How to Make Keto-friendly Holiday Cookies

keto cookies

Many families enjoy baking and decorating cookies around the holidays. Your keto kid can join in the fun too with our KetoCal Almond Coconut Cookie recipe. As always, speak with your healthcare provider to ensure that this recipe is appropriate for your child’s diet.

This is your keto-version of basic “sugar” cookies (sans sugar of course). As the name suggests, they are made using almond and coconut flour, but people often describe them as tasting like shortbread cookies. Below are some festive ways to decorate your keto cookies!

Make Cookies in Festive Colors

You can make these cookies festive by adding carb-free food coloring to the batter before cooking. I like to divide the recipe in half and add red carb-free food coloring to one batch and green carb-free food coloring to the other.

Top with Colorful “Keto Sprinkles”

Another idea is to add colorful “keto sprinkles” to your cookies by mixing a small amount of carb-free food coloring into granulated stevia before adding it on top of the cookies.

Use Holiday-themed Cookie Cutters

You can also use mini holiday-themed cookie cutters to make your cookies into different shapes.

We would love to see the holiday cookies that your family creates – Please tag us if you post them on social media so that we can see what you come up with!

Happy keto baking!

KetoCal is a medical food for the dietary management of intractable epilepsy and is intended for use under medical supervision. Talk with your healthcare provider about whether KetoCal is right for you.

Recipe contains nuts (almond flour).

Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Chef Rachel Finn

She’s done it! – Chef Rachel, the amazing medical ketogenic diet chef, has come up with the perfect 4:1 cake recipe with the most delicious buttercream frosting! We recently debuted this cake recipe at the Glut1 Deficiency Foundation family meeting and it was a hit – lots of smiles, thumbs-ups, “yummy”s and requests for seconds from the kids (and some of the parents!). We hope you love it just as much!  

Note – You can also use this same recipe to make cake pops. This recipe is also available in a 3:1 ratio.

Makes approximately 6 servings (approximately 250 calories each). You can adjust serving size to yield desired calorie requirement. Ask your dietitian for help.

4:1 Vanilla Cake with Buttercream Frosting Recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 44 g KetoCal® 4:1 Powder
  • 42 g Almond flour (whole ground blanched almonds)
  • 46 g Egg (raw, mixed well)
  • 2 g Vanilla extract – pure
  • 2 g Baking powder – Calumet®* (Kraft®*)
  • 50 g Mayonnaise, Hellmann’s®*/Best Foods®*    
  • 40 g Butter
  • 60 g Cream, 36%
  • 7 g Pudding powder Kraft®* FatFr/SugarFr, Inst.Vanilla   

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 325 F.
  • Weigh KetoCal® powder, almond flour, egg, mayonnaise, baking powder, and vanilla extract. Save cream, butter, and pudding powder for later.
  • Mix KetoCal powder, almond flour, egg, mayonnaise, baking powder, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spatula until well blended.
  • Pour batter into a greased very small baking dish – we used a 7.5 x 5.5 x 1.8 (3 cup) glass baking dish.
  • Spread batter evenly in baking dish.
  • Place baking dish into the oven.
  • Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until edges start to brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Keep a close eye on it as it bakes as oven baking times may vary.
  • While baking, prepare your frosting recipe.
  • Weigh heavy cream, butter, and sugar-free pudding powder.
  • Add heavy cream to a large bowl. Using a hand blender, whip cream until it starts to stiffen to whipped cream consistency.
  • Add pudding powder and butter to the same bowl with the cream, then blend until mixture is blended. Do not over blend or frosting will become too stiff. If this happens, add a small amount of water to thin out frosting.
frosting
  • Remove cake from oven and allow to cool.
cake
Cake without frosting
  • Once cake is completely cool, spread frosting as evenly as possible over the top.
cake with frosting
Cake with frosting
  • Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator. Note – frosting will melt if exposed to heat or direct sunlight.

*Optional, add “keto sprinkles” (granulated stevia leaf extract sweetener mixed with a dash of food coloring) on top of the frosting. If you do this, be sure to add the stevia leaf extract sweetener as an ingredient to the recipe and account for any extra carbs – you may need to add a bit of extra butter to the frosting recipe to even out the ratio.

