Quick "Baked" Apples

I made this as a single-serving dessert experiment, and I will definitely do it again. It had a good texture that I hadn't expected from the microwave. I used a bowl covered in plastic wrap, but I bet a steam bag would be worth trying, too. If you want to use more than one apple, increase the cooking time and stir apples half way through.

Quick "Baked" Apples
Total time: 5-10 minutes

1 medium apple
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbs packed brown sugar (more if you're using a granny smith)
whipped topping
graham cracker or granola

Slice the apple into 8-12 slices (like the kind you make for little kids) and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Place in a microwave-safe dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave for 60 seconds on high. Remove and top with broken graham cracker or granola and then whipped topping for a more crisp- like dessert.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

I heard about this and thought it was funny, but worth trying. It tastes SO much more like a real ice cream sandwich than I could have imagined! And it's so easy! I don't like to stop and think much about fat-free whipped topping is, because it is 100% fake; if you also have that problem, just eat it!

"Ice Cream" Sandwiches
Prep time: 2-5 minutes Freeze time: 10 min to days

For each sandwich:
1 graham cracker
2-4 tablespoons fat-free whipped topping, thawed or close to it.

Break graham cracker in half. Put whipped topping on it, and place second half of graham cracker lightly on top. Place in freezer until frozen enough for you. If you are making these more than an hour or two ahead, you should wrap them in plastic wrap once frozen to avoid freezer burn.

Low-fat ambrosia

I have been making a 5-cup salad recipe since I was old enough to "help" cook. It is often sold in grocery store delis as "ambrosia." The full cup of sour cream wasn't my friend, but low-fat or non-fat sour cream just taste weird to me. I finally tried vanilla yogurt, and it was great. The only caveat is that it should be eaten in 2-3 days, unlike the 4-5 days I remember from the sour cream. There are two sources of fat in this: the yogurt and the coconut. Switch to non-fat yogurt and replace the coconut with a cup of another fruit, and you can have it fat-free. Last time I made it, I added small chunks of apple, and that worked well too.

5 cup salad
Prep time: 10 min. Servings: 6-8

1 cup shredded coconut
1 (approx. 14 oz) can madarin oranges, drained
1 (approx. 14 oz) can pineapple chunks, drained
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 cup (or one 6 oz container) vanilla yogurt

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Serve immediately, or chill and serve.

Nutrition info per 1/8 of recipe: Cal: 100 Fat: 4g Carbs: 15g Protein: 2.2g

Apple crisp

I love apple crisp - but not all the butter in the topping. Again, this one took me a little bit longer to make, but I think it's worth it. The prep and cook time are my actual in-the-kitchen-searching-my-cabinets times, so if you are more organized or a faster chopper, you may have better luck! I used the trick of replacing some butter with an egg white - like the graham cracker crust did - and this keeps the crust crispy while making it healthier.

Apple crisp
Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes Serves 4-6

3 medium apples, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch
1/2 cup regular oats
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 375.
Toss sliced apples to coat in spices and corn starch.
In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour and brown sugar. In a small bowl, melt butter in the microwave and then stir in egg white (be really careful here that your butter isn't too hot or your egg white will just cook.) Add butter mixture to oat mixture. Mix - will form small clumps.
Pour apples into a pan (8x8 or 9x9) and top with oat mixture. Cook for 25 minutes, or until you think the apples are tender enough.

Fudge

I tried numerous times to make fudge from scratch. I either stirred too long or poured too slowly or cooked it not long enough. Finally I gave up and tried the easy way with sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips, it tastes great, it's easy and I get it right every time.

3 cups (18 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips (or milk-chocolate chips)
1 (14-ounce) can Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
Dash salt
1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk and salt. Remove from heat; stir in nuts (optional) and vanilla. Spread evenly into wax paper lined 8- or 9-inch square pan. Chill 2 hours or until firm. Turn fudge onto cutting board, peel off paper and cut into squares. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

**Beki's note: I made this recipe for a party in France (using chocolate bars because chips are hard to find) and everybody loved it. I could not convince the other Americans there that it was easy - they just kept telling me that they knew good fudge is hard and quit trying to be modest!

