The bottom line is that we are picky! We are used to home cooked/home baked foods with white and wheat flours. Casseroles, roasts with potatoes, homemade pizza, and pot pies were all dishes in my repertoire of recipes in thirty-four years of cooking and baking for a family of (eventually!) nine on one income.

And none of us have embraced the low carb baked goods with open arms! I talked about the idea of using as little low carb flour (even my Basic Low Carb Flour Mix) as possible while enhancing dishes with more familiar tastes, such as cream cheese, pumpkin, zucchini, oatmeal, peanut butter, etc. These dishes (and I have a ton of them coming throughout the summer!) have been much more readily accepted by my college and teen sons and hubby.

This recipe is a perfect example of that! Rather than having a 1 ½ to 2 cup low carb flour addition and the “regular” milk, butter, and baking powder that you often find in “normal” biscuits, this recipe has the flour “diluted” with cheese and cream cheese. And these biscuits are much tastier for it! 🙂

The recipe as given does not have as much rise (though the texture and taste are quite good!) as the biscuits with a little bit of sprouted wheat flour added. (See the side-by-side pictures below.) They really rise and have a very similar texture to soft white flour biscuits with just ¼ a cup of sprouted flour subbed for some of the low carb flour mix. It is, of course, up to each baker as to whether she can afford the extra two carbs per biscuit that the sprouted flour adds—and also whether one can tolerate gluten (though sprouted flour is definitely less glutenous and not as hard on digestion as regular wheat flour).

I don’t want to discourage you from making them as the recipe is first given—they really are the best very low carb biscuits I have had. However, the more “family-friendly low carb” version is just that—family-friendly. Try them both ways! 🙂

BEST Low-Carb Biscuits

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened (or sour cream or plain yogurt—may need more flour if mixture is too wet when using one of these)
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 TBSP butter (I am going to leave this out next time; I think the fat in the cream cheese and shredded cheese will be enough!)
• ½ cup shredded cheese (Monterey Jack, cheddar, or “orange blend” for more savory biscuits; mozzarella cheese for sweet use)
• ¾ cup Basic Low Carb Flour Mix (see FFLC note below)
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• Optional: 1 to 2 packets of sugar free sweetener (Truvia, Splenda, etc.) (I add this when I make the biscuits with mozzarella cheese and want to make a sweeter type of biscuit rather than too savory.)

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Whisk cream cheese with mixer (love my Kitchen Aid!).
3. Beat in the eggs and butter (if using).
4. Once cream cheese is incorporated fully with the eggs and butter (otherwise you will have little pieces of cream cheese here and there), add flour mix with soda and baking powder sprinkled into the flour mix.
5. Mix thoroughly, and then add shredded cheese at end.  (When I removed my mixing bowl from the mixer, I mixed further with a rubber spatula from the bottom as large mixers sometimes do not get all of the ingredients from the bottom of the bowl when mixing small amounts.)
6. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a parchment-lined (or sprayed with cooking spray) baking pan. I like to use a round pie pan and drop them in a “high heap” so that they rise better and do not spread out as much.
7. Bake in convection oven for twelve to thirteen minutes (regular oven 13 to 16 minutes). Allow to sit in pan for a few minutes after removing pan from the oven.

Makes eight medium-sized biscuits that are especially yummy with this awesome low carb, sugar-free strawberry freezer jam. (I use mozzarella cheese when I am going to have the biscuits for shortcakes or with jam.)

Recipe Labels and Variations

Low Carb (LC): As mentioned above, these are very low carb. Be careful when choosing your shredded cheese. Some pre-shredded cheeses have carbs added to them (fillers, anti-clumping agents), and this will affect the carb count of the biscuits. As is, these are very low carb since the Basic Low Carb Flour Mix has only eight carbs in the ¾ cup of mix that this recipe calls for!

Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): To make these more family-friendly, I used ½ cup of the low carb flour mix and ¼ cup of this sprouted white wheat flour. This adds almost-two carbs per biscuit. Again, the rise and texture of these is amazing, but whether you feel you can afford two more carbs per biscuit and/or whether you can tolerate the sprouted flour will make a difference in whether you choose this option. (FFLC’ers, see gluten-free note below too.)

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS: This is home-cooked baking—BUT SBS, rejoice! If you take the time to make the Basic Low Carb Flour Mix, eight of these yummy biscuits can be whipped up in a stand mixer in five minutes!
Homemade Hannah (HH): HH’s should love my baking mixes, including this Basic Low Carb Flour Mix! It makes home baking a snap!

Freezer Cooking (FC): These biscuits can definitely be frozen! (Check out the picture of my freezer bounty! Love to be prepared while others are eating high carb treats!) Just “flash freeze” on trays and then bag in zip-lock bags once they are frozen. (Or if you have freezer room, place them in plastic containers with parchment between…always parchment…I love parchment!)

