I love banana bread, and zucchini bread, and everything in that family, but most recipes I come across are insanely unhealthy. My grandma’s recipe for zucchini bread worked out to 15 points for a one-inch slice. Yummy, but yikes!

I tried this recipe with a healthy dose of skepticisim. I am suspicious of fat free cream cheese, for one. And I wasn’t quite sure how the baking mix would turn out in this.

It turned out great. The loaf made the house smell amazing, and I couldn’t wait for it to be finished so I could try it. It was one of those things I had to struggle to let cool before I tried it. Fortunately, it was worth the wait. The texture was light and crumbly–a little less dense than a traditional banana bread, and a little lighter in color. Otherwise though, the flavor was excellent. Next time, I think I’ll try it as muffins or mini-muffins, for a little built-in portion control. As it was, baked in the traditional loaf pan the nutritional info worked out to about 160 calories, 4 grams of fat, and less than one gram of fiber per slice, or 3 points.

Lightened-Up Banana Bread

1 cup sugar
1 (8-ounce) package fat-free cream cheese
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 medium)
2 large eggs
2 cups reduced-fat baking mix (such as Bisquick)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place sugar and cream cheese in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add banana and eggs; beat until well blended. Add the baking mix and walnuts, and stir just until moist.

Pour batter into a 9-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Tent bread with foil, and bake an additional 15 minutes.or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Note: I think this recipe came from the Weight Watchers message boards, but I’m not 100% sure. If anyone knows the source, let me know and I’ll be sure and give credit. This would be great with chocolate chips, dried cranberries, or any of the other classic additions to banana bread.

Does anyone else have any favorite “light” baked goods recipes?

This recipe was a treat for my David. I came across the recipe while browsing online, and it sounded so simple (plus, we had about 2 pounds of cream cheese hanging out in the fridge that I was anxious to use up) that I decided to make it for him. He really likes breakfast pastries, like danishes and sweet rolls (who doesn’t?), and cheese danish is one of his favorites, so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m glad I did.

The filling is absolutely perfect. The right balance of richness and sweetness. The pastry is just crescent roll dough, so nothing spectacular on its own, but it lends just the right texture to the danish, and doesn’t get in the way of the filling, which, of course, is the star.

One problem: There’s nothing healthy about this treat. It was about 12 Weight Watchers points for a slice, which is a LOT. I have some thoughts on how I might lighten it for the next time around, though. I think I’ll be trying that soon.

Easy Cheese Danish

• 2 (10 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, diced
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons sour cream
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened

Here’s the recipe for David’s birthday cake, his favorite cake…Alton Brown’s Coconut Cake. While this recipe is a lot of trouble, it really does seem to be worth it all. Using the fresh coconut gives the most light and true coconut flavor. It’s incredible how much better it is than the typical sweetened coconut you’re used to using. If you like coconut, you owe it to yourself to try this cake.

Alton Brown’s Coconut Cake with 7-Minute Frosting
As seen on Good Eats

Ingredients:

• 1 coconut, see Cook’s Note

For the cake:

• Vegetable oil, for cake pan
• 14 1/4 ounces cake flour, plus extra for pans, approximately 3 cups
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup fresh coconut milk
• 1/2 cup fresh coconut cream
• 8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
• 16 ounces sugar, approximately 2 1/4 cups
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 4 egg whites
• 1/3 cup coconut water

For the 7-Minute Frosting:

• 3 large egg whites
• 12 ounces sugar, approximately 1 3/4 cups
• 1/3 cup coconut water
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Grated coconut from 1 coconut, approximately 8 to 10 ounces

Directions

Cook’s Note: To open a coconut: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the coconut onto a folded towel set down in a large bowl. Find the 3 eyes on 1 end of the coconut and using a nail or screwdriver and hammer or meat mallet, hammer holes into 2 of the eyes. Turn the coconut upside down over a container and drain the water from the coconut. Store the water in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Place the coconut onto a 1/2 sheet pan and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. The coconut should have cracked in several places. Using an oyster knife or other dull blade, separate the hard shell from the brown husk. Using a serrated vegetable peeler, peel the brown husk from the coconut meat. Rinse the coconut meat under cool water and pat dry. Break the meat into 2 to 3-inch pieces. With the grater disk attached to a food processor, grate the coconut.

