Starting a low-carb diet? Bet you’re wondering what YOU can snack on when the rest of the family is enjoying verboten foods. Well this recipe, if you can call it a recipe, is one solution. It’s suitable for Atkins Induction Phase, Keto diets and even Primal followers that eat occasional cheese. Takes just minutes to make and bake! This is now my #1 recipe in popularity, having well over 30,000,000 fans on Facebook now, blowing my Lebanese Baked Chicken (my former #1 recipe) right out of the water. 🙂

And if you seed the jalapeno, like I did, these were not even all that hot (I don’t like real hot/spicy foods). Leave the seeds in if you like to spice things up! These are delicious and so low-cal/low-carb you could eat the entire batch if you were so inclined! The hubs and I split this batch equally and we both loved these! Now, to be quite honest, I’ve also just melted plain old pepper-jack cheese before, but these really are better for some reason. Maybe the cheese is better; maybe the fresh pepper is just better. All I know is these are much better than just melting jack cheese! 🙂 Some have asked, and if you try to save some and reheat, you better really watch them closely, as they are inclined to burn when reheated.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

1 medium fresh jalapeno, sliced real thin

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a metal cookie sheet. DO NOT use a silicone/silpat sheet, waxed paper or foil (unless it’s the special non-stick foil) to bake these or they will not cook properly. Using a tablespoon, scoop up 1 T. of cheese and make a small pile on the parchment. Press it slightly flat. Repeat 15 more times. Place a slice of jalapeno on top of each pile. Pop into 350º oven for about 10-12 minutes. I would recommend browning them a wee bit more than shown in the photo for a firmer snack to serve at parties. These are somewhat pliable if under browned. Allow them to completely cool and fully firm up before removing from the pan for best results. 🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 16, each contains:

25.5 cals, 2.13 g fat, 0.10g carbs, 0.02g fiber, 0.08g NET CARBS, 1.63g protein, 60 mg sodium