Brownie Withdrawal!

Yesterday I was suffering from brownie withdrawal, so combed the internet for low-point brownie recipes. I found one posted by a member on the Weight-Watchers Online website and decided to give it a try. I would link back to their post but I don't know if that is allowed on the WW website.

Here is the recipe:

1/4 cup Egg Beaters
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup Splenda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp light butter
1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Melt the butter, then mix in the rest of the ingredients. Spread in an 8x8 pan sprayed with Pam and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

And here are my tweaks: I used 2 egg whites instead of the Egg Beaters, and used 24 packets of Splenda instead of the baking measure-for-measure stuff. I have heard the fillers in that can taste odd so I thought I'd see the difference without the packets. I replaced the light butter with Promise Fat Free spread, and folded 2 T of semisweet chocolate chips into the batter before putting it in the pan.

Ok, I think Splenda is great, don't get me wrong, but I could still taste the difference. I think next time I will try using half Splenda and half regular sugar, or honey or Agave Nectar. I don't know the reason for using Kosher salt, it didn't really dissolve throughout the batter so next time I'll use regular table salt. And these make a cake-like brownie; next time I might try leaving out the baking soda and see what that does. BUT they are very, very low in points and clearly they are edible because I have only half a pan left. They do hit that chocolate craving with a big cocoa-flavored hammer, without being full of fat or refined sugar or using up a whole meal's worth of points.

I will definitely make these again. Maybe by then I will have bought batteries for my camera and can post pictures of the culinary experiment.