Your Guide to Carb Conscious Baking… on a Budget!

I tend to bake a bit more during November and December. Summers are all about grilling, fresh fruit and smoothies, but once the leaves fall (and good berries are harder to find up here in Minnesota!), I turn to the oven.

Whether it’s for potlucks and parties, Thanksgiving dessert, or Christmas cookies for our family, Nick and I spend a lot more time in the kitchen! I’ve got some great tips and tricks and money saving hacks to keep you on track and on budget this season!

As I go through some of my favorite stock up ingredients, the first question everyone asks is “What brand do you use?” I know it can be annoying, but I always respond with “it’s not the brand, it’s the blend!”. Unfortunately the same brands aren’t available across the US and the world, so understanding what to look for when you’re buying these ingredients is important - so you can buy the brand that is on sale or available to you!

With that being said, I will have Amazon links to the brands I use (affiliate -we earn a small percentage if you buy at no cost to you). You can check them out and see if they’re available at your local stores or online.

The best way to save money on baking during the holidays? Download our STOCK UP GUIDE below!

You can also subscribe to our recipe emails at the bottom of this page!

Stocking up your pantry

It’s easy to reduce carbs and sugar for your family - whether they’re Keto, low carb or gluten free! It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. If you just reduce SOME of the carbs and sugar in your kitchen, you’re making progress! We’re not talking about adding in fat here. Take your existing recipes and just make some simple swaps! As we walk through each of the ingredients below, we’ll talk about what to look for, what to avoid, and how to swap these in to recipes your family will love!

If you’re baking during the October/November/December season, be on the lookout for sales and STOCK UP! I’m writing this post in October and I’m already seeing sales on my favorite butter and sugar free chocolate chips!

Sweetener:

Swap: I start with sweetener because it’s one of the easiest things to switch out for a big impact. I can reduce the impact of my “carb” family recipes simply by swapping out the sugar. I’ll generally start by just removing half of the white sugar I usually put in and replace the second half with a Keto Sweetener. If that worked well, I’ll replace more next time! Need a sweetener refresh? Check out this post here.

Look for: sweetener “blends” that include 2 or more of the Keto sweeteners. These tend to be the most well liked. Monkfruit and Erythritol blends are most common and bake great in recipes. We buy at big box stores like Costco and Sam’s. Yes - you can stock up! These sweeteners have a LONG (year plus) shelf life! Right now we’re baking with Whole Earth Monkfruit and Erythritol sweetener.

Avoid: If you’ve watched us talk about sweeteners live on our Facebook page, you know to watch for the BLEND not the BRAND. A brand (like Splenda or Truvia) can have Keto blends and non-Keto blends. Make sure you check the ingredients!

Flour:

Swap: You can buy Keto flour almost anywhere now! Almond flour is the most popular and is 1:1 with regular wheat flour. Coconut flour and Lupin flours are other alternatives. Need a refresher on Keto flours? Check out this post here. I find almond flour a little more difficult to swap with existing recipes. Coconut flour can NOT be swapped out 1:1 because it absorbs more liquid. If you’re using coconut flour, it’s best to find a recipe that has already been created. You may find that almond flour recipes taste a little more “granular” at first as the flour isn’t as fine. Rather than try to pass off an existing recipe my family loves, I usually make something new. Like our Blueberry Muffins or Peanut Butter Chaffle.

Look for: I ALWAYS buy my flour from Costco or Sam’s! Freeze almond flour once it’s open to make it last longer. Unopened, these flours have a shorter shelf life than sweeteners, but still generally last 6 months to a year. I buy my “niche” flours like Lupin flour or Coconut flour when they’re on sale on Amazon or my local grocery store. We buy this almond flour or the Kirkland brand and this Aviate Lupin flour.

Avoid: Buying Almond flour is pretty straight forward. There are flour blends out there now - make sure you do read the ingredients… but they’re not very common.

Butter:

Swap: Get that margarine out of your kitchen and into the garbage! This is one swap your family will never know the difference, so it’s easy to make!

