Yes, that's not a typo and your eyes aren't playing a trick on you. I'm going to share with you my recipe for a yummy, 77 calories brownie!
With no refined flour, no refined sugar, and no butter, this will be the perfect sweet treat for those watching your diet! Best of all, this doesn't taste healthy at all!
To make your own 77 calories brownie (16 servings), you'll need:
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup honey
(you may reduce it if you prefer your brownies less sweet)
2 eggs
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
(I've used 1/4 wholemeal and 1/4 low-carb mix, else with 100% wholemeal you should be getting 75 calories brownies instead)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
optional: chocolate chips or chopped nuts of your choice
(but do note these aren't included in my calorie count)
It can't be any simpler to make this yummy brownies. First, add all your wet ingredients (honey, applesauce, eggs) into a bowl and mix till combined.
Then, sift in your dry ingredients (very important to sift, especially for cocoa powders as they're always lumpy) and mix until just combined.
You may fold in your additional chocolate chips or chopped nuts before pouring the batter into a greased (or non-stick) 8 x 8 inch square brownie pan, for an easy time cutting them into 2" squares so you can gauge your calorie intake better.
Bake at 180 degree Celsius for 20 minutes and check that a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Due to the wholemeal flour, the brownie will be slightly more crumbly but still stay soft and moist (due to the honey and applesauce).
I find that even without the chocolate chips, I wouldn't mind having the brownie a little less sweet hence it's probably good to reduce another tbsp of honey from the recipe (to use about 100ml instead of 120ml) and to make up for the hydration level with some skimmed milk.
Do share with me how yours turned out if you've tried this recipe as well.
Edited: I've tried substituting butter with applesauce for breadmaking and it turned out quite terrible! Fellow bread-bakers, if you've ever successfully did a butter-applesauce replacement, do let me know how you did it!
To get the wholegrain and low-carb flour I've used for this recipe, hop over to iHerb right now!
Till then,
Mia Foo