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil 2 (9-inch) cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Oil the parchment paper and then flour the pan. Set aside.

Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

Combine the coconut milk and coconut cream in small bowl and set aside.

Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and using the paddle attachment, cream on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and gradually add the sugar slowly over 1 to 2 minutes. Once all of the sugar has been added, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. Turn the mixer back on to medium speed and continue creaming until the mixture noticeably lightens in texture and increases slightly in volume, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the coconut extract.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture to the butter and sugar in 3 batches, ending with the milk mixture. Do not over mix.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter, just until combined. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bang the pans on the counter top several times to remove any air and to distribute the batter evenly in the pan. Place in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is light golden in color and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F.

Cool the cake in the pans for 10 minutes then remove and transfer to a cooling rack. Once the cakes have cooled completely cut across the equator of each to form 4 layers. Place the 1/3 cup coconut water into a small spritz bottle and spray evenly onto the cut side of the 4 layers. If you do not have a spritz bottle you may brush the coconut water on with a silicone pastry brush. Allow to sit while preparing the frosting.

For the frosting:

Bring 1 quart of water to a boil in a 4-quart saucepan over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium to maintain a steady simmer. In the meantime, place the egg whites, sugar, coconut water, cream of tartar and salt into a medium size-mixing bowl. Place the bowl over the simmering water and immediately begin beating with an electric hand mixer set to low speed. Beat for 1 minute and then increase the speed to high and continue to beat for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat in the coconut and vanilla extracts for 1 minute. Allow the frosting to sit for 5 minutes before using.

Place approximately 3/4 cup of the frosting on the first layer of cake, sprinkle with 1/2 cup coconut and top with the next layer. Repeat until you reach the top layer. Frost the top and sides of the cake and sprinkle with the remaining coconut. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

That Bakerella never steers me wrong. Cake Pops, Pound Cake…and now Oreo Truffles. These little bites of chocolate-covered oreo flavor are delicious, but also pretty easy to make. Much easier than cake pops, since you get to skip that whole stick and wrapping and ribbon part. Didn’t even have to wait for a cake to cool!

White Chocolate Covered Oreo Truffles
Adapted from Bakerella.com

• One package of oreo cookies
• One 14 ounce package of white chocolate bark
• One 8 ounce package of cream cheese
• Sprinkles or decorating crystals (optional)

1. In a food processor fitted with the blade attachement, process oreos until a fine crumb is formed.

2. Add the cream cheese through the feeder tube in approximately two ounce chunks, while the machine continues to run. Once all of the cream cheese is combined, you should have a soft, gooey dough.

3. (I did this part wearing gloves) Shape the dough into balls with your hands, and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. I got about 40 truffles out of one package of oreos. Let rest in the freezer for at least 15 minutes—this will help everything stay together when you dip them in chocolate.

4. Melt white chocolate bark or candy melts according to package directions. Place chocolate in a small bowl, and dip the oreo truffles in chocolate using a spoon. Carefully shake off the excess chocolate and place back on the parchment-lined sheet. You can  add sprinkles or decorating crystals now, while the chocolate is still wet, if you desire. Once all of the truffles are dipped and back on the baking sheet, place the sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes or in the refrigerator for half an hour or so, to allow the chocolate to set. Enjoy!

Note: I used the white chocolate bark from the grocery store for these, but I think I would have prefered the Wilton’s candy melts that I normally use for cake pops. They melt better, and I’m just used to the consistency. The oreo dough balls didn’t hold up quite as well as cake pops in the chocolate, so my white chocolate was kind of cookies-&-cream flavored by the end. I poured it out on a parchment lined sheet, added some broken candy cane pieces, and made oreo-peppermint bark anyway! Didn’t get any complaints.

Last year I went kind of crazy with Christmas cookies, but between following Weight Watchers and how busy things have been, holiday baking just hasn’t been a priority. Which is not to say that I haven’t made some delicious treats.