Look for: SALES! Especially near any holiday. Quality butter can be pricey, so stock up when you can. We even have followers that freeze butter! I always buy my butter from Costco or Sam’s and love when they have a sale! We usually get Kerrygold or the Kirkland brand.

Avoid: Don’t buy any butter imitation. Don’t blame the butter for what the bread did. Butter isn’t the enemy. Carbs, sugar and bad oils are!

Eggs:

Swap: Buy the “healthiest” eggs you can get. Look for pasture raised or organic eggs. Live in the suburbs? You’d be surprised how easy it might be to get farm fresh/yard fresh eggs! Just a simple swap that can provide a higher nutritional content to your Feta Eggs, or Breakfast Casserole!

Look for: SALES! Especially near any holiday. When they do go on sale, I’ll make some of our more egg-rich recipes (egg salad or french toast muffins!) and lean a little more heavily on meals like breakfast for dinner! I’ll save some of our other meat and veggie recipes for when eggs are not on sale.

Avoid: Always check your cartons for expiration dates and cracked eggs. If you’re buying from a local egg supply remember their eggs may greatly vary in size. I know ours do! If you need 2 large eggs for a recipe that requires precision… make sure you know what size you’re looking for!

Peanut Butter/Nut Butter:

Swap: Taking the sugar and processed oils out of your peanut butter is such a simple way to reduce carbs! I promise - no one will notice! Avoid vegetable oil, soybean oil, etc. Ingredients should be peanuts and salt! Not a peanut butter fan? This goes for all nut butters!

Something to note… I find when baking recipes that have peanut butter in them, they’re much more well liked by my family. The peanut butter tends to mask the sweetener and flour flavors. Give a recipe like our Peanut Butter cookies a try!

Look for: I don’t see as many sales on peanut butter, but it does last a long time. We get the Costco / Kirkland brand peanut butter and stock up on it. Check a few of your favorite stores and online and see what works best in your area. Crazy Richards is also a popular brand online.

Avoid: Again, it’s not the brand, it’s the ingredients! For example, Skippy Natural has sugar added. Skippy No Sugar Added does not.

Chocolate:

Swap: Whether it’s chocolate in your baking, or a treat in the afternoon, making the switch to a more carb conscious chocolate is easy to do! There are some amazing Keto Chocolate companies out there. If you haven’t tried Choc Zero, they are one of my favorite! (KETODAD for a 10% discount!). You’ll see options in your grocery store too! Lily’s is common, Bake Believe, and there are more “sugar free” options every year. If you don’t have access to these Keto options (that use a keto sweetener) a dark chocolate has less sugar than a milk chocolate. Buy some chocolate chips on sale and make our chocolate bark!

Look for: I buy direct from ChocZero (I’ll buy a season’s worth at a time for free shipping) and use a discount code (KETODAD). I sometimes see Lily’s Chocolate bars (for snacking) on sale at the grocery store. Costco and Sam’s Club have even carried keto chocolate chips in the past.

Avoid: I have definitely cut back on having chocolate as a snack or dessert and now just have it as a treat. Most name brands have non-keto sweeteners in them and are just as bad as the normal version. For example, the Reeses sugar free Peanut Butter cups have Maltitol as the first ingredient. SKIP the chocolates with maltitol, maltodextrin, sorbitol and dextrose. Those will give you an upset stomach or cause an insulin response like sugar does.

Nuts:

Swap: Instead of just baking foods like cookies and muffins, I also make lots of treats with nuts and seeds! Sliced almonds and pecans are my go to in everything from Granola to our wildly loved Peanut Butter Almond Bites. Since you’re not having to replace flour, they’re much closer to any “non-keto / carb-filled” version your family may be used to. Nuts also have more protein and will fill you up! Have you tried our candied pecans? Perfect for the holidays!

Look for: Value bags and sales! I ALWAYS buy my pecans and sliced almonds from Costco and Sams during the holiday season. If I can’t find them in the store, I can almost always have them shipped.

Avoid: Skip the pre-flavored or sweetened nuts. It’s easy to do it yourself and then you’ll know exactly what ingredients are in them!

Download our free Stock Up Guide and keep an eye out for these ingredients on sale over the holidays!