RECIPE - Saffire's Chocolate Bars

I got some ideas from here and from eating a Z-Carb chocolate bar and
decided to experiment with making my own bars. I've come up with
several recipes over the last few months and even posted one earlier,
but I've finally come up with a "final" recipe that works for ME. I
like to use Scharffen-Berger 99% cocoa bars (I get them at Whole Foods),
but they ARE very expensive and that's some pretty concentrated
chocolate. I tried just Nestle's unsweetened baking chocolate only, and
they were good, but after using the Scharffen-Berger, they weren't very
decadent since they weren't as chocolately. So I compromised and I use
one square of the S-B and one square of the Nestle's. I remembered how
much I liked the combination of chocolate and raisins when I was a kid,
so I decided to splurge on carbs and add a small amount of chopped
raisins to the batch. I know that stevia is good for one end of
chocolate, while Splenda is good for the other end (don't remember which
order is tasted first or last as far as tongue sensitivity goes), so I
use that too. People talked about erythritol here, so I experimented
with that. I try to use liquid Splenda (first from Locarber.com and
then from Sweetzfree (there IS a BIG difference in concentration)) for
most of my sweetening since they have zero carbs compared to granulated
or powdered Splenda. They do get kind of melty on the fingers, but I
figure that not putting wax into it is a nice trade-off. They DO stay
harder at room temperature in the cooler weather at least :-) With that
long explanation out of the way, I hereby present Saffire's Chocolate
Bars as of 12/14/04:

Saffire's Chocolate Bars

Chocolate, Baking, Nestle's - 1 bar
Chocolate, Baking, Scharffen-Berger 99% - 1 bar
4 tbl butter (I like Irish butter from Trader Joe's)
2 tbl milk & egg protein powder (Whole Foods bulk bin)
1 tbl stevia (Trader Joe's blend)
2 tbl erythritol (from Netrition.com)
25 drops Sweetzfree.com liquid Splenda syrup
raisins, minced - 14g (1/2 ounce)
4 tbl slivered almonds

Break the 2 chocolate bars into small pieces and melt them with the
butter (I first melt the bars only at 30% power in an 1100W microwave
for 5 minutes, add the butter, then heat some more at 30% for 90 more
seconds). Blend well with a small wire wisk. Add remaining ingredients
and blend well. Let cool to room temperature. Spread in buttered 6" x
10" pan (or whatever you have to work with). Refrigerate. When
hardened, cut into 8 pieces. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info for 1 of 8 servings using the above-specified
ingredients (taking into account erythritol having EFFECTIVE carbs of
..75/tbl) -- does NOT count butter used to grease the pan:

NET carbs 3.945 each

calories: 151
fat: 13.5
saturated fat: 7.747
cholesterol: 15.6
sodium: 43.91
carbs: 5.42
fiber: 1.48
protein: 2.5

--
Saffire
205/147/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

"Saffire" wrote in message
...
I got some ideas from here and from eating a Z-Carb chocolate bar and
decided to experiment with making my own bars. I've come up with
several recipes over the last few months and even posted one earlier,
but I've finally come up with a "final" recipe that works for ME. I
like to use Scharffen-Berger 99% cocoa bars (I get them at Whole Foods),
but they ARE very expensive and that's some pretty concentrated
chocolate. I tried just Nestle's unsweetened baking chocolate only, and
they were good, but after using the Scharffen-Berger, they weren't very
decadent since they weren't as chocolately. So I compromised and I use
one square of the S-B and one square of the Nestle's. I remembered how
much I liked the combination of chocolate and raisins when I was a kid,
so I decided to splurge on carbs and add a small amount of chopped
raisins to the batch. I know that stevia is good for one end of
chocolate, while Splenda is good for the other end (don't remember which
order is tasted first or last as far as tongue sensitivity goes), so I
use that too. People talked about erythritol here, so I experimented
with that. I try to use liquid Splenda (first from Locarber.com and
then from Sweetzfree (there IS a BIG difference in concentration)) for
most of my sweetening since they have zero carbs compared to granulated
or powdered Splenda. They do get kind of melty on the fingers, but I
figure that not putting wax into it is a nice trade-off. They DO stay
harder at room temperature in the cooler weather at least :-) With that
long explanation out of the way, I hereby present Saffire's Chocolate
Bars as of 12/14/04:

