Fudgy Cocoa Brownies

Fudgy Cocoa Brownies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

2 egg whites

3/4 cup walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, allowing the foil to extend over the rim by 2-inches. Spray with non-stick spray. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl; set aside. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan set over low heat. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Whisk in the cocoa and vanilla; let stand 5 minutes. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg, and egg whites to the cocoa mixture, whisk until blended. Stir in the flour mixture until blended. Stir in the walnuts. Scrape the batter into the baking pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs clinging, 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a rack. Lift from the pan using the foil as handles; cut into 16 squares.

Tip: For easier cutting, refrigerate the cooled brownies about 1 hour.

Calories: 140, Fat 7g, Fiber 1 or 3 points per serving

From: Best Ever Desserts

Made without walnuts 2 points per serving

Lorie's Verdict: These were so good. They are rich and very chocolatey! So beware. But that's good because it will be easier not to eat all 16 at once! My kids LOVED them! My husband does not like nuts in brownies and that saved me a point!

No-Bake Granola Bars

These were really good. My lids loved them and can't wait until I can make some more! My chocolate chips still melted a little even though I put them in the freezer, but they were still good!
No-Bake Granola Bars

1.5 cups rice krispies cereal

1.5 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup brown sugar (unpacked)

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup reduced fat peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Line a 13x9 pan with wax paper, they're chewy and it's easier to get them out. Put the mini chocolate chips in the freezer while you're working, they won't melt as quickly when you add them later on. Add oats and rice krispies to a very large mixing bowl. Heat brown sugar and honey in a saucepan over medium heat until smooth. Add peanut butter and vanilla and stir until everything is combined. It will be a thick brown sauce. Don't let it boil. Remove from heat and pour over oat/cereal mix. Work quickly and stir to combine everything. Add the mini chocolate chips at the very end. Press into baking pan and chill for about 30 minutes until solid. Cut into 16 bars. (I lifted them right out with the wax paper and cut them on a cutting board)

Makes 16 servings

3 points per serving

Crazy Crust Pizza

This recipe was really good. The reason it's called Crazy Crust is because you put all you toppings except sauce and cheese into the batter . The crust is very thin and more of a batter so don't be scared if that happens. I made mine in a 12 inch round pizza pan and it worked fine. You need a pan that has sides. My pampered chef round stone would not work because it does not have anything to keep the batter in the pan. Some people online recommend using a half sheet pan that is 10x15. You can play around with this pizza and add any toppings you like, just make sure you refigure the points. My kids liked it but thought it was too spicy, so next time I think I will leave out the black pepper in the crust all together. I only added the pepperoni to the kid pizza or they probably would not have eaten it. I also thought that the cooking times were too long, so I recommend watching it until you figure out how long it takes in your oven. My oven was about 5 minutes less for both cooking times. On both pizzas, the sides of the dough came up when the crust cooked and made like an area to put your cheese and sauce in kind of crazy like, maybe another reason it's called crazy. Overall this was good and we will make it again.

Note: In the picture, I took it out of my pizza pan after it cooked and put it on my pampered chef round stone and then took a picture. I cooked it in a 12 inch round pizza pan and only had one so I was cooking the other. So know it was not cooked on that stone, the batter will run off the sides.

Crazy Crust Pizza

Dough:

1 cup(s) all-purpose flour

1 tsp table salt

1 tsp McCormick Oregano leaves

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup(s) Egg Beaters Egg Beaters

2/3 cup(s) fat-free skim milk

Toppings (can substitute)

17 slice(s) Hormel Pillow Pack Turkey Pepperoni

1 cup(s) mushroom(s)

1 cup(s) pizza sauce

1 cup(s) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (I used part-skim pizza cheese on mine)

1/4 cup(s) onion(s), chopped

In a small bowl, combine batter ingredients until smooth. Pour into greased and dusted 14" pizza pan (or sheet pan of similar size). Tilt pan so that batter covers bottom. Arrange toppings and bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown. Remove from oven and drizzle with sauce. Sprinkle with cheese and return to oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce is hot.

