Recipes and adventures from a splendidly happy keto life

Baked Cranberry Orange Chicken

Tags: Chicken / Turkey, Dairy-free, Egg-free, Gluten-free, Grain-free, Keto, LCHF, Low Carb, Sugar-free

Who doesn’t love a skillet full of seriously easy, seriously tasty chicken? Bring the “Wow!” to your dinner table year-round with this fast and easy Baked Cranberry Orange Chicken. Fresh cranberries not in season? Frozen cranberries work just great, so stock up around the holidays and you can serve this deliciousness up any time of the year! Cranberries deserve so much more than just their 15 minutes of fame over the holidays.

Baked Cranberry Orange Chicken | Carrie Brown

Brown the chicken, whip up the tart-yet-sweet sauce, and then let the oven do the hard work of getting this fabulous Baked Cranberry Orange Chicken ready for your hungry crew.

Baked Cranberry Orange Chicken

Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 30 | Total time: 45 mins | Serves: 4

What You Need

2 TBSP avocado oil
8 skin-on chicken thighs
½ tsp. sea salt (For the best salt and a 15% discount use code: carriebrown)
ground black pepper
1 oz / 30g butter
½ cup / 4 fl oz. balsamic vinegar
3 TBSP Choc Zero Maple Syrup (Use code: carriebrown for a 10% discount!)
1 TBSP dried thyme
12 cloves garlic, skinned & roughly chopped
1 orange – zest removed and orange sliced
6 oz / 170g fresh or frozen cranberries

What You Do

Pre-heat your oven to 350 F.
Add avocado oil to a cast iron (or similar oven-proof) skillet over medium-high heat and heat until oil is shimmering.
Season the chicken thighs with sea salt and ground black pepper and carefully lower them one at a time skin side down into the hot oil using tongs.
Cook chicken until the skin is nicely browned – about 5 minutes – and then carefully remove the chicken and set aside.
Turn the heat to low, add the butter, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, dried thyme, chopped garlic, and orange zest and stir well, scraping the bottom of the skillet, until well mixed.
Add the cranberries and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick.
Add the chicken pieces skin side up in one layer and arrange the orange slices between them.
Carefully place the skillet in the center of the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through completely.
When serving spoon sauce, cranberries and orange slices over each piece of chicken.

Top Recipe Tips

Make Thanksgiving super simple by replacing the chicken with skin-on turkey drumsticks. Increase the baking time by 15 minutes to ensure the meat is thoroughly cooked.
If you prefer to use fresh thyme, chop finely and sprinkle over the chicken after removing the skillet from the oven.
Orange not your favorite? Worried about that extra orange carb or two? Replace the orange with lemon! Another winning combination with chicken and cranberries.
No balsamic vinegar in your collection? Balsamic vinegar a little too carby? Replace with the same amount of apple cider vinegar and add 1/4 cup allulose or xylitol.

Check out the Ingredients Guide for information on ingredients.
Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?

Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links

More cranberry recipes
More chicken recipes
Come laugh and learn with us over at The Kitchen Podcast
Come hang out in The Keto Kitchen Facebook Group
For lots more great recipes check out our scrumptious cookbooks!
Check out the categories and tags at the top of the post to help you find more recipes using certain ingredients or from certain categories.
Discounts on great keto products and resources.

Podcast Episodes and YouTube Videos

Watch Yogi’s Cooking Videos
Watch Carrie’s Cooking Videos
Watch our Cooking Tips and Tricks Videos
How and Why to Measure Food
Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! YOU MAKE ALL THINGS POSSIBLE.

There *may* be an affiliate link or two in this post and I *may* receive a small commission from qualifying purchases in order to provide free content for you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Cranberry Fudge Pots

Tags: Chocolate, Dairy-free, Desserts, Egg Dishes, Gluten-free, Grain-free, Keto, LCHF, Low Carb, Sugar-free, Vegetarian

These Cranberry Fudge Pots might just be your new favorite all-year, all-purpose dessert! They’re easy, a cinch to pull together, and wildly delicious. I used my fan-favorite Cranberry Sauce to turn a fudgey chocolate mousse into something very special.