Saffire's Chocolate Bars

Chocolate, Baking, Nestle's - 1 bar
Chocolate, Baking, Scharffen-Berger 99% - 1 bar
4 tbl butter (I like Irish butter from Trader Joe's)
2 tbl milk & egg protein powder (Whole Foods bulk bin)
1 tbl stevia (Trader Joe's blend)
2 tbl erythritol (from Netrition.com)
25 drops Sweetzfree.com liquid Splenda syrup
raisins, minced - 14g (1/2 ounce)
4 tbl slivered almonds

Break the 2 chocolate bars into small pieces and melt them with the
butter (I first melt the bars only at 30% power in an 1100W microwave
for 5 minutes, add the butter, then heat some more at 30% for 90 more
seconds). Blend well with a small wire wisk. Add remaining ingredients
and blend well. Let cool to room temperature. Spread in buttered 6" x
10" pan (or whatever you have to work with). Refrigerate. When
hardened, cut into 8 pieces. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info for 1 of 8 servings using the above-specified
ingredients (taking into account erythritol having EFFECTIVE carbs of
.75/tbl) -- does NOT count butter used to grease the pan:

NET carbs 3.945 each

calories: 151
fat: 13.5
saturated fat: 7.747
cholesterol: 15.6
sodium: 43.91
carbs: 5.42
fiber: 1.48
protein: 2.5

--
Saffire
205/147/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

I'd love to try that Saffire, but I'm not sure that I could find all those
ingredients even in a major store or Wal-Mart or anything. Around here in
south Texas, anything that doesn't come from a cow is considered imported.


I'll study that some more and see what I can do.

In article DUQvd.764$7s5.140@okepread03, says...

"Saffire" wrote in message
...
I got some ideas from here and from eating a Z-Carb chocolate bar and
decided to experiment with making my own bars. I've come up with
several recipes over the last few months and even posted one earlier,
but I've finally come up with a "final" recipe that works for ME. I
like to use Scharffen-Berger 99% cocoa bars (I get them at Whole Foods),
but they ARE very expensive and that's some pretty concentrated
chocolate. I tried just Nestle's unsweetened baking chocolate only, and
they were good, but after using the Scharffen-Berger, they weren't very
decadent since they weren't as chocolately. So I compromised and I use
one square of the S-B and one square of the Nestle's. I remembered how
much I liked the combination of chocolate and raisins when I was a kid,
so I decided to splurge on carbs and add a small amount of chopped
raisins to the batch. I know that stevia is good for one end of
chocolate, while Splenda is good for the other end (don't remember which
order is tasted first or last as far as tongue sensitivity goes), so I
use that too. People talked about erythritol here, so I experimented
with that. I try to use liquid Splenda (first from Locarber.com and
then from Sweetzfree (there IS a BIG difference in concentration)) for
most of my sweetening since they have zero carbs compared to granulated
or powdered Splenda. They do get kind of melty on the fingers, but I
figure that not putting wax into it is a nice trade-off. They DO stay
harder at room temperature in the cooler weather at least :-) With that
long explanation out of the way, I hereby present Saffire's Chocolate
Bars as of 12/14/04:

Saffire's Chocolate Bars

Chocolate, Baking, Nestle's - 1 bar
Chocolate, Baking, Scharffen-Berger 99% - 1 bar
4 tbl butter (I like Irish butter from Trader Joe's)
2 tbl milk & egg protein powder (Whole Foods bulk bin)
1 tbl stevia (Trader Joe's blend)
2 tbl erythritol (from Netrition.com)
25 drops Sweetzfree.com liquid Splenda syrup
raisins, minced - 14g (1/2 ounce)
4 tbl slivered almonds

I'd love to try that Saffire, but I'm not sure that I could find all those
ingredients even in a major store or Wal-Mart or anything. Around here in
south Texas, anything that doesn't come from a cow is considered imported.


I'll study that some more and see what I can do.