Oldie Goldie Family Recipes (OG): This is drastically different than my old biscuit recipes, but it is way healthier!

Trim Healthy Mama (THM): I am waiting for the exact carb count on this from my tech girl, but I am thinking (according to rough calculations) that each one has approximately two to three carbs each (as recipe is given). This makes this an easy S for two biscuits! If you are not opposed to using sprouted wheat flour in an S setting, you can even get by with the FFLC version of these in an S setting.

My homemade low-carb biscuits in the freezer!

Cycle Cooking (CYC): Again, while not in my “shredded chicken cycle,” etc., I do love to have a low carb baking day in which I bake a bunch of low carb goodies for my freezer! (See pic! 🙂 )
Sugar Free (SF): No sugar here! I have toyed with the idea of adding a packet of Splenda or Truvia to the dough to cut some of the saltiness of it. Let me know if you try that!

Gluten Free (GF): People who are celiac or who cannot tolerate gluten at all probably cannot use the sprouted wheat flour option for the fluffier version of these. However, the Basic Low Carb Flour Mix has a gluten-free option that works great for GF folks. Additionally, you may also use half of the flour mix and half gluten-free flour in this recipe to get a little higher and fluffier biscuits while still having a healthier flour alternative.

Low Carb Mixes (LCM): As mentioned, this uses my Basic Low Carb Flour Mix.

DISCLOSURE: I am an affiliate for these products that I recommend. If you purchase these items through my links, I will earn a commission, but you will not pay more when buying a product through my link. 🙂

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When I first began low carb baking seriously over one year ago, I had way more failures than I did successes. No one flour seemed to make anything edible—especially for my sons and husband. Almond flour was too heavy. I didn’t understand how much liquid/how many eggs to use with coconut flour—plus the texture was just off when I followed recipes using solely coconut flour. Don’t even get me started on the recipes I tried using straight flax or oat fiber.

Then I started reading about low carbers who were having success at combining non-grain flours. All Day I Dream About Food used two thirds to three fourths almond flour and the remainder of coconut flour quite often in her recipes. Other low carbers had various combinations—and some were even in mix form (that you mix up and use cup-for-cup in place of regular flour). This appealed to me because I have been a “make a mix” cook for many years (starting twenty-four years ago this summer with the book Make a Mix Cookery).
Thus, I began a quest to combine low carb flours into a baking mix that my family would eat—and that didn’t taste so “off.” (I also began making various low carb mixes—cake mix, brownie mix, “Bisquick,” and so on—so stay tuned as I unveil those throughout the summer.)

Breading Mix, Pecan Crust Mix, and BBQ Sauce Base

I have probably tried over twenty different variations in the past sixteen months or so. I had tried putting in some “gluten free” flours (that bake more like white wheat flour) and oat flour—both in an effort to dilute the low carb-not-real-flours. The results were better tasting, but the carb count was a little high.
I have come to the conclusion that I need a basic flour combination that I can live with—and then mix it with oat flour, sprouted wheat flour, and/or gluten free blends to get a more normal taste when I am baking for my kids. (See my info on using less low carb flour in general for better tasting results in the post “Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Low Carb Baking and Treat Making.”) This solved the “two mixes—one very low carb and one more ‘family-friendly low carb’” problem and helped me get this mix to be tastier for those who are not used to low carb flours. That has been working for me for about six months now, so I am going to stick with that. (See more info about various uses and ideas in the Recipe Labels and Variations section beneath recipe.)

I know that I will get asked if you can sub this or that—and you can. The combination is up to you and is dependent upon your budget, the availability of products, your family’s taste, and even your carb “budget.” I have put the approximate carb count of the products that I use in this mixture in parentheses. I will say, though, that if you can bite the bullet and buy the products and make it one time, you will have the products for refills of the mix over and over since it uses small amounts of various things and since it is a bulk mix (makes a lot). (Then I recommend buying the products one at a time each month or however often you order or go to stores carrying the products, so that it will not feel overwhelming to continue making the mix cost-wise.)

Yummy strawberry crepes made with the Basic Flour Mix

For substitution purposes, here are some general guidelines:

(1)     Obviously, any substitutions will potentially alter the final outcome of a recipe and the taste (at least from what my recipe tester and I got when we made it just as is). Keep that in mind when using substitutions.

(2)     If you want to keep the mix super low carb (as it is written), be sure to substitute products with the same or similar carb count. (For example, oat fiber has a zero carb net count so if you substitute oat flour {at approximately eighty carbs per cup} for oat fiber, the carbohydrate total will be MUCH higher than a version with oat fiber.)