Cranberry Fudge Pots make portion control easy when they are served in small ramekins or glasses, and you can change the mood of these adorable desserts to suit the occasion by simply changing the serving dish and decoration. They are very rich so plan on getting a lot of small servings out of this recipe. Alternatively, you can put it into a large serving dish and spoon out servings into dishes at the table.

Fancy enough for a swanky dinner yet simple enough for a weeknight treat these Cranberry Fudge Pots will please even the most anti-keto folks you know!

This is a fabulous way to use up leftover Cranberry Sauce or any extra bags of cranberries you have lolling in your freezer. You will definitely want to enjoy them all year.

Cranberry Fudge Pots

Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 10 | Total time: 30 mins + cooling time | Serves: 16

What You Need

1 batch Cranberry Sauce (Recipe: https://carriebrown.com/archives/26738)
2 ½ oz. / 70g allulose OR xylitol
1 ¼ cups / 10 fl oz. nut milk or sugar-free milk
¾ cup / 6 fl oz. heavy cream
4 eggs
½ tsp. sea salt (For the best salt and a 15% discount use code: carriebrown)
8 oz. / 225g Choc Zero 55% Dark Chocolate Chips (use code: carriebrown for a 10% discount!)
Optional: 1 TBSP brandy

What You Do

If your Cranberry Sauce is freshly cooked, leave it to cool completely, then cover until used later in the recipe.
Add the sweetener, milk, heavy cream, eggs, and sea salt into a blender and blend until smooth and completely mixed.
Pour the milk mixture into a pan and stirring constantly over a medium heat cook for about 6 minutes until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spatula.
Put the chocolate chips into the blender and as soon as the milk mixture is thickened and almost boiling, carefully pour it over the chocolate in the blender.
Blend until the chocolate is completely melted and evenly mixed into the hot liquid. If adding brandy, now is a good time.
Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl and leave to cool for about 2 hours. It needs to be thick enough to support the cranberries.
Stir the cranberry sauce well to loosen it and then add it to the cool chocolate custard, mixing thoroughly.
Spoon the cranberry fudge into serving glasses or dishes and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight to become fudgy in consistency.
Remove from the fridge just before serving and decorate with whipped cream, shaved chocolate, and cranberries or sugared cranberries.
If not serving immediately, cover with plastic wrap without any decoration and keep in the fridge.

Top Recipe Tips

You can swap the heavy cream for thick (canned) coconut milk if you want dairy-free.
Use ChocZero Milk or White Chocolate Chips if Dark chocolate is not your favorite, or you are making this predominantly for children: Choc Zero Chocolate Chips (use code: carriebrown for a 10% discount!). ChocZero are the chips that I used for this recipe.

Check out the Ingredients Guide for information on ingredients.
Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?

Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links

More cranberry recipes
Come laugh and learn with us over at The Kitchen Podcast
Come hang out in The Keto Kitchen Facebook Group
For lots more great recipes check out our scrumptious cookbooks!
Check out the categories and tags at the top of the post to help you find more recipes using certain ingredients or from certain categories.
Discounts on great keto products and resources.

Podcast Episodes and YouTube Videos

Watch Yogi’s Cooking Videos
Watch Carrie’s Cooking Videos
Watch our Cooking Tips and Tricks Videos
How and Why to Measure Food
Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?

0 comments

Cranberry White Chocolate Slice

Tags: Chocolate, Dairy-free, Desserts, Egg-free, Gluten-free, Grain-free, Keto, LCHF, Low Carb, Sugar-free, Tarts / Pies, Vegetarian

This glorious Cranberry White Chocolate Slice is not only the prettiest dessert on the holiday season block, it tastes like magic. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever created.

It’s a mash-up of the almond crust from the incredibly popular Pumpkin Pie Squares in my Keto For the Holidays Cookbook, my fan-favorite Cranberry Sauce, and a dairy-free white chocolate ganache.

This gorgeous and simple Cranberry White Chocolate Slice is actually a frozen dessert, which is a huge plus for you during the holidays because it means you can make it well ahead of when you want it and store it in the freezer knowing it will be perfect exactly at the moment you’re ready to serve it. You can also leave it to thaw if you prefer a very soft dessert, but make sure you cut and plate it while it’s still frozen.