Yeah, like I said, I experimented over the course of several months, so
I picked up ingredients here and there partly in general for low-carb
(stevia, Sweetzfree), partly just trying things out along the line
(Irish butter -- I LOVE that stuff!) and partly because I decided to
take the plunge and try something REALLY decadent (Scharffen-Berger
chocolate). You can use Hersey's or Baker's baking chocolate instead of
Nestle's (or instead of the Scharffen-Berger for that matter; it just
won't be as chocolatey) -- whatever's in the baking aisle at the grocery
store. I'm sure any old protein powder would do -- I tried and liked
the milk & egg one from Whole Foods (it smells nice, kind of like
cookies).

The erythritol was DEFINITELY something foreign and I have no IDEA where
to get it other than Netrition.com (which usually has the cheapest
shipping at $4.95) or some other place. It's probably difficult to find
on ANY store shelf. I specifically bought it to try making my own
chocolate bars. It looks and tastes pretty much like regular old
granulated sugar with a cool, sweet (but not chemical-tasting)
aftertaste. One thing about it that was disconcerting, however, is that
the granulation doesn't seem to go away no matter HOW much you mix it.
I used twice as much of it at first and less liquid Splenda, but it was
too grainy, so I cut down on it, added the stevia and adjusted the
liquid Splenda instead. The bars are actually pretty sweet and might be
TOO sweet (or not sweet ENOUGH) for some. Some days I think it just
depends on what my tongue wants and perceives ;-)

All of the exotic-sounding ingredients was recommended here in ASDLC at
some point, so thank you all for the recommendations and courage to try
different things!

--
Saffire
205/147/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

In article DUQvd.764$7s5.140@okepread03, says...

"Saffire" wrote in message
...
I got some ideas from here and from eating a Z-Carb chocolate bar and
decided to experiment with making my own bars. I've come up with
several recipes over the last few months and even posted one earlier,
but I've finally come up with a "final" recipe that works for ME. I
like to use Scharffen-Berger 99% cocoa bars (I get them at Whole Foods),
but they ARE very expensive and that's some pretty concentrated
chocolate. I tried just Nestle's unsweetened baking chocolate only, and
they were good, but after using the Scharffen-Berger, they weren't very
decadent since they weren't as chocolately. So I compromised and I use
one square of the S-B and one square of the Nestle's. I remembered how
much I liked the combination of chocolate and raisins when I was a kid,
so I decided to splurge on carbs and add a small amount of chopped
raisins to the batch. I know that stevia is good for one end of
chocolate, while Splenda is good for the other end (don't remember which
order is tasted first or last as far as tongue sensitivity goes), so I
use that too. People talked about erythritol here, so I experimented
with that. I try to use liquid Splenda (first from Locarber.com and
then from Sweetzfree (there IS a BIG difference in concentration)) for
most of my sweetening since they have zero carbs compared to granulated
or powdered Splenda. They do get kind of melty on the fingers, but I
figure that not putting wax into it is a nice trade-off. They DO stay
harder at room temperature in the cooler weather at least :-) With that
long explanation out of the way, I hereby present Saffire's Chocolate
Bars as of 12/14/04:

Saffire's Chocolate Bars

Chocolate, Baking, Nestle's - 1 bar
Chocolate, Baking, Scharffen-Berger 99% - 1 bar
4 tbl butter (I like Irish butter from Trader Joe's)
2 tbl milk & egg protein powder (Whole Foods bulk bin)
1 tbl stevia (Trader Joe's blend)
2 tbl erythritol (from Netrition.com)
25 drops Sweetzfree.com liquid Splenda syrup
raisins, minced - 14g (1/2 ounce)
4 tbl slivered almonds

I'd love to try that Saffire, but I'm not sure that I could find all those
ingredients even in a major store or Wal-Mart or anything. Around here in
south Texas, anything that doesn't come from a cow is considered imported.


I'll study that some more and see what I can do.

Yeah, like I said, I experimented over the course of several months, so
I picked up ingredients here and there partly in general for low-carb
(stevia, Sweetzfree), partly just trying things out along the line
(Irish butter -- I LOVE that stuff!) and partly because I decided to
take the plunge and try something REALLY decadent (Scharffen-Berger
chocolate). You can use Hersey's or Baker's baking chocolate instead of
Nestle's (or instead of the Scharffen-Berger for that matter; it just
won't be as chocolatey) -- whatever's in the baking aisle at the grocery
store. I'm sure any old protein powder would do -- I tried and liked
the milk & egg one from Whole Foods (it smells nice, kind of like
cookies).

