Marbled Chocolate Brownies

Oh man, it's the last recipe! I can hardly believe it. Luckily, I received the Perfect Brownie Pan for Christmas, and I used it for this last recipe for lower fat, lower calorie brownies. Some notable ingredients include margarine, egg whites, lower-fat cream cheese (neufchatel cheese), and unsweetened applesauce. This is also interesting in that it's one of those brownie recipes that uses both melted semi-sweet chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder.

I could swear that I may I have tasted some of the applesauce, but my mom said she didn't. Anyway, these brownies are pretty incredible. Their texture is extremely smooth and melt-in-your-mouth. Like, I'm not sure I've ever had such a smooth brownie before. It's pretty amazing. I'd give these a 4 out of 5. I would make them again. =)

Well, that's the end of the experiment! I've enjoyed it, and I hope those of you who got to share in it did as well.

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Good-for-You Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies

Ahh, another lower calorie, lower fat recipe. These cookies involve unsweetened applesauce, margarine, egg whites, cinnamon, oats, nuts, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. The cinnamon isn't overpowering, but rather accents the chocolate and oats nicely. While the recipe says you can bake for 9-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 12-13 minutes for more crisp cookies, I baked them for 11 minutes and they're pretty much perfect. They're nice and chewy without being under or over-done.

These cookies are pretty darn tasty. I think I'd give them a solid 4 out of 5 rating. You really can't even tell that they're lower in fat and calories. That's pretty awesome, if you ask me. =)

One more!

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Lower-Fat Blonde Brownies

This recipe was pretty mundane - nothing strange about it, really, except that there's a lot of brown sugar and no white sugar. Since it's a low-fat recipe, it calls for margarine, egg whites, and water. (I don't really understand the water part. I would think skim milk would be better, but whatevs.) The batter was kind of wet and really sticky, so I used a rubber spatula to spread it in the pan. I used foil and non-stick baking spray to make the finished brownies easier to get off the pan. It calls for a 10"x15" jelly roll pan, but the closest I have is about 11"x16", so that's what I used.

The one problem I had was this: The recipe said to bake for 20-25 minutes, and that it was done when the top was golden brown. After 20 minutes, the top was definitely, distinctly golden brown, but I was skeptical about its actual doneness because it was so soft. Fearing overbaking, I didn't put it back in the oven. That was probably a little mistake. The finished blondies were extremely, overly moist. So I'm pretty sure they were a little underdone... Oh well. You live and you learn.

These were pretty good blondies, but nothing special. I'd probably give them a 3 out of 5.

Only two more recipes!! And then what? ....No idea. But the experiment will officially be over once 2011 starts.

Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Chocolate Gingerbread Boys and Girls

I'd never made gingerbread men before today, and I enjoyed it. The spices (ginger and cinnamon) aren't overpowering, and they accent the chocolate nicely. 1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate is mixed into the dough instead of cocoa, along with 1/2 cup of molasses, making these cookies extra dark and flavorful. This is one of those recipes that requires planning ahead, since the dough needs to chill for at least an hour before being rolled out and cut. The dough is pretty dense and a little difficult to work with, but it makes some tasty cookies. ^_^ I drizzled them with semi-sweet chocolate as directed in the recipe, but I ended up not decorating them further with icing. The white cookie icing I bought wasn't meant for any kind of detail work; I think it was more for icing an entire cookie as thin as it was. Oh well. You live and you learn. (It was Betty Crocker brand cookie icing in a little bag, by the way.) A thicker icing that hardens would be ideal, like maybe royal icing.

I'd give this recipe a 4 out of 5. It's a great holiday cookie recipe, especially if you're looking for something a little out of the ordinary. (At least, I hadn't heard of chocolate gingerbread until this recipe.) So yep, if you like chocolate and spice, definitely give these a try. =) I'm leaving out a couple for Santa Claus tonight.

Cheers, and Merry Christmas!

~Jesia <3

Super Easy Chocolate Mint Triangles

I had to wait until after Thanksgiving to make this recipe so that I could get ahold of the limited edition dark chocolate and mint morsels that Toll House puts out during the holidays. The crust is made of finely crushed chocolate sandwich cookies - I used holiday Oreos with red cream in the middle. On top of the crust is 1 1/2 cups of nuts, 1 cup of coconut, and 10 oz. of chocolate and mint chips, and it's drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. The sweetened condensed milk pretty much makes everything stick together. These triangles are really chewy, and the mint is nice and refreshing. This is another one of those recipes that is difficult to deal with as far as cutting, but I did my best and had my mom help me. I'd recommend refrigerating before cutting to minimize loss of the topping.

Like I said, these are extremely chewy. The mint and chocolate flavor is great. I just personally don't like coconut and nuts... I'd give these a 3 1/2 out of 5. The recipe also says that you can substitute pretty much any other flavor of chips for the mint chocolate, which is nice given that the mint and chocolate ones are now seasonal.

Only four more to go! Cheers!

~Jesia <3

Double Chocolate Chip Brownies

I do believe this is the first time I've dealt with a lower-fat recipe that involved applesauce, though I have heard of using it. It was pretty interesting. You melt together semi-sweet chocolate chips, sugar, unsweetened applesauce, and a little margarine over low heat on the stove, then stir in the rest of the ingredients like usual. Again, this recipe used egg whites, and I was a little surprised at how much sugar was called for (1 cup) given that apple sauce was also in there to add some natural sweetness. Though, it might be that the apple sauce is there to add moisture moreso than sweetness, because these brownies are nice and chewy and moist. Having some whole chocolate chips inside the brownies makes them nice and chocolatey too. You can't even really tell that they're lower in fat and calories than regular! And again, it would be interesting to use Splenda in place of sugar to see how different it might be, and it would also cut out even more calories.

I left the nuts out since they were optional. Like I said, these brownies are chewy, moist, and chocolatey. You can't taste the applesauce in them - they taste just like regular brownies. That's a pretty exellent "light" recipe, if you ask me. I'd give them a 4 out of 5. Good stuff, good stuff.

Only five more recipes! Three of them are light recipes, and the other two I saved specifically for the holidays. Toll House finally released their limited edition dark chocolate and mint chips for the holidays, so that's a relief. My back-up plan was to use Andes chips, but I don't think it would've been quite the same. I'll be back and baking again after finals week! Look out, world. The Toll House Experiment is almost complete!

Cheers!

~Jesia <3