Cranberry White Chocolate Slice

Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 0 | Total time: 30 mins + cooling & freezing time | Serves: 16 – 32 (depending on how it is cut)

What You Need

8 oz. / 225g almond flour
2 oz. / 55g erythritol
½ tsp. sea salt (For the best salt and a 15% discount use code: carriebrown)
3 oz. / 85g butter, melted

2 TBSP water
1 ½ tsp. gelatin or agar agar
15 oz. / 420g Cranberry Sauce (Recipe: https://carriebrown.com/archives/26738)

5 oz. / 140g raw cashews, soaked overnight
2/3 cup / 5 ½ fl oz. almond milk or sugar-free milk
½ tsp. sea salt (For the best salt and a 15% discount use code: carriebrown)
1/3 cup / 2 ¾ fl oz. Choc Zero Maple Syrup (Use code: carriebrown for a 10% discount!)
6 oz. / 170g Choc Zero White Chocolate Chips (Use code: carriebrown for a 10% discount!)

What You Do

Pre-Prep

If your Cranberry Sauce is freshly cooked, leave it to cool completely, then cover until needed in the recipe.
Place the cashews in a bowl and cover with water. Leave to soak overnight.
Line a 9” square pan with parchment.
Read the Top Tips below.

CRUST: Put the almond flour in a dry skillet over a medium and toast until golden brown – about 4 minutes. Stir and turn often to ensure they toast evenly.
Remove the almonds flour from the heat, pour into a large bowl and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Add the erythritol, sea salt, and melted butter and mix well until the almond flour is completely coated in butter.
Pour the almond mixture into the prepared pan and spread out evenly. Using a straight-sided glass press the almonds down firmly and evenly across the bottom of the pan.
Place pan in the fridge so that the crust firms.

CRANBERRY FILLING: Put the water in a shallow dish and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the top and leave to soak for 5 minutes.
Put the Cranberry Sauce in a small pan and heat very gently while beating vigorously. It just needs to be warm, not hot.
Once the gelatin has soaked, pop the dish in the microwave and pulse in increments of 10 seconds until the gelatin is liquid.
Pour the gelatin into the warmed Cranberry Sauce and stir well to combine completely.
Remove the pan with the crust out of the fridge and pour the cranberry mixture over the crust and spread out evenly.
Return the pan to the fridge so that the cranberry layer gels.

WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE: Pour the soaked cashews into a sieve and leave to drain.
Once the cranberry layer has gelled, place the drained, soaked cashews in a blender with the milk, sea salt and maple syrup.
While the cashew mixture is blending, put the white chocolate chips in a small bowl and pulse in the microwave in 10 second blurts until completely melted.
Add the melted white chocolate chips to the blender and blend until the mixture is completely smooth.
Remove the pan from the fridge and pour the white chocolate mixture evenly over the gelled cranberry layer.
Carefully place the pan in the freezer and freeze for 4 hours.
Remove the pan from the freezer and cut into slices or squares. WIPE the knife blade with a damp cloth between each cut otherwise you will make the next slice all messy.
Place the slices in an airtight container in one layer and return to the freezer.
Serve straight from the freezer, drizzling with maple syrup for an added touch of glam. Or add a swirl of cream and a sugared cranberry for a really festive touch.

Top Recipe Tips

Although this looks like a lot of instructions and work, these slices have 3 distinct stages – all of which are fast and easy – and you can do each stage on a subsequent day or leave hours between each stage if that helps your planning and schedule.
These slices are best served straight from the freezer, which is a really good thing because that way you can get them fully ready days ahead of time, store them in the freezer and then just whip them out when you’re ready to serve.
They do not freeze hard and they defrost very quickly once out of the freezer.
They hold their shape when defrosted but are too soft to move and have a very different consistency to when they are frozen. I much prefer them frozen.
If you want to serve them fully defrosted, remove them from the freezer and put them on serving plates before they thaw.

Check out the Ingredients Guide for information on ingredients.
Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?

Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links

More cranberry recipes
Come laugh and learn with us over at The Kitchen Podcast
Come hang out in The Keto Kitchen Facebook Group
For lots more great recipes check out our scrumptious cookbooks!
Check out the categories and tags at the top of the post to help you find more recipes using certain ingredients or from certain categories.
Discounts on great keto products and resources.