The erythritol was DEFINITELY something foreign and I have no IDEA where
to get it other than Netrition.com (which usually has the cheapest
shipping at $4.95) or some other place. It's probably difficult to find
on ANY store shelf. I specifically bought it to try making my own
chocolate bars. It looks and tastes pretty much like regular old
granulated sugar with a cool, sweet (but not chemical-tasting)
aftertaste. One thing about it that was disconcerting, however, is that
the granulation doesn't seem to go away no matter HOW much you mix it.
I used twice as much of it at first and less liquid Splenda, but it was
too grainy, so I cut down on it, added the stevia and adjusted the
liquid Splenda instead. The bars are actually pretty sweet and might be
TOO sweet (or not sweet ENOUGH) for some. Some days I think it just
depends on what my tongue wants and perceives ;-)

All of the exotic-sounding ingredients was recommended here in ASDLC at
some point, so thank you all for the recommendations and courage to try
different things!

--
Saffire
205/147/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

"Saffire" wrote in message
.. .
In article DUQvd.764$7s5.140@okepread03, says...

"Saffire" wrote in message
...
I got some ideas from here and from eating a Z-Carb chocolate bar and
decided to experiment with making my own bars. I've come up with
several recipes over the last few months and even posted one earlier,
but I've finally come up with a "final" recipe that works for ME. I
like to use Scharffen-Berger 99% cocoa bars (I get them at Whole
Foods),
but they ARE very expensive and that's some pretty concentrated
chocolate. I tried just Nestle's unsweetened baking chocolate only,
and
they were good, but after using the Scharffen-Berger, they weren't very
decadent since they weren't as chocolately. So I compromised and I use
one square of the S-B and one square of the Nestle's. I remembered how
much I liked the combination of chocolate and raisins when I was a kid,
so I decided to splurge on carbs and add a small amount of chopped
raisins to the batch. I know that stevia is good for one end of
chocolate, while Splenda is good for the other end (don't remember
which
order is tasted first or last as far as tongue sensitivity goes), so I
use that too. People talked about erythritol here, so I experimented
with that. I try to use liquid Splenda (first from Locarber.com and
then from Sweetzfree (there IS a BIG difference in concentration)) for
most of my sweetening since they have zero carbs compared to granulated
or powdered Splenda. They do get kind of melty on the fingers, but I
figure that not putting wax into it is a nice trade-off. They DO stay
harder at room temperature in the cooler weather at least :-) With
that
long explanation out of the way, I hereby present Saffire's Chocolate
Bars as of 12/14/04:

Saffire's Chocolate Bars

Chocolate, Baking, Nestle's - 1 bar
Chocolate, Baking, Scharffen-Berger 99% - 1 bar
4 tbl butter (I like Irish butter from Trader Joe's)
2 tbl milk & egg protein powder (Whole Foods bulk bin)
1 tbl stevia (Trader Joe's blend)
2 tbl erythritol (from Netrition.com)
25 drops Sweetzfree.com liquid Splenda syrup
raisins, minced - 14g (1/2 ounce)
4 tbl slivered almonds

I'd love to try that Saffire, but I'm not sure that I could find all
those
ingredients even in a major store or Wal-Mart or anything. Around here
in
south Texas, anything that doesn't come from a cow is considered
imported.


I'll study that some more and see what I can do.

Yeah, like I said, I experimented over the course of several months, so
I picked up ingredients here and there partly in general for low-carb
(stevia, Sweetzfree), partly just trying things out along the line
(Irish butter -- I LOVE that stuff!) and partly because I decided to
take the plunge and try something REALLY decadent (Scharffen-Berger
chocolate). You can use Hersey's or Baker's baking chocolate instead of
Nestle's (or instead of the Scharffen-Berger for that matter; it just
won't be as chocolatey) -- whatever's in the baking aisle at the grocery
store. I'm sure any old protein powder would do -- I tried and liked
the milk & egg one from Whole Foods (it smells nice, kind of like
cookies).