As a repeat of last year, I made Alton Brown’s Paradise Coconut Macaroons. They turned out well again, and David’s still happily munching on them. The one hiccup was that as I went to make the cookies, I realized I was out of sweetened condensed milk. Luckily, I found a substitution recipe online that worked perfectly, using ingredients we already had on hand. Success! Check it out at the bottom of the page if you’re interested.

I also made peppermint bark again, and my friend Cara came over and made mock-turtles. Very tasty, very simple, and with her perfect football-shaped pretzels, very cute. You may hear more about that soon.

But the point of this post is the new recipe I tried this year: Shortbread. The most recent issue of Food Network Magazine had an awesome little pullout booklet of 50 cookie recipes. The gist of the pamplet is summed up here. What I liked about it is that you started with just a handful of classic, straightforward recipes, followed by several creative variations on the same recipe. I took the classic Shortbread recipe and doubled it, making one batch of Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread and one batch of Lemon Shortbread Squares. I tweaked the basic recipe to get the texture that I wanted, and was very happy with the instructions below. It’s for the Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread, but if you want plain shortbread, skip the chocolate dipping steps, and if you want it to have a little bit of bright, lemony flavor, add a little bit of fresh lemon zest with the flour mixture.

Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread

• 2 sticks butter (preferably unsalted. If using salted butter, omit additional salt below)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• bittersweet chocolate chips (I used Ghiradhelli)
• flake sea salt

Beat 2 sticks butter, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar until fluffy. Whisk 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt, then stir into the butter mixture. Press into a buttered 8-inch square or 9-inch round tart pan. Score into strips with a fork, then chill 30 minutes. Bake about 1 hour at 300 degrees. Cool, then slice along the scored lines.

Melt bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler. Dip cooled shortbread pieces in chocolate, and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Sweetened Condensed Milk Substitute

• 1 cup instant non-fat dry milk
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

In a blender, combine ingredients and blend until smooth. Store in refrigerator until ready to use. Makes the equivalent of one 14 ounce cane.

      Title: SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK SUBSITUTE
 Categories: Misc, Sauces
      Yield: 1 Servings

      1 c  Instant non-fat dry milk
    2/3 c  Sugar
    1/3 c  Boiling water
      3 tb Melted butter

  In a blender, combine ingredients and blend until smooth. Store in
  refrigerator until ready to use. Makes the equivalent of one 14 oz.
  can.

My mom, sister, and my sister’s boyfriend David came over on Saturday to do some baking. They chose a number of tasty treats and then we spent all day making them. It was a long day, but a lot of fun. And I got to try a few different recipes, which is always fun!

This recipe came from my Bon Appetit Cookbook. The finished cookies taste a lot like Mint Milano cookies, which is a good thing. The cookie itself is light and airy, with a soft crunch. We piped the cookies, as the recipe suggests, though I’ve read in other places now that other people just roll them into balls and flatten them to get round cookies. Seems like that would probably work. The ganache we ended up with was a bit thin. Not sure if it’s because we didn’t use as high-quality chocolate as the recipe suggests, or if something else went wrong. We ended up with a thin layer of the ganache, and then because it was so sticky, we just drizzled chocolate over the bottoms, instead of trying to dip the cookies. The instructions below are for the correct method, which I think would turn out prettier than ours. The good news is the cookies tasted fantastic—we didn’t mess that part up!

Chocolate Mint Meltaway Cookies
Adapted from The Bon Apetit Cookbook

Ingredients

For Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

For Ganache Filling

• 1/4 cup whipping cream, plus 2 tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 9 ounces imported white chocolate, chopped (such as Lindt)
• 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

For Chocolate Coating

• 9 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (we used chips)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Directions

For Cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F Butter 2 heavy large cookie sheets. Using electric mixer, cream butter and extracts in medium bowl until light. Beat in sugar. Beat in half of flour. Stir in remaining flour. Place the dough into a piping bag fitted with large star tip. Pipe into two inch ovals onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake until golden brown on edges, about 12 minutes. Transfer to paper towels and cool.

