CINNAMON CHEESE DANISH ATKINS ROLLS

CAROLYN'S CINNAMON CHEESE DANISH ATKINS ROLLS
4 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 tablespoons whole milk ricotta cheese or sour cream (I used ricotta)
1/4 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Filling (below)

Separate the eggs, putting the egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Put the yolks in a small mixing bowl and lightly beat with a fork. Measure out 1 1/2 teaspoons of the yolk and set aside in another small bowl to use for the filling. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until very stiff, but not dry.

To the bowl with the majority of the egg yolks, add the ricotta cheese or sour cream, 1/4 cup sweetener and cinnamon. Beat until smooth. Very gently fold this mixture into the egg whites with a large rubber spatula. Be careful not to deflate the egg whites.

Spoon the mixture into 6 greased muffin top pan cups, keeping the mixture as mounded as possible. With a small spoon, gently make an indentation in the center of each one. Drop a spoonful of filling into each of the indentations, dividing evenly between them. Bake at 300?25-35 minutes until golden brown. Gently remove from pan and cool. You may need to run a metal spatula under them to loosen from the pan.

Makes 6 pastries
Can be frozen (see my update below)

Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons reserved egg yolk
1/4 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or 1/4 teaspoon each vanilla and another flavoring of your choice *

Beat all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth and fluffy.

* Try lemon, almond, orange or raspberry extracts, etc.

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 139 Calories; 11g Fat; 6g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 3.5g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 131 Calories; 11g Fat; 6g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 1.5g Net Carbs

Although these have the spongy texture that a lot of low carb baked goods have, they're quite good. Make sure to bake them until good and brown or they'll end up too soft and floppy. I tried the cinnamon and vanilla version first to see how I like them. Now that I've tasted them, I think that the cinnamon is needed to cut the eggy flavor. I'm not sure how well lemon and other flavorings would go with cinnamon though. Since I'd like to try making lemon flavored pastries sometime, perhaps I'll add some grated lemon zest to the pastry mixture in place of the cinnamon. Click the photo to see a close-up.

UPDATE: I found that these are best eaten the same day they're made. By the next day they turn very spongy and sort of wet. They're still edible though and I'm sure that they would still make a welcome treat to someone on induction. I tried freezing one and there didn't seem to be any loss of quality other than what I mentioned about the texture being a bit wet the next day.

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