Pumpkin Bars

[Sharon]

I got the following recipe off the Low-Carb-Recipe-Exchange E-Group last night and made it... It was really, really good. I roughly figured out the carbs...and quickly I think they add up to quite a few...over 60..please help me here if I'm wrong. I usually try to cut back on my artifical sugars as much as possible, so next time I'm mixing splenda and brown sugar twin...perhaps 2/3 cup in total...also think I'll skip the walnuts (to save carbs). I added a little soya four as I wanted to make muffins and thought it needed such a little more substance. I also think I'll cut back a bit on the nutmeg and cinnamon as there seemed like plenty...just trying to cut carbs!

Would appreciate any other thoughts any of you have.

PUMPKIN BARS..... YIELDS 12 BARS

3/4 CUP ALMOND FLOUR
3/4 TEASPOON SALT
1/2 TEASPOON BAKING SODA
1/2 TEASPOON NUTMEG
1/2 TEASPOON CINNAMON
2 EGGS
1 CUP BROWN SUGAR TWIN OR SPLENDA
2/3 CUP CANNED PUMPKIN
1/4 CUP COOKING OIL
Optional: 1/2 CUP NUTS


IN A BOWL BEAT EGGS AND SPLENDA/ BROWN SUGAR TWIN. ADD OIL AND MIXED UNTIL COMBINED. THEN ADD THE DRY SIFTED INGREDIENTS TOGETHER WITH PUMPKIN AND NUTS. POUR IN 1/4 ( 8X12} GREASED BAKING PAN. BAKE AT 350 FOR 30 MINUTES. COOL 5 MINUTES. REMOVE FROM PAN AND FROST IF DESIRED. CUT INTO 2X4 SQUARES One user added: I made the pumpkin bars but added stevia "to taste" along with the sweet and low. I also put in a whole can of pumpkin and added a quarter cup of soy four. They came out great, especially with cream cheese. Another user commented: About Sugar Twin Brown Sugar Sub. I have substituted it with Splenda and a very SMALL amount of REAL MOLASSES added to it. Tastes much better.

[Bonnie]

Your recipe looks yummy! Are you aware that you can buy light mollasses with half the carbs? Just thought I would pass that on as you are really trying to find ways to cut carbs :)

Bonnie

[doreen T]

Originally posted by Bonnie
Are you aware that you can buy light mollasses with half the carbs?

Hi Bonnie,

I know I have seen a type of light molasses before, but it's *light* in colour & flavour, according to the label. I would LOVE to find a lower carb molasses - a little bit would go a long way, and no bitter aftertaste.

Recently, I saw a reduced calorie&carb HONEY product at WalMart. It's a fine powder, comes in a small jar, made by Labonte in Quebec. According to the label, it's derived from all natural ingredients and has 2/3 the calories and carbs of sugar - 10 cal/2.5 carbs per tsp, as opposed to 16 cal/4 carbs. The thing is, honey is more intensely sweet than sucrose-sugar, and the flavour. . . .yum! A half-tsp would be less than 1.5 carbs, and could maybe be used to dust over the top of a dessert, or to top a blob of whipped cream.

I saw it in the diet foods/artifiial sweetener section of the store - and I don't recall that it was any more expensive than Splenda.

Doreen

[Bonnie]

The molasses I am referring to is a brand made in the Maritimes, "Crosby's". I have the original and the lite. They are both dark molasses and the lite specifically states that it has 40% less sugar than the regular Crosby's Fancy Molasses. The lite has 9 carbs per tablespoon. The regular Crosby's Fancy Molasses has 16 grams of carbs per tablespoon so that cuts the carb content down to almost half. Was speaking with someone from Crosby's a moment ago. She was going over the spec sheet and according to it the carb content for 1 tablespoon of the lite is 8 carbs. She was appreciative I brought that to her attention and was going to address that error to someone. (She felt the packaging should be changed to 8 carbs). I use the lite in bread and other LC Goodies. Just a small amount gives just that little bit of molasses flavor that I crave now and then.

Bonnie

[jazzfan]

I realize this is a very old thread, but I thought I'd share that I'm making these bars today. I did the carb count beforehand, and the total carbs for the recipe is 72g, or 6g carbs per bar. I also am substituting oil with cream since I don't usually care for baking with oil. It only added 2g carbs anyway. I figure most of us won't try a tempting recipe if we think it might be too high in carbs - so now you know!

[JAnn]

Let us know how they turn out as I've heard that the brown SugarTwin tastes horrible. I have a box but haven't used it in anything calling for a strong brown sugar flavor. I also have pumpkin that I froze and plan on using up soon.

[jazzfan]

Actually, I used all Splenda in this - trying to use up some almond flour and pumpkin that I had on hand. You could probably use that new brown sugar blend from Splenda, but that's going to up the carbs even further. Oh, and don't cut down on the cinnamon/nutmeg in an attempt to lower the carbs - they don't cost enough to be worth it, and their flavor is what makes this recipe work. It was definitely good with a light spread of cream cheese over the top, but at 6 carbs I'd probably pass next time. When there are so many little chocolate nibbles under 5 carbs, I much prefer choosing chocolate for an emergency sweet tooth! These weren't too bad, though. The consistency was nice.

[Kristine]

Warning! These are too good! Let's just say I only got three servings out of a whole pan. :devil:

I used 2/3 cup of Splenda and a tad of molasses, barely a teaspoon. I subbed about a Tbsp of pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon and nutmeg. Also, I used melted butter instead of oil.

The texture came out quite mushy when warm; these are best served after being chilled in the fridge.

Fabulous. Probably not conducive to weight loss, but just fabulous! :thup: :thup: