So we’re trying to eat better in this house.
It’s been a long time coming and I’ve been waiting for it. I’ve been wanting to get on a better track for a while now but I’ve either strayed or put off an official attempt.
Well now I’m officially attempting.
I’m getting older. I don’t want my reckless way of managing my health catching up with me. I got kids that I have to see grow up. A wife that I love to annoy. Most importantly, I really want to feel comfortable taking selfies in the bathroom.
And even more important than that, it’s what we’re giving up for Lent – giving up the things we eat that are bad for us; trying to make ourselves better.
Last year I tried to better myself by giving up Twitter and Google+, basically the main outlets of social media that I use. And I did good. Extremely good. So good in fact, I felt better about what I was doing with my free time and I didn’t want to go back. It was liberating and eye opening to stand back and see this grasp social media has on us. If you’ve never unplugged and taken a break, I highly recommend it.
Anyway, back to now. I wanted to do the same I did last year but since I already learned the benefits of giving that up, I thought I’d try something else.
We’ve enlisted the help of Weight Watchers to help us on our way. It’s worked for us before so we’re confident in what it could do.
So while cruising for something to make WW approved, I found this brownie cupcake thing. Easy to put together, insanely light, and it hits the spot. Boy does it hit the spot. It’ll smother that chocolate and sweet craving and leave you feeling happy – all for 2 measly little WW points.
Hell. Yes.
Cupcake Brownies from Weight Watchers
3/4 cup ~ All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon ~ Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed
3 tablespoons ~ Cocoa Powder, unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon ~ Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon ~ Salt
1/2 cup ~ Water
1/4 cup ~ Applesauce, unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon ~ Cider Vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons ~ Margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon ~ Vanilla Extract
Notes:
- You’re going to need a muffin pan for this.
- A note from WW: You can have the same taste for a fraction of the fat if you substitute cocoa for bittersweet chocolate and use applesauce in place of some of the butter.
- I easily doubled the recipe with no problems. Trust me, you’ll want to make a good amount of these.
- If you use sweetened applesauce that’s going to add another 2 points. So not worth it.
- I figured if I’m following their point system that I should follow their recipe to a T. My wife basically interrogated me because she knows how I am. But I stand by what I said – I didn’t change a thing.
- Ok, that was a lie. I didn’t have the vinegar so I just totally omitted it. The cake was fine.
- Yes, the cake. I call this a cake. WW calls it a cupcake brownie and I think that does nothing but confuse the poor little thing. So because it’s so good and I feel like me and it are going to become good friends over the next few weeks I’ll go ahead and promote it to cake. It’ll make everyone feel better.
- Fair warning: The pictures aren’t great. I took them with my phone because I wasn’t planning on putting this on the blog. So what you see is all I have.
Let’s get our cake on!
- First off, oven is at 350°.
- Now get a bowl and throw in the flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt, then and mix them together.
- In a second bowl or big enough measuring cup, mix everything else – the water, applesauce, vinegar, margarine and vanilla.
- Pour the water mixture into the flour mixture and stir till smooth.
- Get your 12-hole muffin pan and give it a nice coat of non-stick spray. Then fill up each one half full, and pop them in the oven for about 18 minutes. Insert a toothpick – if it comes out a little crumby it’s fine. My toothpick wasn’t clean but I knew they were done. See, before I even tasted one me and this cake were connecting.
- Take them out of the oven and let them sit in the pan for about 5 minutes before flipping them out onto a rack to cool.
And it’s really that simple! I fought myself because all I wanted to do was pipe some frosting on them or add chocolate chips or anything else that would negate the cake’s purpose. But seriously, it doesn’t really need anything like that.
If you want to add something and make this into a proper after dinner dessert – you know, to put a fork in your hand and stop you from just shoving these things in your mouth – I’d go with fresh berries. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries… paired with this little pocket of chocolatey goodness? Oh, my giddy heart.
And you can go crazy with them. Why? Because fruits are 0 points! Ok, don’t go too crazy. But you can have some in addition to this cake and not have to worry about adding anymore points to your daily tracker.
These cakes are perfect for that quick, guiltless snack when you’re craving chocolate. I wouldn’t be surprised if you started making them on a weekly basis.
Like I’m sure I’m going to be forced to do…
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If you’re worried that I’m going to be posting nothing but healthy, losing weight stuff.. Don’t be. I still have plenty of plans for things I want to make. So let’s just say my neighbors are really going to love me for the next few weeks.
