Keto Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Puffs

We’re in adjustment mode again. Both kids have started university term and all of a sudden the house is quiet again. I think the person having to adjust the most is the dog because for the past 6 months, people have been mostly at home because of the circuit breaker. Lola is so used to having people throw balls for her to fetch or to sneak snacks to her, and now she’s been laying around the house, looking rather mournful.

Lola is not the only one missing her snacks. I realise I had been making lots of snacks and treats for the kids (nothing like a teenager’s appetite) during the CB, but much less of late because of busyness. Unfortunately this has also meant that I’ve been sneaking some not so low carb snacks and this has been hard both on the weight as well as the sugar control. So I decided to be a good girl and to put in some effort to make something that would meet the need of a snacking family.

I think I’ve said before that I really love curry puffs and it was recently that I started making keto curry puffs with fathead dough. Once I got used to manipulating the dough, a whole world beckoned me! One can literally put anything into these puffs – sardines, chicken, spinach and cheese…the options are limitless. I think in every culture there are similar puffs – like the American turnover, or the Latin American empanadas, or the Italian calzone or the Cornish pasty.

Today I was in the mood for something creamy and so I made a puff somewhat similar to the non-spicy Old Chang Kee chicken and mushroom O’ puff. The filling is also very similar to chicken pies that are a savory staple in some bakeries. I omitted the potatoes and peas that most of these pies would contain as these are too high in carbs, but I did retain a little carrot as it does give a natural sweetness to the puff filling.

I did enjoy this puff a lot. I think the cheesy dough really went well with the creamy filling. Definitely a nice and satisfying snack.

Keto Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Puffs

Servings: 8-9 pieces
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: moderate
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Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
1 small carrot (or half a medium carrot), peeled and sliced into 1/2 cm thick pieces
4-5 canned button mushrooms, sliced into 1/2 cm thick pieces
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 large sprig of thyme, leaves stripped and stem discarded
100 ml heavy cream
2 tbsp butter

Dough

1.5 cups (175g) shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp (30g) cream cheese
1 1/4 cup almond flour
1 egg, beaten

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.
Heat up 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat in a skillet. Fry the onions and carrots till they are translucent and slightly caramelized (about 3 minutes). Add the chicken pieces and button mushrooms for another 1-2 minutes till the chicken is less pink. Add the salt, pepper, thyme and cream and simmer for 3 minutes till the cream reduces and thickens. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a microwave-proof container, cut the cream cheese into cubes and mix in with the mozzarella. Cover the container and microwave for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, pausing to stir every 30 seconds or so.
Stir in the almond flour into the cheese mixture, then add the egg and mix well. The dough will be sticky.
Roll out the dough between 2 pieces of baking paper to about 0.75 cm thick. Cut out circles of
Place the dough circle on your palm and add about a dessert spoonful of the meat mixture at the center of the dough. Gently fold the dough over the filling to make a neat semi-circle. Pinch the edges closed and flute the edges. Place the puff such that it lies on its side on a tray lined with baking paper. Continue to do this for the rest of the puffs, rerolling the dough as necessary.
Bake the chicken puffs for 18-20 minutes, then remove from oven. Serve hot.