(3)     You can also double some of the flours that have the same count and omit one. This would make fewer number of total products to buy, but you are going to miss a little bit of the dilution factor if you do not care for the taste of any one single flour.

(4)     If you are making substitutions, I would be careful that the coconut flour is not more than twenty-five percent of the total mix since it requires much more moisture (especially eggs) in order to bake with it straight up. Your baked goods might be too dry with too much coconut flour.

(5)     I gave a few suggestions in the recipe to help you with substitutions. If you are trying to just buy a couple of things to start with, you could do a combination of ½ almond flour, ¼ coconut flour, and ¼ oat fiber and then grow from there as your budget allows.

So….here is the final version (!). I will link recipes to this Low Carb Mix as I put them up. I have a lot of recipes that I have used with this mix over the past year and many more in my “to test” file. So stay tuned!

Note: Given carb counts are from the products that I used and are all net carbs—total carbs minus fiber.

Basic Low Carb Flour Mix

•3 cups almond flour (12 net carbs per cup–TOTAL  36)

•3/4 cup coconut flour (24 net carbs per cup–TOTAL 18)

•1/2 cup golden flax (OR more oat fiber—be sure you like oat fiber; it is kind of strong) (0 net carbs per cup–TOTAL 0)

•1/2 cup vital wheat gluten (OR if you do not want gluten in your mix, you could use more coconut flour, a half cup of oat flour or quinoa flour, or more almond; I love putting gluten in my low carb baked goods) (24 net carbs per cup–TOTAL 12)

•¾ cup oat fiber (OR more golden flax) (0 net carbs per cup–TOTAL 0)

•½ cup plain whey protein powder (OR may be omitted or just increase almond flour) (16 net carbs per cup–TOTAL 8)

•3 TBSP Glucomman (OR may use xatham gum) (0 net carbs per cup–TOTAL 0)

Note: Carb counts vary among products. For example, some gluten free flours have 110 carbs per cup, while Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour has eighty! Be sure to check carb counts on various products!

Makes approximately six total cups. Each cup has approximately 12 NET carbs in it.

While this Basic Flour Mix can be used in place of almond flour alone or in place of any flours in a recipe (can be used to replace almond flour, coconut flour, and whey protein, for example, in a recipe that has all three of those items), here are a couple of my recipes to get you started using this mix:

1. Low Carb Crepes

2. Chicken Noodle Soup

3. BEST Low Carb Biscuits

Recipe Labels and Variations

Low Carb (LC): This is about as low carb of a mixture that you will get in low carb baking (except for straight up flax or oat fiber). You could get approximately the same carb count with almond flour alone, but I don’t like feeding us huge handfuls of nuts over and over again every time we eat any baked good. (I know the low carb high fat people say it doesn’t matter, but it feels like it matters!)

 Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): Again, to make this more Family-Friendly Low Carb—or to just create a healthier baking mix for your family that is not reliant on processed or over-consumed white flour and other grains, you can do a couple of things: (1) Make this as it is listed and use it half and half with oat flour, quinoa flour, sprouted wheat, or other higher-carb flours that bake up more like regular grains; (2) Make this almost as it is given but use a higher carb flour for any of the really low ones. For example, if you use Bob’s Red Mill Oat Flour or sprouted white wheat flour for some of the flours, you can still end up with a forty-carb-per-cup mix that is healthy as opposed to a one-hundred-carb-per-cup grain (white or wheat flour) that is less healthy. Family-Friendly Low Carbing is a very healthy approach to baking!

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS): While this is not an SBS model, it is that mindset—get something you can use easily and quickly later so that you don’t have to spend so much time mixing flours, getting out various products all at once, etc. Make the mix once (or double it!), and you have a “homemade convenience food.” 🙂

Homemade Hannah (HH): This is very homemade! You can make this completely whole-foods as written above. Coming from a HH background myself (out of necessity of cooking for a family of nine on one income), I adore mixes and always have. If you are a HH who has never used mixes, keep following Character Ink’s blog. You will love what is upcoming!

Freezer Cooking (FC): This isn’t in my monthly freezer entrees since it really isn’t an entrée; however, you can make up a double batch and store one in your pantry for everyday use and put one batch in the freezer for later.

Oldie Goldie Family Recipes (OG): Mixes are definitely Oldie Goldie for me as I began cooking and baking with them twenty-five years ago before the birth of our fourth child. They have been a huge part of my kitchen ever since I can remember.