For Ganache:

2. Bring cream and butter to simmer in heavy small saucepan over low heat. Add chocolate and stir until smooth. Mix in extract. Refrigerate just until firm enough to spread, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

3. Line two cookie sheets with foil. Using a small metal icing spatula, spread 1 teaspoon ganache over the flat side of each cookie. Arrange ganache side up on foil-lined cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ganache is firm, about 30 minutes.

For Coating:

4. For coating: Melt bittersweet chocolate and vegetable shortening in top of double boiler over simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from over water.

5. Grasp cookie on sides and dip ganache side into bittersweet chocolate; shake cookie to remove excess chocolate. Place cookie on same sheet, chocolate side down. Repeat with remaining cookies. Chill until chocolate sets, 30 minutes. Remove cookies from foil.

(Can be prepared 2 weeks ahead. Refrigerate in single layers in airtight containers. Let stand 10 minutes at room temperature before serving.).

These tasty mini-treats are perfect for bringing along to a halloween party, especially if you’re looking for a healthy option. They’re still brownies, but they’re actually very low-fat and have a decent amount of fiber due to the added pumpkin. (Don’t worry, they don’t taste anything like pumpkin!)

I’m not always a big fan of these low-fat baking tricks, but this one worked out very well. Perhaps because I started with a good quality brownie mix (mmm…Ghirardhelli!)

Halloween Brownie Bites
Makes 48 mini-muffin sized brownies

• 1 standard brownie mix
• 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
• 2 egg whites
• sprinkles or walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat your oven according to the package directions on your brownie mix. Lightly spray a mini-muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray, or line with mini-cupcake wrappers. Set aside.

2. Using a the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, beat together the pumpkin puree and egg whites until well combined. Add the brownie mix  and continue to beat on medium until the dry mix is fully incorporated. Important: Do not add anything else to the mix, no matter what the back of the box says. No oil. No whole eggs. No water. The batter will be very thick, but that’s okay.

3. Scoop into mini-muffin pans. I had enough batter to fill my 24-cup pan twice, and just baked two batches. If you have two mini-muffin tins, you could probably do both at the same time. If you plan to use any nuts or sprinkles, now is the time to add them. I used orange sprinkles  on one pan, and I pressed a walnut half into the top of each mini brownie in the other pan.

4. Bake according to package directions, adjusting the cook time if your package doesn’t call for mini-muffins. The mix I used wanted to be cooked for 40 minutes in a 9×13 pan, but the mini-muffins only took 20 minutes. Just keep a close eye on them. Allow to rest in the pan for 5 minutes or so, then remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Note: The nutritional information based on the mix that I used and the directions above is 55 calories, 1 gram of fat, and .5 grams of fiber per brownie bite.

Ok, so that title is a little vague because I didn’t want anyone who doesn’t like pumpkin to not click. I generally don’t even like pumpkin myself! Or so I thought. But that was until I had these magnificent Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, introduced to me by an ex-boyfriend.

These puppies are meant to be soft and chewy, bordering on almost cake-like (but not quite) – in other words, the perfect cookie, IMO. Since the ex and I didn’t really stay ~friends~ (hahaha… wait, that’s not funny, is it?), I did some Googling to try to find a similar cookie recipe… and found several different ones. I ultimately ended up Frankensteining a few – perfect for Halloween, am I right?! – to create this delicious fall treat.

Ingredients:

• 1 can pumpkin (15 oz.)  (Note: most recipes list 1 cup; I accidentally used the whole can, but they taste great!)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup quick or old-fashioned oats
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. cinnamon (I used 1 tsp. Saigon cinnamon & 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice – whatever you prefer)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. milk
• 1 T. vanilla
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• cream cheese icing (optional)

Yield: about 3 dozen

Combine pumpkin, sugar, oil, and egg in large bow. Mix well.
(Oil will separate; just re-stir before you need to add more ingredients later in the recipe.)

In another, smaller bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

Dissolve baking soda with milk, then stir into flour mixture. Next stir in oats.

Mix together flour mixture with pumpkin, slowly adding more flour mix and stirring each time. Mixture will thicken. You should be able to stick your spoon in the middle and have it stand up on its own.