The erythritol was DEFINITELY something foreign and I have no IDEA where
to get it other than Netrition.com (which usually has the cheapest
shipping at $4.95) or some other place. It's probably difficult to find
on ANY store shelf. I specifically bought it to try making my own
chocolate bars. It looks and tastes pretty much like regular old
granulated sugar with a cool, sweet (but not chemical-tasting)
aftertaste. One thing about it that was disconcerting, however, is that
the granulation doesn't seem to go away no matter HOW much you mix it.
I used twice as much of it at first and less liquid Splenda, but it was
too grainy, so I cut down on it, added the stevia and adjusted the
liquid Splenda instead. The bars are actually pretty sweet and might be
TOO sweet (or not sweet ENOUGH) for some. Some days I think it just
depends on what my tongue wants and perceives ;-)

All of the exotic-sounding ingredients was recommended here in ASDLC at
some point, so thank you all for the recommendations and courage to try
different things!

--
Saffire
205/147/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

So you can't just use powdered Splenda as a subbie? Just trying to get a
grasp, here.

"Saffire" wrote in message
.. .
In article DUQvd.764$7s5.140@okepread03, says...

"Saffire" wrote in message
...
I got some ideas from here and from eating a Z-Carb chocolate bar and
decided to experiment with making my own bars. I've come up with
several recipes over the last few months and even posted one earlier,
but I've finally come up with a "final" recipe that works for ME. I
like to use Scharffen-Berger 99% cocoa bars (I get them at Whole
Foods),
but they ARE very expensive and that's some pretty concentrated
chocolate. I tried just Nestle's unsweetened baking chocolate only,
and
they were good, but after using the Scharffen-Berger, they weren't very
decadent since they weren't as chocolately. So I compromised and I use
one square of the S-B and one square of the Nestle's. I remembered how
much I liked the combination of chocolate and raisins when I was a kid,
so I decided to splurge on carbs and add a small amount of chopped
raisins to the batch. I know that stevia is good for one end of
chocolate, while Splenda is good for the other end (don't remember
which
order is tasted first or last as far as tongue sensitivity goes), so I
use that too. People talked about erythritol here, so I experimented
with that. I try to use liquid Splenda (first from Locarber.com and
then from Sweetzfree (there IS a BIG difference in concentration)) for
most of my sweetening since they have zero carbs compared to granulated
or powdered Splenda. They do get kind of melty on the fingers, but I
figure that not putting wax into it is a nice trade-off. They DO stay
harder at room temperature in the cooler weather at least :-) With
that
long explanation out of the way, I hereby present Saffire's Chocolate
Bars as of 12/14/04:

Saffire's Chocolate Bars

Chocolate, Baking, Nestle's - 1 bar
Chocolate, Baking, Scharffen-Berger 99% - 1 bar
4 tbl butter (I like Irish butter from Trader Joe's)
2 tbl milk & egg protein powder (Whole Foods bulk bin)
1 tbl stevia (Trader Joe's blend)
2 tbl erythritol (from Netrition.com)
25 drops Sweetzfree.com liquid Splenda syrup
raisins, minced - 14g (1/2 ounce)
4 tbl slivered almonds

I'd love to try that Saffire, but I'm not sure that I could find all
those
ingredients even in a major store or Wal-Mart or anything. Around here
in
south Texas, anything that doesn't come from a cow is considered
imported.


I'll study that some more and see what I can do.

Yeah, like I said, I experimented over the course of several months, so
I picked up ingredients here and there partly in general for low-carb
(stevia, Sweetzfree), partly just trying things out along the line
(Irish butter -- I LOVE that stuff!) and partly because I decided to
take the plunge and try something REALLY decadent (Scharffen-Berger
chocolate). You can use Hersey's or Baker's baking chocolate instead of
Nestle's (or instead of the Scharffen-Berger for that matter; it just
won't be as chocolatey) -- whatever's in the baking aisle at the grocery
store. I'm sure any old protein powder would do -- I tried and liked
the milk & egg one from Whole Foods (it smells nice, kind of like
cookies).

