We usually just cut them into circles with a small juice glass, this mix doesn’t tend to do ornate shapes well, but we have made ginger bread men by being very careful with the spatula.
Bake for 10 minutes shifting the top and bottom trays at five minutes to bake them evenly. Remove from oven and pull the foil sheet to remove them from the tray. You don’t want them to continue cooking on the hot tray. Enjoy!

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Filed under Cookies, Cooking, Desert