Brownkies

Like many of you, there are tons of recipes showing up daily on my Facebook feed.  Some of them don't interest me at all, and then there are those that I just can't wait to try!  Especially the sweet ones... I immediately look at the list of ingredients and see if I think I can "de-sugarize" it.  Well, this one certainly fit all conditions, and I am happy to share it with you.
It came from someone named Wesley Jueckstock and he named them "Heaven".

 I agree with his description, especially when warm.  But to give people a little better idea of what they are...I am naming them Brownkies... half brownies, half cookies.

• 1 recipe of low-sugar chocolate chip cookie dough
• 1 recipe of sugar-free brownies
• 3-4 bags of sugar-free Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups

First, here's my recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Because there is some brown sugar blend in this recipe, it makes the overall recipe  Low Sugar.

• 2/3 c. shortening
• 1/4 c. Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
• 1/2 c. Splenda
• 1 egg
• 1 t. vanilla

•  1 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1 t. baking powder
• 4-6 ounces of sugar-free chocolate chips

Mix together the wet ingredients.  Stir in the dry ingredients just until combined.  Add chocolate chips and mix in.

Note:  If you would like to make chocolate chip cookies from this dough:  Bake at 335 degrees, spray the pan.  Flatten out small balls of dough to the size that you want your cookies.  They will not spread out like regular cookies.  Bake for 11 minutes.  Allow to rest (finish cooking) on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

 Press a little bit of chocolate chip cookie dough in the bottom of each muffin cup in a mini muffin tin.  Unwrap individual mini sugar-free Reese's peanut butter cups and turn them upside down, pressing down slightly.

Mix a prepared sugar-free brownie mix according to package directions, adding an egg, oil and water.  Mix just until dry ingredients are combined.

 Scoop a small amount of brownie batter into each muffin cup, allowing the batter to cover each peanut butter cup.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes.

You can use the tines of a fork to gently pry each brownkie out of the muffin tin.  Move to a cooling rack.

I suggest that you eat them/ serve them while warm!  They are "Heaven" and will melt in your mouth.  If they have sat around and have come to room temperature... 10 seconds in the microwave will warm them back up.

I won't say that they are "equally" delicious...  but they are also very good, even if you don't have any of the peanut butter cups to put in the middle.  Chocolate Chip Cookies and Brownies... what could be bad??  But my take is that they still need to be warm.

Citrus Cranberry Bread

For me, right after pumpkin, cranberry is the other most important holiday flavor.  I have kind of gotten in to using dried cranberries this last year, and although growing up I never liked cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, this year I made some fresh cranberry relish and really enjoyed it.  So I bought some more cranberries after Thanksgiving and was looking for ways to use them.

I saw someone making lemon cranberry bread on tv and of course I could not remember who.  I started searching for a recipe and found one on the Food TV site for Betsy's Lemon-Cranberry Bread.  I used this recipe as a base for my changes. (I just went back to share the link with you and the recipe doesn't seem to be there.) I used fresh cranberries and along with the lemon, this was a very tart bread.  It was delicious, but if you prefer something a little sweeter, you may want to substitute orange in this recipe.  I made it a second time and did just that.  The other thing that I did the second time was to cook the fresh cranberries for a few minutes.  It did change the complexity of this recipe.  Both were wonderful, just different.  This bread does have a glaze and because it was the holidays, I did use regular powdered sugar.  Therefore, this is a   Low Sugar  recipe.  If you would like to make it a  No Sugar Added  recipe, simply make the glaze from a powdered sugar substitute.

•  2/3 c. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c. Splenda
• 1/2 c. no-fat, plain yogurt
• 4 T. lemon or orange juice
• 2 T. lemon or orange zest
• 4 eggs
• 3 c. flour
• 3 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1 1/2 t. salt
• 1 c. low-fat milk, 1% or 2%
• 2 c. cranberries, dried or fresh*
• 1 c. pecans or walnuts, chopped  (optional)

Glaze

• 3 large spoonfuls powdered sugar
• fresh citrus juice

 Cream butter, Splenda, juice and zest.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one.
In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Then add the dry ingredients alternately to batter with milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

 Stir in cranberries and nuts.  Spray 2 loaf pans.  I was making some gifts for the holidays and had some mini loaf pans.  This recipe will make between 4 and 6, depending upon the size of your pans.
Bake at 335 degrees for 1 hour for the regular loaves or 40 minutes for mini loaves.

 Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan to a wire rack.  Use a skewer, or other sharp object and poke 12 or so holes into the loaf.  Cool the bread completely.

 Whisk together the glaze by adding the juice to the powdered sugar just a little at a time, until you have a thin, pour-able consistency.

For powdered sugar substitute:  Mix 1 c. non-fat dry milk, I c. cornstarch, and 2/3 c. Splenda

 Spoon glaze over the bread allowing it to soak into the holes.  You may want to put some wax paper under your wire rack, just to make clean up a little easier.

 This bread has a refreshing taste and with the red color of the cranberries, it certainly is festive for the holidays,  But I think it would be good any time of year.

*The second time I made this bread, I decided to cut down on the tartness of the cranberries.  I put them in a small skillet with about 1/3 c. Splenda and a T. of lemon juice.  I cooked these down for about 10-15 minutes on a medium-low heat.  The cranberries will burst open and the sugar will dissolve.  Allow the cranberries to cool before adding to the batter.

Crustless Hot Fudge Pie

I had some friends over for lunch the other day and was looking for a new and easy dessert.  I looked through some recipes that I had seen and written down; I settled on this one.  It had come across in a shared format on my FB feed.  I found it at the following link.  It took no time at all to mix up and we were able to eat it warm.

• 1 stick I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, softened
• 1 c. Splenda
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla
• 3 T. cocoa powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 c. flour

Cream butter and Splenda for 3 minutes.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix in well.  Finally add the dry ingredients and stir until combined.  (This recipe originally called for 1 t. salt.  It was just a little too salty for my taste, so above I have reduced the amount to 1/2 t.)

 It doesn't look like much batter, but is enough for this small pie.  It will make 6 regular size dessert pieces.  Spray an 8" pie plate and pour in the mixture.

 Heat oven to 335 degrees and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Allow to cool for just a few minutes.  You will want to eat it warm.

I just happened to have some sugar-free ice cream in the freezer...  It was the perfect addition to make it very delicious!