Better Graham Cracker Crust

Another thing that I like, but want a better version. Of course, if the filling is healthy enough then you can just buy one. There is another recipe, here, that I'd like to try, but I haven't yet so I can't vouch for it. The one I *have* tried is from Cooking Light and is copied straight from here. I love that it uses just 1 tablespoon of butter, when a regular recipe calls for 4-6 and means at least 33-55 grams of fat LESS that you usually get. Even divided 6 or 8 ways, that's a whole lot. I think that means you're ok to fill it with pudding, frozen yogurt or low-fat ice cream. (mmm, I love the Dreyer's double-churn half-fat stuff) Topped with fruit, of course!

Better Graham Cracker Crust

2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon chilled stick butter/margarine
1 egg white
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 325°.
Combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until blended. Add crumbs and cinnamon; toss with a fork until moistened.
Press crumb mixture into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 325° for 20 minutes or until lightly browned; let cool on a wire rack.

Apple Morning Muffins

I found this recipe here and I am pasting it below because I never have buttermilk, so I've added in substitution ingredients. The original recipe, found here uses 3/4 c yogurt instead of the buttermilk, so you could go that route as well. These are by far the best low-fat muffins I've made. Also, they are very easy to freeze, and taste great after being microwaved for 30-45 seconds to thaw. If you don't have the allspice, don't worry, I left it out, too.

Apple Morning Muffins
Prep time: 10 min Cook time: 20 min

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup raw sugar (regular sugar will work fine)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 cup milk
1 3/4 tablespoons cream of tartar (or 1 tbs vinegar or lemon juice)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup diced apple (1 large apple)

Preheat oven to 350F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or spray with oil.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg.
In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, cream of tartar, eggs and vanilla. Pour into dry ingredients and stir until just combined and no streaks of flour remain, adding in the apples at the last minute. Do not overmix.
Divide evenly into muffin tins and sprinkle with 1 tbsp additional sugar, if desired.
Bake at 350F for 16-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the muffin springs back when lightly pressed.
Cool on a wire rack. Muffins are best when just cooled.

Makes 12 muffins.
Nutrition info per muffin: Cal: 155 Fat: 1.5g Carbs: 32 Protein: 3.9g

Low-fat brownies from mix

First, I know that this one isn't as quick as some others, sorry! You may know this, but a lot of regular brownie boxes now have reduced-fat recipes printed in very small print on the box. The brand I just used actually has a "Low fat" box that tells you to make the recipe with the same directions as the "traditional" box's reduced-fat ones. And they end up with basically the same nutrition info. Funny, isn't it? Well, for my box I ended up with 3 grams of fat per serving instead of 9, and that made me much happier about sharing them with friends over the weekend. When you can get the box for around $1, this is definitely a good, cheap option.

In case you can't find the healthier directions, these are the changes on my box.
Lower-fat brownies
Pour mix into bowl.
Add 1 tablespoon less water than original recipe.
Add 1 egg (original asked for two.)
Add applesauce, mashed banana, or plain non-fat yogurt equal to the amount of oil called for.

Bake in a pan - may take a few minutes less than the traditional recipe.

Chai no-bake cookies

I've been making a typical no-bake cookie recipe since sometime in elementary school. I made it so often that I memorized the recipe. After the recipe card got lost, my family would just ask me for it. Not sure why they didn't just write it down again. However, with a *whole* lot of butter, it didn't seem so great anymore.

A couple of years ago, I set out to find a better version and am pleased to say that I did! The overall fat content actually isn't that much lower - the difference is now it is a healthier kind from the peanut butter. I wanted to make them more unique because no-bake cookies are so expected. I think that the chai spices set off the chocolate and peanut butter perfectly. The peanut butter dulls the flavor a lot, so that is why the amounts are so high.

Chai no-bake cookies
Makes 12 cookies Prep time: 10 min

3 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup oatmeal

Heat milk, sugar, and cocoa powder over medium heat. Stir occasionally and let it come to a low boil. Let boil for one minute (Important! If it doesn't boil, these will stay soft and not set.) Add peanut butter and spices, mix in completely. Remove from heat, add vanilla, mix. Add oatmeal. Shape into balls and place on wax paper to cool or eat right away.

14 Healthier February Desserts!

So, my goal is to have 14 quick and (relatively) healthy dessert recipes for you! Can it be done without resorting to dipping fruit in caramel? Only time will tell. They will be to share with many, to take to work or school, and of course to have something special with just one other person. I admit that I don't have 14 good ones right now, so I'll have to take one for the team here and test out some new ones too.