Trim Healthy Mama (THM): This is an S baking mix as it is written due to the heavy almond flour amount. However, it could easily be made into a Fuel Pull or an E mix by reducing the amount of almond flour. For the FP, you would reduce the amount of almond flour and replace it with oat fiber. For the E mix, you would reduce the amount of almond flour and replace it with oat flour or sprouted wheat flour. Easy peasy! Also, like the suggestions above for the Family-Friendly Low Carbers, you could make it as it is listed and then use half and half—half Basic Low Carb Flour Mix and half oat fiber for FP OR half Basic Low Carb Flour Mix and half oat flour or sprouted wheat for E mix. (I do not do much FP or E baking, but I would do the latter–make the Basic Flour MIx and use it half and half with oat fiber (FP) or half and half with oat flour (E) rather than making up multiple mixes.)

Sugar Free (SF): Sugar-free!

Cycle Cooking (CYC): While this isn’t in my “Crumbled Ground Beef Cycle” or “Shredded Chicken Cycle” or “Chicken Breast and Tenders Cycle,” I do rotate a cycle of mix cooking—a day in which I make a lot of mixes/refill my mixes. I love Cycle Cooking!

Gluten Free (GF): This can definitely be gluten-free if you do not add the gluten and you are sure your oat fiber is completely gluten free. Again, just like the Family-Friendly Low Carb and the THM E mix options given above, if you are not after low carb but simply after healthier and gluten-free baking options, you may omit the lower carb flours (oat fiber, golden flax, etc.) and use part oat flour or part gluten-free flour. (Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour is the lowest carb gluten-free flour I have found—by many carbs in some cases!) Also, you can do the option of making it as is and using half Basic Low Carb Flour Mix and half gluten-free flour for a healthier alternative to just gluten-free flour (which is often made with corn starch, rice flour, and other “white” flours).

Low Carb Mixes (LCM): Yay for Low Carb Mixes!

DISCLOSURE: I am an affiliate for these products that I recommend. If you purchase these items through my links, I will earn a commission, but you will not pay more when buying a product through my link. 🙂

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My pasta, lasagna, wrap problems have been solved! DJ Foodie from Low Carb and Loving It recommended using crepes for lasagna and wrap substitutes, and I took his advice–now I always have a container full of savory and a container full of sweet crepes in my freezer, ready to make wraps, lasagna, noodle soup, noodles with sauce (red or white), tuna noodle casserole….you name it, I can make it–VERY LOW CARB!

Unlike zucchini noodles, chicken noodles, almond flour dumplings, cheese noodles (!), etc., these actually DO taste like pasta. You can see in the bowl above how they really do look like a noodle (and taste like one!). Amazing!

Some tips for using the crepes:

1. Store them in the freezer separated by parchment, wax paper, etc. (or they might stick together and fall apart when you try to remove them). This also allows you to get one out at a time–quick chicken noodle soup for one? Broth, a little shredded chicken from your freezer, seasonings, slice a crepe into it–voila–chicken noodle soup at four or five carbs total instead of thirty from a can!

Savory Crepes – Cold meat, cheese stick, and spicy mustard!

2. They are great as wraps. If you are tired of rolled up meat and string cheese snacks–make a wrap! You can afford it carb-wise with these crepes!

3. To use in recipes like spaghetti, casserole, etc., I just slice them the size I want and fold them in. For recipes like soups or broth-based uses, I prefer to fold them in when serving, so they don’t dissolve by sitting in broth too long.

4. For lasagna, enchilada casserole, baked burrito casserole, or any Mexican layered casserole, I just slice them to the right size (like lasagna noodles) and place them directly in my casserole.

5. They do not crisp well (because of the egg and cream cheese), so I do not recommend trying to crisp them like you would Joseph’s pitas or Missions low carb tortillas.

6. These are SUPER low carb (depending on the flour you use–I use a combination of those flours listed in the recipe and sometimes I even use unflavored protein powder for part!). So even those on induction type low carb diets, Trim Healthy Mama (S meals), etc., can probably use these!

Crepes sliced and made into chicken noodle soup!

Basic Low Carb Crepes—SAVORY

5 egg

½-plus cup Basic Flour Mix (any combination of the following–heaviest on the almond flour: almond flour, coconut flour, oat fiber, golden flax, vital wheat gluten)

3 oz. cream cheese

1 tsp Swerve or Splenda*

½ tsp salt

¼ cup-plus half and half or cream as needed

*You can increase this a lot to create sweet crepes rather than savory ones!

1. In food processor, pulse eggs and cream cheese until smooth.
2. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. (Do not add half and half or cream until all ingredients are pulsed—and add a little at a time.)
3. Heat a small 6 “ non-stick pan, spray with cooking spray.
4. Using ¼ cup of batter, pour first crepe into skillet.
5. Tilt pan to spread out batter evenly and cook over medium heat.
6. When one side is done, flip crepe and cook five to ten seconds on second side.
7. Set aside in a plate and cook remaining crepes.

Ten Crepes; each one has approximately 40 calories; 3 grams protein; 3 grams fat; 1 net carb

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