Add vanilla and chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 on a greased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes until tops of cookies are dry and spring back when touched lightly (I find 12 mins. on the nose is perfect). Remove from baking sheet and cool on racks.

If you like, while cookies are still slightly warm, ice them with the cream cheese icing (I used the Pillsbury whipped variety). The warm cookie and the melty icing is perfection. Seriously. I’ve never iced them all and then eaten the pre-iced cookies later, so I’m not sure how that would taste, but I have nuked a cook or two in the microwave for a little bit and then iced them to re-create that fresh-out-of-the-oven goodness. Works pretty well actually.

These “cookies” were so moist and crumbly they tasted like the top of a really delicious muffin. Definitely muffintop-ish.

Your turn! Hope you enjoy – let me know if you do!

Though I am generally a pretty good cook, sometimes things just don’t work out as planned. This is one of those times. Luckily, the results were tasty, just not quite what we had in mind. My friend Cara came over to bake something last weekend. She wasn’t too particular, but had an idea of a cookie she’d had once before, and I did my best to cooperate. Except first, I think my recipe wasn’t exactly what she had in mind, and then the grocery store was out of a key ingredient, so I had to make substitutions. The cookies we ended up with were so far from what we initially planned that it doesn’t make sense to talk about what we tried to make. Instead, here’s what we ended up with: buttery, crunchy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

When it comes to oatmeal cookies, I’m more of a raisin girl. I’m also a chewy fan. That doesn’t mean that these weren’t good cookies. Once we got over the initial disappointment, I realized that they were actually delicious. Awesome dunked in milk–kind of like a Chips Ahoy, but with oatmeal.

Crispy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats, uncooked
1 teaspoon baking Soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup applesauce
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease baking sheets. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside. Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mix. Alternate additions of dry ingredients and applesauce, mixing well after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips For each cookie, drop 1/4 cup of dough onto prepared baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes, until browned and crisp at the edges. Let rest on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes or so before removing to a metal cooling rack.

These Butterfinger Brownies were the other treat I brought along to Paw-Paw’s party. As I mentioned last week, we had a party to honor my grandfather a few weeks ago. He’s been gone for a few years now, and we all came together to celebrate his life with memories and games and the foods he loved.

To be truthful, I never knew him to eat much in the way of sweets–he was diabetic for my whole life, and kept himself to a strict diet. But when I tried to think of things foods that reminded me of him, I remembered one of the few times I had him to myself. After all, I have a whole slew of cousins (and that’s okay!) and we all grew up right here near my grandparents (no complaints there either!). It does mean that most of the time I spent with Granny and Paw-Paw when I was young involved the other kids. But when I thought about it, I remembered being on vacation in Buffalo, New York, and he and I going on a walk, just the two of us, to the nearby drugstore. We’d gone to buy Yahtzee score cards, of all things. I don’t remember what we talked about, but I remember feeling pretty special as we talked the whole way there and the whole way back. And I don’t remember much about the trip, but I do remember him buying me a Butterfinger candy bar to snack on.

So like with the Oyster Crackers last week, rather than show up at the party with Butterfinger candy bars, I tried to come up with a recipe using Butterfingers. And so I came across this recipe at www.recipegirl.com. The original recipe called for full-size bars, but I adapted it to fun-size candy bars–and just in time for Halloween. This would really work with any leftover candy bars you have. The vanilla blondie flavor is the perfect backdrop for any candy bar flavor. Heath bars, Snickers, or Reese’s cups would be delicious.

Butterfinger Blondies

• 2¼ cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¾ cup butter, softened
• 2¼ cups brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract
• 12 fun-size Butterfinger Candy bars, crushed

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13×9-inch baking pan with greased parchment paper

2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, with electric mixer at medium speed, combine butter and brown sugar.

4. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth.

5. Stir in flour mixture and 1 cup of crushed butterfingers.

6. Spread in prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining crushed butterfinger bars over top of batter, reserving a couple of tablespoons of crushed candy.

7. Bake 30 – 35 minutes, or until the bars are a bit firm to the touch. Remove from the oven. While the bars are still warm, sprinkle with the remaining candy. Remove to a wire cooking rack and let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Servings: 12