Egg Whites – RefreshHer

Last Friday was a big baking day with my girls. The day before we got together, I made up three kinds of Christmas cookie dough. A couple of the recipes called for egg yolks, so when I finished, I was left with five egg whites. With eggs the price they are, I had to put them to good use, so I flipped through my Cooking Light Cookbook and found a recipe for Double Chocolate Souffles that you could whip together, then freeze until needed! I knew I needed a dessert for Sunday’s dinner, so it was a blessing to have a dessert that was prepared ahead of time, then all I’d need to do is bake them on Sunday!

These would be a great dessert for a special Christmas dinner. With the ease of preparing them ahead of time, it will make having company a cinch!

Double Chocolate Souffles with Warm Fudge Sauce

SOUFFLE:

Cooking spray

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups fat-free milk

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg yolk

6 large egg whites

SAUCE:

1 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 cup fat-free milk

1/2 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Preparation

Position oven rack to the lowest setting, and remove middle rack. Preheat oven to 425°.

To prepare the soufflés, lightly coat 6 (8-ounce) soufflé dishes with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with 2 tablespoons sugar. Set aside.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add 1 1/4 cups milk, stirring constantly with a whisk; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly with a whisk; remove from heat. Add 3 ounces chocolate; stir until smooth. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; cool to room temperature. Stir in vanilla and egg yolk.

Place egg whites in a large mixing bowl; beat at high speed with a mixer until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat). Gently fold one-fourth of egg whites into chocolate mixture; gently fold in remaining egg white mixture. Gently spoon mixture into prepared dishes. Sharply tap dishes 2 or 3 times on counter to level. Place dishes on a baking sheet; place baking sheet on the bottom rack of 425° oven. Immediately reduce oven temperature to 350° (do not remove soufflés from oven). Bake 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the side of soufflé comes out clean.

To prepare sauce, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa, and 1 tablespoon flour; stir well with a whisk. Gradually add 1/2 cup milk, stirring well with a whisk; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat; add 1/2 ounce chocolate, stirring until smooth. Serve warm with soufflés.

My souffles didn’t puff up as high as the picture in my cookbook, so I may have beaten the egg whites a little too long, but they still tasted wonderful, and that’s the whole point!

Don’t let the word souffle frighten you away – these are really not hard to make, The ease of freezing the batter and popping them in the oven makes them a great do-ahead dessert! They’re delicious!