Cake decorated with “keto sprinkles”

Makes approximately 6 servings of cake (about 250 calories per serving). Can adjust serving size to reach needed calorie amount.

One serving of cake
One serving of cake (shown with “keto sprinkles”)

Nutritional Information:

For total recipe:

  • Calories: 1515

Per serving (6 servings per recipe):

  • Calories: 252

For full nutritional information for this 4:1 recipe – visit https://myketoplanner.com/4299-chef-rachel-s-4-1-vanilla-cake-buttercream-frosting-recipe-from-glut1-conference.aspx.

To view 3:1 recipe, visit https://myketoplanner.com/4301-chef-rachel-s-3-1-vanilla-cake-frosting-recipe-from-glut1-conference.aspx.

KetoCal® is medical food for the dietary management of intractable epilepsy and is intended for use under medical supervision. Talk to your healthcare provider about whether KetoCal is right for you.

*Hellmann’s® and Best Foods® are registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies. Calumet® and Kraft® are registered trademarks of Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC. Unilever and Kraft Foods Brands LLC are not affiliated with Nutricia North America and have not endorsed the proposed use of their products in this recipe. Specific brand names are referenced to ensure consistent nutritional composition necessary to maintain the medical ketogenic diet.

For more information on the medical ketogenic diet for the management of intractable epilepsy, visit www.ketogenicdietforepilepsy.com.


Silas & Kane’s Glut1DS & Ketogenic Diet Journey

My twin 18-month-old boys, Silas & Kane, just love music and new experiences. We just celebrated our 2nd Christmas! I love watching them light up seeing all the joy around us at this time of year. It brings us so much peace.

First Seizure Experience & a Misdiagnosis

When the boys were just 4 months old, Kane had his first seizure. I was so frightened as I was a new mom. I didn’t know what was happening. We all rushed to our local children’s hospital. While we were there, Silas started having “Aberrant Gaze Saccades”, also known as “Intermittent Involuntary Gaze (IIG)”, which looked like his eyes were crossed. He couldn’t shake out of it and would become very distressed. Lots of tests were being done on the boys and we spent days in the hospital.

One day, a few doctors came into our room and asked my husband and I, “how do you want us to tell you this information?”. My heart instantly broke and I felt a huge lump in my throat as I answered “just tell me straight up.” They told us that my twins had a rare condition called Leukodystrophy. They explained that there was no cure and that they would not live see their 5th birthday. To say I was devastated would be an understatement. I told myself that if there was any way on this earth I could get a miracle of a misdiagnosis, I would do everything in my power to make sure my boys have the best life possible.

Days later, we were so relieved to learn that the boys had in fact been misdiagnosed initially. After more agonizing days in the hospital and lots of blood tests, EEG’s, spinal taps & everything else, we got the REAL Diagnosis: Glut1 Deficiency Syndrome.

Glut1 Deficiency Syndrome & The Ketogenic Diet

Glucose Transporter Type 1 Deficiency Syndrome or Glut1 Deficiency Syndrome is a rare genetic condition that impairs the brain metabolism. Glucose cannot be properly transported into the brain, essentially starving it from the energy it needs to function and thrive. Common signs and symptoms can include seizures, movement disorders, speech and language disorders, and developmental delays. There is no cure and they will live with this condition for the rest of their lives. However, I was exploding with joy when learning that my sons had Glut1 Deficiency Syndrome! You’re all thinking I’m crazy, I know, but I could not stop crying happy tears, as in my eyes, my boys were given a second chance at life compared to the initial diagnosis we were given. I wasted no time in trying to educate myself as much as I possibly could about this condition.

My boys were put on an antiepileptic medication and we were sent home. I was noticing that my boys were not improving. They were still having multiple Aberrant Gaze Saccades a day and they were not meeting their milestones. At our next doctor’s appointment, I expressed my frustration with how the medications were not working and I mentioned that through my research, I read that the ketogenic diet was very successful in managing seizures in children with Glut1 Deficiency Syndrome. They were hesitant as a lot of parents claim that the ketogenic diet is too hard to keep up with. I told them that I need to own up to my promise that I made to myself, that I was going to do everything possible for my boys with this new chance at life. They saw how motivated I was, and they were happy to let me begin.

