This is probably my favorite topic when it comes to eating ketogenic. Even before my wife and I started eating keto, I needed to know if I could eat the desserts. I knew that I have a sweet tooth, and that if I could not stand to eat the desserts, that I would not be able to do the diet. So, I started researching some keto dessert recipes and tried them. While not all of them were to my liking, they were all edible. Some were actually pretty good. A few I would eat even before I even knew what keto was.
If you are like me, and are dessert minded, then you will need to know that there are ketogenic dessert recipes that are actually pretty good. I feel that it is important to put in here that if you expect a keto dessert to taste like a sugary dessert, you will be disappointed most of the time. Like with most recipes, you need to have the mindset that these are different recipes from what you are used to. Because they are different, they will not taste the same. Even if you take your favorite non-keto dessert recipe and convert it to keto, you have changed the recipe so it will taste different. I am not saying that it will taste bland or horrible, but it will have a different flavor combination.
Your dessert options are not going to be limited much. You can find a whole range of recipes on the internet for the majority of desserts. There have been a few that I have not been able to find, but they were very sugary in nature, and I think that with time someone will be able to find an acceptable keto version. For example, I converted from my old key lime pie recipe to a keto version.
If you are enthusiastic enough to try to convert a non-keto recipe to a keto recipe, I take my hat off to you. The conversion of recipes can be challenging. In order for you to make a conversion, you will need to understand the difference between wheat flour, almond flour and coconut flour (along with sweeteners and thickeners etc) and how they will act or react in your recipe. As an example, coconut flour is very thirsty, meaning if you don’t add enough liquids your end result will be dry. Almond flour on the other hand does not need as much liquid to have a good result, but will have a different consistency than coconut flour.
So as you are converting recipes, you will have successes and failures. Knowing this up front helps me to not get frustrated when a recipe conversion does not turn out the way I want. But, I usually am able to analyze the result and get an idea of what I need to do in order to make it better the next time. I will keep testing my recipe until it turns out the way I want. Trust me when I say it can take quite a few tries. Oh shucks, I have to eat another (just ok) dessert.
If you would like more information about sugar substitutes, click here.
Maybe I am just weird and enjoy the challenge of making new desserts. But, as I said in the beginning of this blog, I love dessert. I am wiling to put in extra effort to make a delicious end of my meal. Speaking of extra effort, if you are inclined to make your own desserts, then you may need to understand that you may need to make a few recipes in order to have one finished dessert. For example, I made a ketogenic key lime pie. To begin with, I had to make my own graham cracker crust (keto friendly version). Then, I needed to make a keto version of sweetened condensed milk. I then used my homemade sweetened condensed milk to make the filling of my pie. To finish it off, I made my own topping to go on top of the pie. So to complete my dessert, I had to make 4 different recipes to complete 1 dessert.
I believe that planning is a huge factor in getting a keto dessert completed. While some recipes are fairly simple, you will need to have keto friendly ingredients to complete them. So check out the ingredients needed for your recipe before you start mixing things up. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to get half way through a recipe just to find out that you are missing an ingredient or you forgot to set out your eggs or cream cheese. Depending on what is missing, you may be able to run down to your local grocery store and pick it up, and sometimes you will need to order it online. Take the time to read completely through your recipe before you start making it. Sometimes the recipe will need room temperature ingredients (eggs, cream cheese). Other recipes will need one portion of the end product cooled and refrigerated for a few hours, so you need to plan for this delay. Planning ahead will save you a lot of frustration.
Just like in my example above with my key lime pie, you need to be able to understand that for something that is complicated like that, you may need to start a day or two ahead of the time you actually want to eat the dessert. I spent one evening making the graham cracker crust. The next night I made the sweetened condensed milk. The third night I actually made the dessert. I could have done it all in one evening, but I couldn’t dedicate that much time all at once. Now if you are making a more basic recipe, you will only need to make sure you have the ingredients. But if you are wanting to try something more complex, you may need to start getting things put together well ahead of when you want to eat it.
Challenges making keto desserts
As you start making desserts, you will start realizing that you will need some different ingredients than you used for your sugary desserts. You will be using different flours, different sweeteners and a few other substitutes. Each of these can come with their own challenges when it comes to making the perfect keto dessert.
While I won’t be able to think of all of the different ingredients that you may want to purchase to make a keto dessert, I can give you a few suggestions. You will not need all of these for any given recipe, but if you like to prepare ahead of time you can get these.
- Almond flour – finely ground
- Almond meal
- Coconut flour
- Guar Gum
- Xanthan Gum
- Agar Powder
- Psyllium Husk – finely ground
- Unsweet chocolate or stevia sweetened chocolate – (I buy Lily’s Chocolate)
- Cacao powder – different from coca powder
- Grass fed butter
- Heavy cream – preferably without carrageenan
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Protein powder (unflavored)
- Cinnamon
- Salt – sea salt or Himalayan
- Vanilla (not imitation)
- Erythritol – powdered
- Monk fruit sweetener (granular and powdered)
- Monk fruit golden sweetener (brown sugar substitute)
- Stevia – I use liquid
These are my suggestions, but there are other options out there, for example a lot of people use Sukrin Gold for their brown sugar substitute. The option is yours to decide what you think tastes better and is healthiest.
While this is by no means an all encompassing list, it should get you on well on your way to making your recipe. As you find new recipes that you would like to try, look at the ingredients ahead of time so you know if you need to get something new.
The biggest challenge to making desserts: Getting started. It is easy to let life keep you from making foods that are healthy. Very few people want to spend their weekend in the kitchen making food to eat for the week. But, if you truly want to eat healthy, you will need to put forth the extra effort. On the weekends that my wife and I are not able to prepare food, we end up doing it after work. It is frustrating, but we understand the benefits of eating good foods.
Get in the kitchen and make something awesome!
