Tag: Low Fat

Christmas · dessert

Brownie Meets Peppermint Cheesecake

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Holiday desserts are delicious, but also often high in calories and fat, which presents a real issue when we are surrounded by them for weeks at parties and events as we celebrate Christmas.  For that reason, and also because the recipes are so good, I turn to Cooking Light.  They have great recipes that are reduced in fat, yet full in delicious-ness!

Last week I made dinner for company and wanted dessert, but didn’t want it to be really fattening.  I found a recipe with my favorite flavor combination – chocolate and peppermint!  They whipped together very quickly and I had them in the oven, then I checked the reviews on-line.  I groaned – they weren’t so favorable and I had guests coming soon!  You can’t imagine my delight at how perfectly these turned out.  I followed the recipe exactly.  The cheesecake part was creamy – like cheesecake is supposed to be and the brownie was fudgy and delicious! I served it with a little scoop of peppermint ice cream just because, and oh my, it was so good!!

If you’re looking for a lower in calorie and fat dessert, and you love chocolate and mint, you need to try these brownies! I love the swirly top, too!  These are great for any Christmas get-together!!

Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients

  • Cheesecake batter:
  • 1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract The only change I made was here.  I had Peppermint OIL and it flavored the cheesecake perfectly 
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Brownie batter:

  • 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 1 large egg
  • Cooking spray

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°.

Step 2

To prepare cheesecake batter, place cheese in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add granulated sugar and peppermint extract; beat well. Add 1 egg and 1 egg white; beat well. Add 1 tablespoon flour; beat mixture just until blended.

Step 3

To prepare brownie batter, weigh or lightly spoon 5 ounces (about 1 cup) flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine 5 ounces flour, cocoa, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, 2 egg whites, and 1 egg in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until well blended. Add flour mixture to brown sugar mixture; beat at low speed just until blended.

Step 4

Reserve 1/2 cup of brownie batter. Pour remaining batter into a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Carefully pour cheesecake batter over top; spread evenly to edges. Dot cheesecake batter with reserved brownie batter. Swirl top two layers of batters together using the tip of a knife. Bake at 350° for 26 minutes or until top is set. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Chef’s Notes

You can tint the cheesecake batter with two or three drops of red food coloring to give it a pink tinge, if you like. When swirling the cheesecake and brownie batters in step 4, don’t disturb the bottom brownie layer. Cool these bars completely before serving.

 

I love mint and chocolate!  What is your favorite flavor combination?

With love from my country kitchen,

Denise Signature 150 px

baking · Side dish · Uncategorized

Indulgences/No Guilt

RefreshHer1 Comment

I don’t always eat indulgences, but there are cravings for yummy things that hit like the recent winter storm – hard and with little warning!  But I like to eat what I love in a way that doesn’t bring guilt.  How to eat  delicacies and still feel good?  Enter Cooking Light.  You’ve seen their links all over my blog because with their recipes you eat real food, but it’s just lightened up and tastes outstanding!  

I tried a recipe on Cooking Light for Chocolate Chip Cookies that are a cross between cake and cookie.  Excuse me?  That means Delicious in my book. So would they be called Cakies or Cookes?  I think I’ll go with Cakies – Chocolate Chip Cakies. To make them low-fat, they replaced some of the fat with applesauce and you don’t miss anything but the calories! These are SO good!

Cakie a

Chocolate Chip “Cakies”
Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray
Cakie

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Spoon applesauce into a fine sieve over a bowl; let stand 15 minutes. Discard liquid. Scrape drained applesauce into a large bowl. Add sugar and butter; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in vanilla and egg. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed until well-blended. Fold in chips.

Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.

Now for my next low-fat cooking test…I’ve been playing around with Oven-fried Onion rings, trying to find the perfect combination of crunch and flavor.  It’s a little tricky to do when you’re not deep frying.  My old recipe, which will always be my favorite onion ring on a day when I want to splurge, requires oil and deep oil at that, so in order to live without clogging up my arteries, I thought an oven-fried method would be better!  This recipe was found on Food Network’s sight on the Sandwich King’s recipes.  The mix of flour and Panko breadcrumbs give it the perfect crunch with a fraction of the oil!  

onion rings

These little guys had to be husband-worthy, because they were part of his Birthday dinner!  It would be safe to say, he LOVED them!  I had a few…he had the rest.  End of story!  Here’s the recipe…

Oven Fried Onion Rings

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups buttermilk
4 eggs
3 cups panko breadcrumbs
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 large yellow sweet onions, such as Maui, sliced 1/4-to-1/2-inch thick

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place parchment paper onto 2 baking sheets and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, paprika and 2 teaspoons salt. In another bowl or shallow dish, whisk together the buttermilk and eggs. Add half of the flour mixture to the buttermilk and beat until smooth and thickened.

In a separate bowl, combine the panko, olive oil and remaining 2 teaspoons salt.

Lightly dredge the onion rings in the flour mixture and then drop into the buttermilk. Drain the excess batter and then dredge in the panko mixture.

Oven Onion rings.jpg

Arrange on the prepared baking sheets in a single layer. You can place smaller rings inside bigger rings if necessary, just make sure there is space between them. Then place in the oven. Cook until golden brown, 14 to 20 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, flip over each onion ring to ensure even crisping and browning.

Recipe courtesy of Jeff Mauro

I feel for people who settle for substitutes for real food when they want to cut back.  There’s no need to do that when there are recipes this good!  I hope you’ll try a Chocolate Chip Cakie or an Oven-Fried Onion Ring!

What do you do to enjoy your favorite foods without the guilt?

With love from my country kitchen,

  P.S. Don’t forget to enter a picture on Facebook or Instagram today for #Monday Marriage Matters, then check back tomorrow for a post about my favorite photo(s)!