Chocolate Chocolate Brownie Cups

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It's no wonder we crave classic comfort foods like meatloaf, mashed potatoes and fudge brownies. They stick to our ribs and remind of us of grandma's cooking. Research shows that fatty and sugary foods can even trigger a release of "feel good" chemicals in the brain, producing a temporary sense of wellbeing.

But routinely turning to such foods for comfort results in the opposite - our waistbands pinch our bellies, and we feel guilty for overindulging. Fortunately, there are ways of modifying your favorite recipes so they're just as comforting but contain fewer calories.

"In place of whole milk or cream, use canned evaporated nonfat milk," says Jo Ann Carson, a registered dietician and professor of clinical nutrition, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. "This works when making a cream sauce, gravy, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes."

Other popular substitutes for milk and butter in mashed potatoes are roasted garlic for flavor and chicken stock for moisture, she adds.

"Processed American cheese like Velveeta can be found in a version made with 2 percent milk. Melted with a little evaporated nonfat milk, you get a great lower-fat cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese," Carson says.

However, Los Angeles chef Devin Alexander, author of "The Biggest Loser Cookbook" (Rodale Books, 2006), says people tend to blow their healthy eating plans because simple substitutes rarely result in recipes as tasty as the originals.

"You can't take your grandmother's meatloaf recipe that's been in the family for 50 years and replace the beef with ground turkey and expect it to taste as good," she says. "The texture will be off because there's a huge moisture difference between beef and turkey."

Likewise, low-fat recipes for baked goods often call for applesauce in place of oil, but in brownies, for example, the taste of applesauce overwhelms, so add-ins such as cocoa powder (see recipe) are called for to restore the rich, chocolate flavor people crave.


Source: "The Most Decadent Diet Ever!" (Broadway, 2008)

Compared to traditional brownie cups, you save 159 calories, 10 grams of fat and 2 grams of saturated fat per two-brownie serving.

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  • 48

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 8 egg whites
  • 2 cups sugar in the raw
  • 1/2 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet), divided
  • Butter-flavored cooking spray

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Thoroughly mist two 12-cup nonstick mini-muffin tins with spray.

In a large mixing bowl, using a sturdy whisk or spatula, mix the applesauce, vanilla, egg whites and sugar until they are well-combined. Add the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder and salt. Stir the mixture until it is just combined and no lumps remain.

Working in batches, fill each cup until it is barely full. Sprinkle about one-fourth of the chips evenly over the brownies in each of the tins. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool for five minutes. Using a butter knife, gently lift the brownies from the muffin tins. Allow them to cool for 10 more minutes. Repeat with the second half of the batter and the remaining chips.

Nutrition Information:
Per (two-brownie) serving
101 calories
2 g of protein
21 g of carbohydrates
2 g fat
1 g saturated fat
0 mg cholesterol
1 g fiber
133 mg sodium

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