Know Your Ingredients

Low carb sugar free cooking requires special ingredients. No surprise!
The hard part is that you cannot get many of them at your local grocery store. The easy part is that they are all available on-line!` The best single source for everything I netrition .com. they have a flat rate shipping fee of 4.95 per order no matter it's size. With a couple of exceptions ( noted below) everything I use can be purchased from them. Also check out the list of links to various other venders I have found.

these are the staples--I keep these things in my cupboard all the time.

I will try and place them in some semblance of order of importance.

Flour Replacements: you will be using some combination of the following to replace wheat flour in the recipes.

Amond flour: ( or meal as it is sometimes called) both blanched and regular ( with the skins on) This is the base of the baked goods.
Whey Protein powder:--I use Designer Whey French Vanilla. I have also used EAS brand vanilla flavor. they give the same results. I cannot vouch for how any other brand will perform but assume that any whey powder will work just fine. (I do not recommend a soy based protein powder. You will get different results and it tastes bad anyway! ) I am not certain that netrition sells these brands, but they are both widely available at heath food stores and even many supermarkets. Keep this in the fridge.

Oat Flour: cheaper if you get it in bulk at a natural food store. Get organic if you can.

Xanthan gum: I get this in bulk at my local natural food store--but netrition carries it. this practically zero impact carb fiber is a thickening agent and substitutes for gluten in baked goods. It is essential for a good outcome. Guar gum can be substituted, but you may need to up the amount in a given recipe as it has a different thickening power
Powdered Dried Egg white: the brand most widely available is Just Whites It comes in a blue and white can in the baking section of many grocery and natural food stores. Also at Netrition. There are also places to get it in bulk online.

Flax meal: get the Golden, not the more common Brown--slightly more expensive, but it looks and tastes better.

Sweeteners: there is a discussion "here" about the various sugar replacement that are available and the pros and cons of each.

Splenda: The majority of time I use a zero carb, highly concentrated liquid form of sucralose called Sweetzfree. 1/4 teaspoon equals 1 cup of sugar. 3 drops equals 2 tablespoons.You can get it here. Don't be put off by the high price tag. 4 ounces can last me 6 months and I use a lot.
I also occasionally use the packet form. I NEVER use the bulk measures like sugar style. it is too high is carb and has a nasty, kind of salty, after taste

Xylitol: I use the regular crystals, a powdered form and a xylitol based faux honey syrup.
all available at netrition. In most cases Iuse a combination of xylitol and splenda. It gives a good flavor when combined. better than either alone.

Erythritol: there are a couple of candy recipes that call for powdered erythritol. you can also sub it in for xylitol if you tolerate it better. I like the flavor of xyitol better so that is what I use. your choice.

Maltitol: there is an occasional recipe that calls for maltitol syrup. I am trying to sub xylitol and see if I can get it out of the recipes altogether as I don't like it. tastes great--causes problems in your gut!!!

Poly-dextrose: or Poly-D, not actually a sweetener--it is a fiber-- but is shares some of the chemical properties of sugar. I use it mostly in candy recipes, in Ice cream and in a few cookie recipes. Very useful--but I don't like to use too much. It can cause gas--just like eating too many cherries!!! Get it from netrition.

Chocolate: this gets it's own catagory!!!

First and Best:
Chocoperfection sugar free chocolate bars : the best of the best of the sugar free candy that is available. This chocolate is as good as any belgian chocolate you can buy, is sweetened with erythritol and a type of inulin fiber and works in every chocolate recipe ever invented from lava cake to truffles. Don't bother with the milk chocolate--just get the dark. Can't live without this stuff! There is a link to the web site in the links list and it also is available from netrition. It's expensive. SO?????

Unsweetened cocoa powder: both regular and dutched. Hersey's extra dark cocoa is an example of dutched --very dark. Regular is like Hershey's normal powder--lighter and more classic. I have about 6 different brands in my cupboard--very chi-chi--and they are ALL good!

Unsweetened baking chocolate:--I don't use very much of this in the recipes--mostly I stay with the Cocoperfection which is a semi-sweet chocolate. For some reason it is difficult to get this type of chocolate sweet enough using sugar subs. Use the best imported you can afford . ( the brands you commonly get in the supermarket are not so good)

Cocoa butter: I'm experimenting with this as an ingredient in candy and frosting recipes and it has some promise. keep watching. I get the NOW brand. which is food grade, though it is more commonly sold to be used in skin creams

Miscellaneous: stuff you probably already have!

Butter: most of the recipes use regular salted butter. Occasionally the recipe may call for unsalted. It will be clearly stated if it is important.

Coconut oil, Palm oil: other nice fats to have around. palm oil is excellent for frying. Get the virgin cold pressed coconut oil--it is pure white with a nice mild coconut flavor and smell.

Baking Powder, Baking soda, spices, obviously!

Vanilla: other flavorings I use a lot include Almond extract, peppermint extract, maple flavoring, banana flavoring and Raspberry flavoring. these are all available at my local Safeway. More exotic and harder to find are pure lemon, lime and orange oil, but very they are nice to have around.

Molasses: tiny amounts of this add a brown sugar flavor that is impossible to get any other way.

Caffix or Pero: A powdered instant Chicory/Barley coffee substitute drink mix. Very handy for creating a molasses flavor without adding cups of molasses! Essential for gingerbread. It also makes a pretty yummy drink if you are looking for something caffeine free. No, it's not coffee but it has it's own charm.)

Now see--that wasn't really such a long list--and once you get stocked you are ready to bake!