The erythritol was DEFINITELY something foreign and I have no IDEA where
to get it other than Netrition.com (which usually has the cheapest
shipping at $4.95) or some other place. It's probably difficult to find
on ANY store shelf. I specifically bought it to try making my own
chocolate bars. It looks and tastes pretty much like regular old
granulated sugar with a cool, sweet (but not chemical-tasting)
aftertaste. One thing about it that was disconcerting, however, is that
the granulation doesn't seem to go away no matter HOW much you mix it.
I used twice as much of it at first and less liquid Splenda, but it was
too grainy, so I cut down on it, added the stevia and adjusted the
liquid Splenda instead. The bars are actually pretty sweet and might be
TOO sweet (or not sweet ENOUGH) for some. Some days I think it just
depends on what my tongue wants and perceives ;-)

All of the exotic-sounding ingredients was recommended here in ASDLC at
some point, so thank you all for the recommendations and courage to try
different things!

--
Saffire
205/147/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

So you can't just use powdered Splenda as a subbie? Just trying to get a
grasp, here.

I'm sure that chocolate bars will help you lose that last 20 pounds.

--
You take stupid to a new level. -- MFW


"Saffire" wrote in message
...
I got some ideas from here and from eating a Z-Carb chocolate bar and
decided to experiment with making my own bars. I've come up with
several recipes over the last few months and even posted one earlier,
but I've finally come up with a "final" recipe that works for ME. I
like to use Scharffen-Berger 99% cocoa bars (I get them at Whole Foods),
but they ARE very expensive and that's some pretty concentrated
chocolate. I tried just Nestle's unsweetened baking chocolate only, and
they were good, but after using the Scharffen-Berger, they weren't very
decadent since they weren't as chocolately. So I compromised and I use
one square of the S-B and one square of the Nestle's. I remembered how
much I liked the combination of chocolate and raisins when I was a kid,
so I decided to splurge on carbs and add a small amount of chopped
raisins to the batch. I know that stevia is good for one end of
chocolate, while Splenda is good for the other end (don't remember which
order is tasted first or last as far as tongue sensitivity goes), so I
use that too. People talked about erythritol here, so I experimented
with that. I try to use liquid Splenda (first from Locarber.com and
then from Sweetzfree (there IS a BIG difference in concentration)) for
most of my sweetening since they have zero carbs compared to granulated
or powdered Splenda. They do get kind of melty on the fingers, but I
figure that not putting wax into it is a nice trade-off. They DO stay
harder at room temperature in the cooler weather at least :-) With that
long explanation out of the way, I hereby present Saffire's Chocolate
Bars as of 12/14/04:

Saffire's Chocolate Bars

Chocolate, Baking, Nestle's - 1 bar
Chocolate, Baking, Scharffen-Berger 99% - 1 bar
4 tbl butter (I like Irish butter from Trader Joe's)
2 tbl milk & egg protein powder (Whole Foods bulk bin)
1 tbl stevia (Trader Joe's blend)
2 tbl erythritol (from Netrition.com)
25 drops Sweetzfree.com liquid Splenda syrup
raisins, minced - 14g (1/2 ounce)
4 tbl slivered almonds

Break the 2 chocolate bars into small pieces and melt them with the
butter (I first melt the bars only at 30% power in an 1100W microwave
for 5 minutes, add the butter, then heat some more at 30% for 90 more
seconds). Blend well with a small wire wisk. Add remaining ingredients
and blend well. Let cool to room temperature. Spread in buttered 6" x
10" pan (or whatever you have to work with). Refrigerate. When
hardened, cut into 8 pieces. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info for 1 of 8 servings using the above-specified
ingredients (taking into account erythritol having EFFECTIVE carbs of
.75/tbl) -- does NOT count butter used to grease the pan:

NET carbs 3.945 each

calories: 151
fat: 13.5
saturated fat: 7.747
cholesterol: 15.6
sodium: 43.91
carbs: 5.42
fiber: 1.48
protein: 2.5

--
Saffire
205/147/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

I'm sure that chocolate bars will help you lose that last 20 pounds.