At first, I was very overwhelmed as I had 2 babies who required this diet. I thought “Can I ACTUALLY do this?”  I was worried that maybe I was a little in over my head. We started the diet at home with the help of a dietitian who helped start the boys out on a ketogenic formula recipe. We slowly worked our way up to the 4:1 ketogenic ratio. Within the first few days, I instantly saw an increase in energy. They were starting to smile, laugh, and hold their head up on their own! I was so overjoyed with how well the diet was working! We weaned off the antiepileptic medication with success! The hard work was totally paying off.

We recently passed our 1-year milestone since they started the diet on December 21st, 2017. The boys have not had a seizure since the day they started the ketogenic diet! I know that there will be challenges as they get older and we may have hiccups along the way, but I am hopeful that the ketogenic diet will keep the seizures suppressed for the most part.

Now that the boys are toddlers exploring new foods, KetoCal® formula makes it SO easy to make really yummy recipes. My boys love cream cheese pancakes that I make with the Ketocal 4:1 LQ Vanilla (recipe below). We have a very busy lifestyle with lots of child therapy & hospital appointments. I just make a big batch of pancakes and bring them on the go! I remember a time when I felt so overwhelmed and I couldn’t think of any ideas of easy meals to make for the boys, so I sent Nutricia a message on Facebook and they sent me TONS of super easy, awesome recipes! I felt like I won the lottery! The boys also love when I use the formula to make smoothies.

The Boys’ Life Today

The boys were off to a rough start the first few months of their lives, which has caused some delays for them. At 18 months old, they still struggle with their balance. They cannot stand on their own or walk. They say “mamma” and “dada”, and they will point to things that they want. The boys are extremely motivated to start walking and they use big boxes to push around the house to help them walk. They attend water therapy, music therapy & physical therapy.

My husband and I made the decision to start a low carbohydrate lifestyle ourselves as we wanted our home to be a place where they don’t feel different or left out. We know that this is something that will be life long, so we want to make this as easy as possible for them. We want them to grow up seeing mom and dad eating the same food as them and to see that eating healthy is a good thing! As they get older, I want them to be able to open the refrigerator or cupboards without having to see food they “can’t have”. It has made me so much more passionate about the ketogenic lifestyle & I could not be more grateful for how it has impacted all of our lives!

Advice for Other Parents

My advice to any parent seeking out the ketogenic diet for their child: If medications are not working and your child is still suffering from seizures, then what do you have to lose with trying the ketogenic diet?  Ask your child’s neurologist about whether the ketogenic diet might be helpful. If you do end up starting the ketogenic diet, be patient and don’t give up! It can be difficult with all the fine-tuning, but I can assure you that it’s absolutely worth it!

– Francine

I was paid by Nutricia for my time to write this blog post, however, my opinions are my own.

KetoCal is a medical food intended for individuals age 1 year and up. It is intended for use under medical supervision.

 

 

ketogenic diet pancake recipe

Silas & Kane’s Cream Cheese Pancake Recipe (4:1 ketogenic ratio):

  • 19 g Egg (raw, mixed well)
  • 15 g Cream cheese
  • 15 mL Formula: KetoCal® 4:1 LQ (measure in mL) Nutricia
  • 1 g Butter
  • Berries (optional; needs to be calculated into recipe)

Directions:

  1. Mix eggs, cream cheese, KetoCal® 4:1 LQ and half of the butter into a batter.
  2. Pour into a greased pan on medium heat and cook until brown; flip and repeat.
  3. Use remaining butter as topping.
  4. Optional – Top with berries (be sure to calculate this into the recipe)

You can also view this recipe on MyKetoPlanner here.

Please note, this recipe is for a 4:1 ketogenic ratio. As always, please check with your healthcare provider to ensure that this recipe is appropriate for you or your child. The recipe may need to be adjusted to meet your ketogenic ratio and calorie requirements.