"Guilt-Free" and relatively healthy Brownies (after a few alterations)
I found the original recipe in the January/February issue of Everyday Food magazine: it is one of those little quarter-sized magazines that are found by the tabloids at the checkout.
Anyway, the recipe to begin with was healthier than most brownie recipes, but with a few additional changes that I made; I managed to make them even better for you. And to top it off, they are still delicious. In fact, David ate about half of the pan himself!
I am listing the original ingredient list first. You can then see what I changed and possibly be inspired to make your own additions or substitutions. Mine were mostly done out of trying to make something that no one in this house would feel guilty eating (these are all women, other than David, who are constantly on diets or what have you even though they are thin and lovely) and partially out of convenience for what I had around (plain nonfat yoghurt par example).
Makes 16; Prep Time: 20 Minutes (10 for me, but I'm fast); Baking Time: 30 Minutes (350F Oven)
4oz Semisweet Chocolate, broken into pieces
2tbs Unsalted Butter
1c Sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg white
1 Container (2.5oz or 1/4c) Puréed Prunes
2tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2tsp Salt
3/4c All-Purpose Flour
1/3c Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Method:
Line bottom and sides of an 8" square pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang.
In a small saucepan, bring 1" of water to simmer over low heat. Place chocolate and butter in a small, heatproof bowl set over the pan and stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in sugar, egg, egg white, prune purée, vanilla and salt until smooth.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour and cocoa. Stir into chocolate mixture just until incorporated.
Spread batter in the pan and bake until the top is firm (inserted toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs), about 30min. Let cool completely in pan. Using foil, lift brownies from pan, peel off foil and cut into 16 squares.
Nutritional info for this recipe: per serving: 140kcal, 4.3g fat, 2.2g protein, 25g carbohydrate, 1.4g fibre.
Note: you can generally find prune purée in the babyfood section of your grocer: it even comes in useful, resealable cute little plastic containers which are useful to reuse for things like portioning cereals or keeping small items such as tacks or paperclips.
What I did:
~4oz Semisweet Chocolate Chips (though I don't have a scale, so this was 4 dry ounces, not 4 ounces massed)
2tbs Unsalted Butter
2/3c Sugar
1 Large Egg
1.5tbs Nonfat Plain Yoghurt
1 Container Puréed Prune (they had puréed prune and apple at the grocer too; this might give a slightly sweeter result than what I got)
2tsp Imitation (blech) Vanilla Extract
1/2tsp Salt
3/4c Whole Wheat All-Purpose Flour
1/3c Dutch Process Cocoa
Method: Preheat oven, line pan yadda yadda
In a small saucepan, bring 2" of water to a boil over medium-high heat; lower heat to simmer. Place chocolate and butter in a ceramic cereal bowl over the pan. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth.
While it is melting, in another bowl, combine all other ingredients and give it a rough stir.
When chocolate and butter are melted and smooth; quicky pour into bowl of other ingredients and mix it up with a fork or what have you until it forms a smoothish batter.
If it looks too thick or too dry, don't be afraid to add some liquid in the form of: some fruit juice, additional yoghurt, or a little skim milk.
Place in oven, etc.
Mine were fairly good, but in retrospect, I think they may have been a bit dry for brownies (I like a really gooey brownie); so, I would recommend upping the amount of yoghurt added or adding in some fruit juice (a tbs at a time until you get the desired consistency) if you prefer a sweeter brownie: mine had the taste/texture of a dark chocolate truffle in batter form. And I suppose if you are concerned about carbohydrate levels or calories, you can use that splenda-sugar mix stuff.
Possible estimated nutrition info for my brownies: per serving: 120kcal; 3.75g fat; 4g protein; 20g carbohydrate; 3g fibre
Anyway, the recipe to begin with was healthier than most brownie recipes, but with a few additional changes that I made; I managed to make them even better for you. And to top it off, they are still delicious. In fact, David ate about half of the pan himself!
I am listing the original ingredient list first. You can then see what I changed and possibly be inspired to make your own additions or substitutions. Mine were mostly done out of trying to make something that no one in this house would feel guilty eating (these are all women, other than David, who are constantly on diets or what have you even though they are thin and lovely) and partially out of convenience for what I had around (plain nonfat yoghurt par example).
Makes 16; Prep Time: 20 Minutes (10 for me, but I'm fast); Baking Time: 30 Minutes (350F Oven)
4oz Semisweet Chocolate, broken into pieces
2tbs Unsalted Butter
1c Sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg white
1 Container (2.5oz or 1/4c) Puréed Prunes
2tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2tsp Salt
3/4c All-Purpose Flour
1/3c Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Method:
Line bottom and sides of an 8" square pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang.
In a small saucepan, bring 1" of water to simmer over low heat. Place chocolate and butter in a small, heatproof bowl set over the pan and stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in sugar, egg, egg white, prune purée, vanilla and salt until smooth.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour and cocoa. Stir into chocolate mixture just until incorporated.
Spread batter in the pan and bake until the top is firm (inserted toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs), about 30min. Let cool completely in pan. Using foil, lift brownies from pan, peel off foil and cut into 16 squares.
Nutritional info for this recipe: per serving: 140kcal, 4.3g fat, 2.2g protein, 25g carbohydrate, 1.4g fibre.
Note: you can generally find prune purée in the babyfood section of your grocer: it even comes in useful, resealable cute little plastic containers which are useful to reuse for things like portioning cereals or keeping small items such as tacks or paperclips.
What I did:
~4oz Semisweet Chocolate Chips (though I don't have a scale, so this was 4 dry ounces, not 4 ounces massed)
2tbs Unsalted Butter
2/3c Sugar
1 Large Egg
1.5tbs Nonfat Plain Yoghurt
1 Container Puréed Prune (they had puréed prune and apple at the grocer too; this might give a slightly sweeter result than what I got)
2tsp Imitation (blech) Vanilla Extract
1/2tsp Salt
3/4c Whole Wheat All-Purpose Flour
1/3c Dutch Process Cocoa
Method: Preheat oven, line pan yadda yadda
In a small saucepan, bring 2" of water to a boil over medium-high heat; lower heat to simmer. Place chocolate and butter in a ceramic cereal bowl over the pan. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth.
While it is melting, in another bowl, combine all other ingredients and give it a rough stir.
When chocolate and butter are melted and smooth; quicky pour into bowl of other ingredients and mix it up with a fork or what have you until it forms a smoothish batter.
If it looks too thick or too dry, don't be afraid to add some liquid in the form of: some fruit juice, additional yoghurt, or a little skim milk.
Place in oven, etc.
Mine were fairly good, but in retrospect, I think they may have been a bit dry for brownies (I like a really gooey brownie); so, I would recommend upping the amount of yoghurt added or adding in some fruit juice (a tbs at a time until you get the desired consistency) if you prefer a sweeter brownie: mine had the taste/texture of a dark chocolate truffle in batter form. And I suppose if you are concerned about carbohydrate levels or calories, you can use that splenda-sugar mix stuff.
Possible estimated nutrition info for my brownies: per serving: 120kcal; 3.75g fat; 4g protein; 20g carbohydrate; 3g fibre