--
You take stupid to a new level. -- MFW


"Saffire" wrote in message
...
I got some ideas from here and from eating a Z-Carb chocolate bar and
decided to experiment with making my own bars. I've come up with
several recipes over the last few months and even posted one earlier,
but I've finally come up with a "final" recipe that works for ME. I
like to use Scharffen-Berger 99% cocoa bars (I get them at Whole Foods),
but they ARE very expensive and that's some pretty concentrated
chocolate. I tried just Nestle's unsweetened baking chocolate only, and
they were good, but after using the Scharffen-Berger, they weren't very
decadent since they weren't as chocolately. So I compromised and I use
one square of the S-B and one square of the Nestle's. I remembered how
much I liked the combination of chocolate and raisins when I was a kid,
so I decided to splurge on carbs and add a small amount of chopped
raisins to the batch. I know that stevia is good for one end of
chocolate, while Splenda is good for the other end (don't remember which
order is tasted first or last as far as tongue sensitivity goes), so I
use that too. People talked about erythritol here, so I experimented
with that. I try to use liquid Splenda (first from Locarber.com and
then from Sweetzfree (there IS a BIG difference in concentration)) for
most of my sweetening since they have zero carbs compared to granulated
or powdered Splenda. They do get kind of melty on the fingers, but I
figure that not putting wax into it is a nice trade-off. They DO stay
harder at room temperature in the cooler weather at least :-) With that
long explanation out of the way, I hereby present Saffire's Chocolate
Bars as of 12/14/04:

Saffire's Chocolate Bars

Chocolate, Baking, Nestle's - 1 bar
Chocolate, Baking, Scharffen-Berger 99% - 1 bar
4 tbl butter (I like Irish butter from Trader Joe's)
2 tbl milk & egg protein powder (Whole Foods bulk bin)
1 tbl stevia (Trader Joe's blend)
2 tbl erythritol (from Netrition.com)
25 drops Sweetzfree.com liquid Splenda syrup
raisins, minced - 14g (1/2 ounce)
4 tbl slivered almonds

Break the 2 chocolate bars into small pieces and melt them with the
butter (I first melt the bars only at 30% power in an 1100W microwave
for 5 minutes, add the butter, then heat some more at 30% for 90 more
seconds). Blend well with a small wire wisk. Add remaining ingredients
and blend well. Let cool to room temperature. Spread in buttered 6" x
10" pan (or whatever you have to work with). Refrigerate. When
hardened, cut into 8 pieces. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info for 1 of 8 servings using the above-specified
ingredients (taking into account erythritol having EFFECTIVE carbs of
.75/tbl) -- does NOT count butter used to grease the pan:

NET carbs 3.945 each

calories: 151
fat: 13.5
saturated fat: 7.747
cholesterol: 15.6
sodium: 43.91
carbs: 5.42
fiber: 1.48
protein: 2.5

--
Saffire
205/147/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

In article bQSvd.772$7s5.100@okepread03, says...

"Saffire" wrote in message
.. .
In article DUQvd.764$7s5.140@okepread03, says...

"Saffire" wrote in message
...
I got some ideas from here and from eating a Z-Carb chocolate bar and
decided to experiment with making my own bars. I've come up with
several recipes over the last few months and even posted one earlier,
but I've finally come up with a "final" recipe that works for ME. I
like to use Scharffen-Berger 99% cocoa bars (I get them at Whole
Foods),
but they ARE very expensive and that's some pretty concentrated
chocolate. I tried just Nestle's unsweetened baking chocolate only,
and
they were good, but after using the Scharffen-Berger, they weren't very
decadent since they weren't as chocolately. So I compromised and I use
one square of the S-B and one square of the Nestle's. I remembered how
much I liked the combination of chocolate and raisins when I was a kid,
so I decided to splurge on carbs and add a small amount of chopped
raisins to the batch. I know that stevia is good for one end of
chocolate, while Splenda is good for the other end (don't remember
which
order is tasted first or last as far as tongue sensitivity goes), so I
use that too. People talked about erythritol here, so I experimented
with that. I try to use liquid Splenda (first from Locarber.com and
then from Sweetzfree (there IS a BIG difference in concentration)) for
most of my sweetening since they have zero carbs compared to granulated
or powdered Splenda. They do get kind of melty on the fingers, but I
figure that not putting wax into it is a nice trade-off. They DO stay
harder at room temperature in the cooler weather at least :-) With
that
long explanation out of the way, I hereby present Saffire's Chocolate
Bars as of 12/14/04:

Saffire's Chocolate Bars

Chocolate, Baking, Nestle's - 1 bar
Chocolate, Baking, Scharffen-Berger 99% - 1 bar
4 tbl butter (I like Irish butter from Trader Joe's)
2 tbl milk & egg protein powder (Whole Foods bulk bin)
1 tbl stevia (Trader Joe's blend)
2 tbl erythritol (from Netrition.com)
25 drops Sweetzfree.com liquid Splenda syrup
raisins, minced - 14g (1/2 ounce)
4 tbl slivered almonds

I'd love to try that Saffire, but I'm not sure that I could find all
those
ingredients even in a major store or Wal-Mart or anything. Around here
in
south Texas, anything that doesn't come from a cow is considered
imported.