Podcast Episodes and YouTube Videos

Watch Yogi’s Cooking Videos
Watch Carrie’s Cooking Videos
Watch our Cooking Tips and Tricks Videos
How and Why to Measure Food
Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?

1 comment

Lisa McGushionThis was amazing. ReplyCancel

Creamy Tomato Chicken Meatballs

Tags: Beef, Chicken / Turkey, Easy Keto Grub, Egg-free, Gluten-free, Grain-free, Keto, LCHF, Low Carb, Pork, Recipes with Videos, Sugar-free, Ten Minute Meals, Under 30 Minutes

I’ve decided that, as much as I love cooking, there just cannot be enough super-simple, super-fast, weeknight dinners in our back pockets. These Creamy Tomato Chicken Meatballs have just become part of my a-million-things-you-can-do-with-meatballs series. I’m a long way from a million, but this will make #4 and there’s a bunch more coming.

I love these chicken meatballs: they are super-clean ingredients, keto, can be bought in bulk and stashed in the freezer for any day you just don’t have the time or energy for anything other than the basics – but you still want delicious.

Given their versatility I challenged myself to make a whole slew of recipes using them that were all completely different from each other, so you can eat chicken meatballs for 2 weeks straight and feel like you had 14 totally different meals.

Creamy Tomato Chicken Meatballs | Carrie Brown

This is a very simple and easy recipe. Honestly, these Creamy Tomato Chicken Meatballs are more assembly than cooking – and there ain’t not one jot of shame in that. If you can get a delicious dinner on the table with a handful of ingredients, the minimum of time and effort, and on a small budget I call that a huge win!

Your friends and family will never believe this is ‘diet’ food either, so make a pot full and invite everyone over! Perfect for Game Day and a potluck, as well as a family dinner or working lunch that everyone will love, these Creamy Tomato Chicken Meatballs should definitely be in your recipe back pocket.

This creamy tomato sauce is super simple and can be used as your go-to tomato sauce for other recipes, too. You could even make up a large pan of sauce (with or without the bacon), freeze it in 1 or 2 cup portions and use it for making really fast dinners another night. If you have heavy cream that is on it’s last legs or almond milk that needs to be used up, making a big old pan of this sauce and freezing it for use later will stop you wasting food as well as making later meal prep a breeze! Imagine getting a packet of meatballs and a tub of sauce out of the freezer before you head to work, then just tossing them in a pan and reheating them together when you get home. Fastest, tastiest dinner ever!

Creamy Tomato Chicken Meatballs

Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 20 mins | Total time: 25 mins

What You Need

1 lb / 450g bacon
1 cup / 8 fl oz. almond milk
1 cup / 8 fl oz. heavy cream
3 TBSP tomato paste
ground black pepper
2 lbs / 900g chicken meatballs (I used these)
2 TBSP fresh oregano, finely chopped

What You Do

Cut bacon into bite-sized pieces (I use kitchen shears to do this) and saute in a large skillet over medium heat until cooked.
Carefully drain off the excess bacon fat into a heat-proof container.
Add the almond milk, heavy cream, tomato paste, and ground black pepper to the bacon in the skillet and stir well until all the ingredients are completely combined. DO NOT ADD ANY SALT.
Add the meatballs, stir until covered in sauce and heat until the sauce comes to the boil.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes until the meatballs are completely heated through and the other ingredients have reduced to a thick sauce.
Stir in the finely chopped oregano and spoon into dishes or onto plates.

Top Recipe Tips

The meatballs are already seasoned and the tomato paste and bacon have enough salt without adding any extra. If you add salt to the recipe you will have a very salty dinner. If you do like salty food then wait until the end of cooking and taste before adding any additional salt. Or just salt your own plate.
You can also use beef or pork meatballs for this recipe if that is what you have on hand or prefer. Look for the cleanest meatballs you can find.

Check out the Ingredients Guide for information on ingredients.
Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?

Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links

More pork recipes
Come laugh and learn with us over at The Kitchen Podcast
Come hang out in The Keto Kitchen Facebook Group
For lots more great recipes check out our scrumptious cookbooks!
Check out the categories and tags at the top of the post to help you find more recipes using certain ingredients or from certain categories.
Discounts on great keto products and resources.

