When I do a low-fat or fat free recipe I feel like it needs to come with a disclaimer. I’m a feminist. I love how women look in all shapes in sizes. I don’t think women should spend their lives constantly counting calories and striving for society’s idea of perfection. To be blunt, I like fat girls!
That said. I gained a lot of weight over the past 2 years. I’m at a point where I’m not feeling healthy and getting winded walking up my stairs. None of my clothes fit and I am feeling kind of crappy. This doesn’t mean that I hate myself or think I’m ugly, it just means it’s time to lose some weight.
What I do to lose weight is a bastardized version of the Weight Watchers Core program. In a nut shell, it’s limiting refined carbohydrates and fat, and eating high fiber whole foods like grains, legumes, fruits and veggies. Easy enough if you’re vegan, but my biggest issue is baked sweets. I love apples and cantelope as much as the next girl, but I love to bake. I need the smell of brownies in my apartment at least a few times a week or I feel deprived, especially during these dreary gray winter months.
These Brownie Bites are perfect because they are portioned in mini muffin sizes so that when you eat too many, you know exactly how many that is. They’re ready to eat in about 45 minutes, so your craving can be met almost immediately. To bolster their health factor without giving too much of a “health food” taste, I use whole wheat pastry flour. Prunes are pureed with coffee to give the brownies moisture, gooeyness and depth of flavor as well as extra fiber. The prunes give the brownies a backdrop of fruitiness that I think complements the chocolate nicely, and using coffee as the liquid is not only fat and calorie free, but it accentuates the chocolaty-ness as well. I do still use regular sugar because I make them often and agave or maple syrup would be really expensive and I don’t like stevia or splenda so don’t even try to sell me on it. The point for me is not to be a perfect little angel, but to be a perfect little angel that can still eat brownies.
Low Fat Brownie Bites
Makes 24
1 cup fresh brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 cup prunes (about 12)
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325.
Combine coffee, prunes and flax seeds in a blender. Blend until relatively smooth. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Mix in sugar, canola oil and vanilla until well combined. I just use a fork for this.
Sift in pastry flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Mix well.
Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Fill each tin most of the way.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, tops should be firm to the touch and rounded.
Remove from oven and serve when cool enough to handle.
I used recipezaar to get the nutritional info.