I'll study that some more and see what I can do.

Yeah, like I said, I experimented over the course of several months, so
I picked up ingredients here and there partly in general for low-carb
(stevia, Sweetzfree), partly just trying things out along the line
(Irish butter -- I LOVE that stuff!) and partly because I decided to
take the plunge and try something REALLY decadent (Scharffen-Berger
chocolate). You can use Hersey's or Baker's baking chocolate instead of
Nestle's (or instead of the Scharffen-Berger for that matter; it just
won't be as chocolatey) -- whatever's in the baking aisle at the grocery
store. I'm sure any old protein powder would do -- I tried and liked
the milk & egg one from Whole Foods (it smells nice, kind of like
cookies).

The erythritol was DEFINITELY something foreign and I have no IDEA where
to get it other than Netrition.com (which usually has the cheapest
shipping at $4.95) or some other place. It's probably difficult to find
on ANY store shelf. I specifically bought it to try making my own
chocolate bars. It looks and tastes pretty much like regular old
granulated sugar with a cool, sweet (but not chemical-tasting)
aftertaste. One thing about it that was disconcerting, however, is that
the granulation doesn't seem to go away no matter HOW much you mix it.
I used twice as much of it at first and less liquid Splenda, but it was
too grainy, so I cut down on it, added the stevia and adjusted the
liquid Splenda instead. The bars are actually pretty sweet and might be
TOO sweet (or not sweet ENOUGH) for some. Some days I think it just
depends on what my tongue wants and perceives ;-)

All of the exotic-sounding ingredients was recommended here in ASDLC at
some point, so thank you all for the recommendations and courage to try
different things!

--
Saffire
205/147/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

So you can't just use powdered Splenda as a subbie? Just trying to get a
grasp, here.

As a subbie for which? Certainly as a subbie for liquid Splenda. You
could just use Spenda and no other sweetener -- it just depends on your
tastes. There is less likelihood of bitterness using a blend of
different sweeteners.

--
Saffire
205/147/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

Saffire wrote:
They do get kind of melty on the fingers, but I
figure that not putting wax into it is a nice trade-off.

Swap the butter for cocoa butter (which is about as hard as
the baking chocolate), and they will be a lot firmer.



Saffire's Chocolate Bars

Chocolate, Baking, Nestle's - 1 bar
Chocolate, Baking, Scharffen-Berger 99% - 1 bar
4 tbl butter (I like Irish butter from Trader Joe's)
2 tbl milk & egg protein powder (Whole Foods bulk bin)
1 tbl stevia (Trader Joe's blend)
2 tbl erythritol (from Netrition.com)
25 drops Sweetzfree.com liquid Splenda syrup
raisins, minced - 14g (1/2 ounce)
4 tbl slivered almonds

Break the 2 chocolate bars into small pieces and melt them with the
butter (I first melt the bars only at 30% power in an 1100W microwave
for 5 minutes, add the butter, then heat some more at 30% for 90 more
seconds). Blend well with a small wire wisk. Add remaining ingredients
and blend well. Let cool to room temperature. Spread in buttered 6" x
10" pan (or whatever you have to work with). Refrigerate. When
hardened, cut into 8 pieces. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info for 1 of 8 servings using the above-specified
ingredients (taking into account erythritol having EFFECTIVE carbs of
.75/tbl) -- does NOT count butter used to grease the pan:

NET carbs 3.945 each

calories: 151
fat: 13.5
saturated fat: 7.747
cholesterol: 15.6
sodium: 43.91
carbs: 5.42
fiber: 1.48
protein: 2.5



--
jamie )

"There's a seeker born every minute."