Podcast Episodes and You Tube Videos

Watch Yogi’s Cooking Videos
Watch Carrie’s Cooking Videos
Watch the Cooking Tips and Tricks Videos
How and Why to Measure Food
Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?

0 comments

Orange Cranberry Scones

Tags: Baked Goods, Biscuits / Scones, Dairy-free, Desserts, Gluten-free, Grain-free, Keto, LCHF, Low Carb, Sugar-free, Vegetarian

After the raging success of the now infamous Cheesy Biscuits I made for you a while back, I thought you might like a sweeter, more dessert-like option; and – since I believe they are highly underrated – cranberries immediately sprang to mind. I happened to have an orange or two floating around the place, so I threw one of those in, too. And thus Orange Cranberry Scones came into existence. Then I ate them all. Well, I can’t be giving you anything that hasn’t been thoroughly taste-tested, now can I? Now, while we know that the things that make us fat the fastest are all the things that are not in these scrumptious scones, I would not recommend eating an entire batch of these in one day. I’d spread the love out over several days. Or share them with people you adore. Or both.

Here’s what an unassuming non-ketoer messaged me upon sampling one of these delicious Orange Cranberry Scones.

M: That was fantastic!!! thanks :-D

Carrie: They were an experiment, were they OK?

M: very good :-) simply sinful!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-D

Carrie: ha! Not a bad review given they are wheat-free, grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, and unhealthy-fat-free ;-)

M: WOW!!!! woulda never guessed. amazing.

These Orange Cranberry Scones taste like the holidays. But they also taste like summer. And they give you a chance to eat one of our most underrated berries all year long. I’m a big cranberry fan and I think these tart little gems of the berry world should go mainstream. Who’s with me?!

So what are you waiting for? Whether it’s cold and wintry where you are or the middle of summer, Orange Cranberry Scone deliciousness is just 25 minutes away.

PS. Fluted cutters make them look prettier, that’s all.

Orange Cranberry Scones

Author: Carrie Brown| Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 15 | Total time: 25 mins | Serves: 8 – 10

What You Need

9 oz / 250g almond flour (NOT almond meal)
3 TBSP xylitol OR erythritol
2 tsp baking powder
1 TBSP konjac flour / glucomannan powder
2 TBSP gelatin
½ tsp sea salt (For the best salt and a 15% discount use code: carriebrown)
2 oz / 55g butter, cold and cut into small pieces
3 oz / 85g unsweetened dried cranberries, chopped
Rind of one orange
2 eggs, beaten
2 TBSP unsweetened almond milk
Beaten egg to glaze

What You Do

Put almond flour, xylitol, baking powder, konjac flour, powdered gelatin, sea salt, and butter in a food processor and pulse until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Do not over process!
Turn pulsed mixture into a bowl, add the chopped cranberries and orange rind, and mix.
Beat the eggs with the almond milk and add to the bowl.
Mix until a dough forms.
Knead dough lightly.
Roll out dough to 1” thick and cut out scones with the metal cutter of your choice.
Place on baking sheet and brush with a beaten egg.
Bake at 350F for 15 – 18 minutes until golden brown.

Top Recipe Tips

Slather them with butter or eat them naked.
Store them in layers with parchment paper between them in an airtight container.

Check out the Ingredients Guide for information on ingredients.
Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?

Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links

More baked goods
Come laugh and learn with me over at The Kitchen Podcast
Come hang out in The Keto Kitchen & Home Facebook Group
For lots more great recipes check out my scrumptious cookbooks!
Check out the categories and tags at the top of the post to help you find more recipes using certain ingredients or from certain categories.
Discounts on great keto products and resources.

Podcast Episodes and YouTube Videos

Watch Yogi’s Cooking Videos
Watch Carrie’s Cooking Videos
Watch our Cooking Tips and Tricks Videos
How and Why to Measure Food
Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?

1 comment

freidiaHello Carrie,

I was wondering if you have a cracker recipe? Something that could be changed up if one liked. Say by adding rosemary or maybe something else. A good solid basic recipe. Thank you, freidiaReplyCancel

Keto Cookbooks

Baked Cranberry Orange Chicken

Cranberry Fudge Pots

Cranberry White Chocolate Slice

Creamy Tomato Chicken Meatballs

Orange Cranberry Scones