Whole Wheat Brownies

The start of the holiday weekend, and there we were with no desserts on hand. Horrors!! How can you even think of having a cookout without some kind of dessert to end the meal. Just about everybody loves brownies, the fudgy-er the better. And if a person wanted to add a scoop of ice cream and maybe a tiny drizzle of chocolate sauce, I certainly would be the last one to object. Sooooo, brownies it is.

Was that a brownie sundae you wanted?

Let me see what I can do to make them “healthy”. Gee, is there really such a thing as a healthy brownie? Martha Stewart seems to think so, therefore I’ll take her word for it. These whole wheat brownies get a healthy boost from whole wheat flour and applesauce, while cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate make them nice and fudgy; really deep, dark and moist, but not heavy.

WHOLE WHEAT BROWNIES

Yield: Makes 16

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons ( 3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce, or Lighter Bake
1 large egg
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

Lighter Bake is made from applesauce.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Butter or spray an 8-inch square baking dish. Line it with parchment paper; leaving a 2″ overhang on all sides. Butter or spray the parchment paper.

2. Place butter and 6-oz. of the chocolate in a heat proof bowl set over (not in) a pot of simmering water; stir until melted. remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Butter and chocolate melted together.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and soda.

Mix dry ingredients together.

4. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, applesauce and egg. Stir chocolate mixture into sugar mixture. Add flour mixture and stir just to blend.

Pour into prepared baking dish and top with the remaining 2 ounces of chopped chocolate.

Top batter with remaining chopped chocolate.

5. Bake about 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Use the parchment to lift from the pan, cut into 16 squares.