Preliminary Lakanto Report

Okay, I've tried the Lakanto in a few recipes. So far I've made:

* Flax Granola. Came out great. Really wonderful. I'm going to make more over the weekend, so I'll have it on hand when I get home from surgery on Friday.

* Ice Cream. MAGNIFICENT. Just really fantastic in every way. Here's how I did it:

In a saucepan I whisked together:

3 cups heavy cream
2 eggs
1/2 cup Lakanto
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon butter flavoring
1/4 teaspoon blackstrap molasses
1 small pinch salt

I put this over a very low burner, placing a heat diffuser between the pan and the flame. This meant the mixture warmed very, very slowly. I whisked it well every few minutes; if I'd heated it more quickly I would have had to stand there whisking the whole time. As it was, I just puttered around the kitchen and stirred my custard every time I went by the stove. It took a good 90 minutes to get up to about 180 (I used a thermometer.) I let it cool, then put it in a snap-top container and refrigerated it overnight.

Next day I froze the custard in my Donvier; no doubt any ice cream freezer would do. It was fantastic, strongly vanilla with a butterscotch edge reminiscent of the cookie part of a Toll House cookie. In keeping with that theme, I threw a handful of CarbSmart sugar free chocolate chips (look to your left) into mine.

Just rich and decadent and wonderful. I'm so pleased, because Splenda-sweetened ice cream is problematic. Ice cream is one of those desserts where the sugar has as great an effect on the texture as on the flavor, and Splenda-sweetened ice cream comes out icy and hard. This had the creamy texture we all know and love.

* Lemon Glazed Chicken

Wanted a quick supper the other night, and had a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the house. I find them dry and bland on their own, but this made them a real treat.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, between 6-8 ounces each
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon coconut or peanut oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons Lakanto
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon concentrate
1 teaspoon grated ginger root
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Salt and pepper your chicken breasts on either side. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in your big, heavy skillet. Throw in your chicken breasts and give them 3-5 minutes per side, just enough to color them a light gold.

While that's happening, stir everything else together.

When the chicken's lightly golden on both sides, pour in the lemon mixture and turn the burner to low; you want the mixture to just simmer. Don't cover the skillet. Set your oven timer to 5 minutes.

When the timer beeps, flip the chicken, and set the timer for another 5 minutes. When it beeps, your chicken's done. Fish it out and put it on a plate. Turn up the burner a little, and boil down the sauce till it's a bit syrupy. Serve over the chicken.

A little sliced scallion on top would look pretty and taste good, but we didn't have any in the house, and it still was quite yummy.

You could do this recipe with Splenda, but the sauce wouldn't have the same syrupy texture. You'd want to thicken it a little with your guar or xanthan shaker.

* Peanut Butter Cookies. My one Lakanto failure. These were bad. Really quite bad. Heavy, hard, dry. However, I have to add that I was out of my usual almond meal, and tried using coconut flour, which I had on hand, instead. That might well have been the problem, rather than the Lakanto. However, these also had the characteristic cooling sensation on the tongue, which to me was an odd thing for a peanut butter cookie. I'll try again and report back.