{"id":23506,"date":"2026-04-15T09:00:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T00:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/?p=23506"},"modified":"2026-04-16T13:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T04:52:13","slug":"amorepacific-winging-it-to-a-happy-ending-low-carb-baking-as-an-act-of-self-compassion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/amorepacific-winging-it-to-a-happy-ending-low-carb-baking-as-an-act-of-self-compassion\/","title":{"rendered":"Winging It to a Happy Ending: Low-Carb Baking as an Act of Self-Compassion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\tThis is post 1 of 1 in the series “Staff Column(Eunyoung Cho)”<\/em>\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/label>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

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Columnist<\/p>\n

Eunyoung Cho<\/strong>
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\nAmorepacific Foundation<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Editor’s note<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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My week has a simple rhythm: on weekends, I bake low-carb treats (no sugar, no flour) and on weekdays, I bring them to the office to share with my colleagues. I started this column for AMOREPACIFIC STORIES to share my own way of staying true to myself while taking care of both body and mind. I hope you enjoy it!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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If I had to describe my baking process in three words, they’d be ‘frantic,’ ‘chaotic,’ and ‘winging it.’ I’ve worked my way up to cookies, brownies, and pound cakes, but my kitchen is still reliably a disaster zone: zero calm, maximum chaos. When I tell people my hobby is low-carb baking, they tend to picture someone who carefully pre-portions ingredients and gracefully stirs things with wooden utensils on an ivory linen cloth. My tools of choice are a rice spoon and a large noodle bowl; my ingredients are typically scattered everywhere; and somehow, despite using perfectly edible things, I occasionally produce something completely inedible.<\/p>\n

And yet, low-carb baking remains one of my most beloved and enduring hobbies. Writing this column took me back to the first time I ever tried baking. COVID had me moving less and feeling heavier by the day, my motivation as flat as a deflated balloon. What breathed life back into me wasn’t a perfect diet or a strict wellness regimen \u2014 it was a small, everyday joy that kept me going. Making a healthy snack for myself would clear my head and gradually build a quiet sense of accomplishment. Best of all, there was this wonderful feeling of taking care of myself without giving up the joy of eating.<\/p>\n

Low-carb baking is less about chasing perfection and more about inching your way toward a distant, glittering rainbow hill. Without sugar, you simply cannot replicate the exact taste of something made with it. What you need is the mindset of: “Wow, this actually tastes this good with no sugar!” And here’s a little encouragement: low-carb baking without flour is actually less finicky than traditional flour-based baking. Even when the process is a total scramble, you can still land on a beautiful ‘winging-it happy ending.’<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The 3 Core Principles of Low-Carb Baking<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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1. Give yourself some grace!<\/strong>
\nThe number one rule of my low-carb baking life is ‘being generous with yourself.’ You’re not entering a competition for the world’s greatest loaf. Just by leaving out flour and sugar, your bake is already healthier than whatever the bakery down the street is selling. (I’m still genuinely proud of every single thing I bake without flour or sugar.) Go ahead and enjoy the privilege that only hobby bakers have!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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2. Use wholesome ingredients.<\/strong>
\nThis is a non-negotiable rule for making it truly ‘low-carb’ baking, not just baking. “Wholesome” can mean different things to different people, but since I monitor blood sugar, I use almond flour instead of regular flour and allulose instead of sugar. For everything else, the closer to its natural form, the better. Make a habit of reaching for ingredients with short, clean labels: 100% cocoa powder, pure cream butter, that sort of thing. When you can, check the sugar content before the calorie count.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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3. It only has to taste good to you.<\/strong>
\nI remember being a total beginner, nervously watching my younger sibling’s face as they tried my early attempts. You really don’t have to do that. The VVVIP customer of your kitchen is ‘you.’ If it tastes good to you, that’s all that matters. I’d suggest bumping everyone else’s opinion way down the list, somewhere around priority #203. (Besides, if you only make a single serving with one egg, you’ll be too busy eating it yourself to share anyway!)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Forgiving Low-Carb Brownie Recipe That Hides All Your Little Slip-Ups<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Now that you’ve got the 3 core principles down, it’s time to put them into practice. For anyone trying low-carb baking for the first time, brownies are my absolute first recommendation. Partly because I’m obsessed with chocolate, but mostly because cacao powder, the star ingredient here, is wonderfully forgiving of a beginner’s small mistakes. The process couldn’t be simpler, yet the result is nothing short of stunning. Warmed up, it tastes like a fondant au chocolat; frozen, it’s like a dense, fudgy chocolate; topped with walnuts, it makes a pretty impressive gift. Here’s the super simple, all-in-one recipe<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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[Super Simple Hybrid Brownie Recipe]<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Ingredients: 50 g almond flour, 12 g 100% cacao powder, 20 g pure cream butter, 40 g allulose, 1 egg<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(1) Combine the almond flour, cacao powder, melted butter, allulose, and egg, and mix until smooth. (If you have vanilla extract, add just a drop!)<\/p>\n

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(2) Spread the batter evenly onto a sheet of air fryer parchment paper. (No air fryer tray? Simply spread it on a piece of parchment paper.)<\/p>\n

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(3) Air fry at 140 \u00b0C for 14 minutes. (Adjust the temperature to suit your machine. It’s done when a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.)<\/p>\n

*Topping with walnuts adds a lovely nutty richness.<\/p>\n

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(4) Let the brownie cool for a few minutes, then cut into neat squares. Done!<\/p>\n

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<What Our Office Had to Say After Trying the Low-Carb Brownie><\/strong><\/p>\n

“It’s not too sweet, and it has such a clean taste \u2014 I’d happily make this for my kids!”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The reason I’ve kept up this hobby for so long is simple: I only do it when I feel like it. What sustains our hobbies, and really everything we do in life, is less about ‘doing it perfectly’ and more about ‘keeping it going.’ When an oven runs too hot, the outside burns while the inside stays raw. Rather than blazing brightly on the back of some grand resolution, only to burn out, what matters is maintaining a steady, gentle warmth. And along the way, it takes a certain courage to give yourself a little more grace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Eunyoung Cho<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n

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Amorepacific Foundation<\/div>\n
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Arts and Culture Program Manager<\/div>\n
whose hobby is low-carb baking<\/div>\n
\"\uc778\uc2a4\ud0c0\uadf8\ub7a8\"<\/a> \"\uba54\uc77c\" <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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  • With the bold declaration, “I’m going to be healthy and still eat everything I love,”
    \nI started cooking without flour or sugar.
    \nI’ve been living a healthy lifestyle ever since.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This is post 1 of 1 in the series “Staff Column(Eunyoung Cho)” Columnist Eunyoung Cho Amorepacific Foundation Editor’s note My week has a simple rhythm: on weekends, I bake low-carb treats (no sugar, no flour) and on weekdays, I bring them to the office to share with my colleagues. I started this column for AMOREPACIFIC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":23712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"post_list_apon":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1252],"tags":[220,1262,1383,1384,1381,1380,1378,1379,1382],"post_series":[1377],"class_list":["post-23506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspire","category-trend","tag-amorepacific","tag-amorepacific-stories","tag-authenticbeauty","tag-consistency","tag-everydayjoy","tag-healthypleasure","tag-lowcarbbaking","tag-selfgrace","tag-wingingit","post_series-staff-columneunyoung-cho"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/amorepacificlog_Baking3_500x329-eng.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23506"}],"version-history":[{"count":158,"href":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23716,"href":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23506\/revisions\/23716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23506"},{"taxonomy":"post_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.stories.amorepacific.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_series?post=23506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}