Serves 8 at 3 points per piece

Serves 4 at 5 points per piece

Menu Plan Monday- January 25-31

The last week of January! Will be posting several new recipes that I have tried including Crazy Crust Pizza and Low Point Granola Bars. so be sure to visit me this week! Here's my plan for this week:

Dinners
Monday:Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, salad, Low-fat Bread Machine Italian Bread (made into bread sticks
Tuesday: Smothered Buttermilk Chicken and Biscuits
Wednesday: Crockpot Brown Sugar Chili, Jiffy Corn muffins
Thursday: Crispy Chicken Drumsticks, Soup Beans and rolls
Friday: Crazy Crust Pizza, salad
Saturday:Slow Cooker Pizza, salad
Sunday: Soup and Sandwiches

Breakfast
Easy Breakfast Sandwiches
Honey Nut Cheerios with skim milk and fruit
Cinnamon French Toast, fruit, hot herbal tea

Lunch
Bacon, Egg, and Ranch Salad(Salad with those things in it)
Refried Bean Soup
Garden Vegetable Soup
Tomato Basil Soup

Snack and Desserts
Fat Free Rice Krispie Treats
Air popped popcorn
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Go here to see more plans.

Hungry Girl's Corn MegaMuffins

I tried these last week with my favorite chili. They were HUGE. I could taste a little bit of aftertaste from the Splenda, but it was not bad and these were pretty good. My kids like them, but my husband did not. He's spoiled with the real thing! Make sure you use cupcake liners, I did not and wished I had. I don't know how much I will make these because the greek yogurt is kind of expensive.

Hungry Girl's Corn MegaMuffins

Wendy's No Bake Peanut Butter Bars

I have had this recipe for a long time in my "recipes to try" folder. I am so glad I finally tried it! They are really good. I had a hard time with them sticking together, but if you leave them in the refrigerator for the 1 hour they stick fine, although that will be hard, because you will want to eat them! I made them into squares but you could alo make them more like bars, kind of like a granola bar. Thank goodness I had kids to help me eat these. They are so yummy! This is a treat though since they are 4 points each. I don't know how many points one is but I would guess 2. When you cut them into 24 pieces you still get a pretty nice piece if you decide to only eat one.

Wendy's No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

3/4 cup reduced-fat creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup honey

3 tablespoons light butter, stick

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups crispy rice cereal

2 cups bran buds, I used Kellogg's All Bran

Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with non-stick spray. Combine the peanut butter, brown sugar, honey, and butter in a large pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until smooth, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Add the cereals and stir well to coat. Spoon the cereal mixture into the baking pan. Cover with wax paper or plastic wrap and gently press to form an even layer. Let cool completely. Refrigerate, covered, until firm (at least 1 hour). Uncover and cut into 24 bars.

Note: I cut mine into 12 bars(4 points each)as pictured above

Serving size: 2 bars per person (24 bars at 4 points per serving)

From: Weight Watchers Magazine July/August 2008

per serving 2 bars ; 210 calories, 8g fat, 7g fiber

Finger Jello

Angie(a friend from Weight Watchers) made these for a Christmas potluck and my kids and I LOVE them! They are low in points, so keep these in your refrigerator when you have a snack attack.
Finger Jello
3 small boxes of sugar free Jello, any flavor
1 box (4 envelopes) Knox's gelatin
4 cups boiling water
Mix jello and gelatin in boiling water until dissolved. Pour into a casserole pan and place in the refrigerator until set. Cut in squares.
Makes 16 squares at 0 points per square
Makes 12 squares at 1 point per square
(Angie said she put these on the Weight Watcher scale and you could eat 4 squares for 0 points, but she did not know how many servings one recipe made and I ran this through the recipe builder on the Weight Watchers site and got the above points.)
I also learned online you can stack these with different colors to make some cool looking finger jello.