If there’s one thing associated with Christmas, it’s sweets. Candies, chocolates, cakes, and cookies. We know this. We want sweet stuff too.
So for the next few days, we’re going to be featuring some dynamite sugar-free sweets you can enjoy for yourself, or for gifts.
Holiday Whiskey Balls (rum, scotch, brandy, Irish, bourbon)
You can whip these treats up in 5 minutes, and they make great a gift for the low-carber in your life.
1 cup almond flour +
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder + more for rolling
2 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons powdered erythritol, xylitol, or other sugar alcohol*
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons rum, brandy, whiskey,
Artificial sweetener to taste
+ to make almond flour, simply whiz up almonds in the food processor, pulsing so you don’t get almond butter.
*Note on erythritol: I realize that the erythritol is a special ingredient. Some stores are starting to carry powdered sugar alcohols, or you can order online. I haven’t figured out how to make really delicious chocolate treats without it at this point. Erythritol is the sugar alcohol with the least blood sugar impact, but you can use others. If the erythritol you use isn’t powdered, it won’t dissolve much in this recipe. I recommend running it through a blender first, but I’m happy that the most recent erythritol I got came powdered, which is great.
1. Mix all dry ingredients together in bowl.
2. Add vanilla and liquor. If the artificial sweetener is liquid and concentrated, add it to the liquor. Since there are different liquid sweeteners of different concentrations, you may have to play with the total amount of liquid, and cut down on the liquor, or add water. Usually the total liquid you want is about 2.5 to 3 Tablespoons. Add the liquid slowly and mix until it all comes together.
3. Roll into balls. Roll in additional cocoa powder.
The flavors will mellow over the next few days. Store in covered container in refrigerator or cool place.
Carbs depend on serving size. 17 balls will get you exactly 1 gram of effective carbohydrate per ball, plus a tad over a gram of alcohol and 1.5 grams of fiber.
