I really like chocolate. Well, I love chocolate. I don’t know too many women who don’t! Since I am trying to really watch what I eat lately and get a little more exercise in, I’ve obviously had to limit my chocolate consumption. What works really great for me is having one of these fun sized chocolate bars for dessert. I eat each of the 4 squares slowly to enjoy it and usually I am satisfied with that. Not the other day though. I was in the mood for brownies! I made these yummy Lightened Up Dark Chocolate Raspberry Brownies and they definitely hit the spot!
These brownies can be mixed up quickly in a bowl and served warm from the oven if you like. Because my main goal here was chocolate- I didn’t mess around. I used Special Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder along with Dark Chocolate chips. These brownies contain no butter and I limited the sugar, so compared a regular brownie, these will taste a little different, but still pretty darn tasty.
After you’ve mixed in your melted chocolate chips, you can gently fold in your fresh raspberries. I just love chocolate and raspberry flavors together!
I didn’t tell my family these were lightened up and after dinner everyone was excited for dessert because the brownies made the kitchen smell so good when they were baking!
My husband didn’t care for these because he thought they were “the real thing”, but my children and I liked them a lot. These brownies are cake like, chocolatey and delicious! They aren’t overly sweet, but I find that when you start cutting bad things out of your diet, you really don’t seem to need as much sugar. I really loved the raspberry swirled into every bite!
We had a few of these leftover, so I stored them individually in bags and they kept very well for a few days.
If you are looking for a chocolate treat, without all of the guilt, give these yummy Lightened Up Dark chocolate Raspberry Brownies a try!
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you want them)
- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used dark chocolate cocoa)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 3 egg whites
- 3 Tbsp. canola oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips if desired for garnish & more chocolate 🙂
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F.
- Spray 8 x 8 square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Stir together flour, sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until well mixed.
- Stir in applesauce, egg whites, canola oil, melted chocolate chips and vanilla just until well mixed; careful not to over stir.
- Carefully fold in the raspberries.
- Spread the brownie mixture carefully and evenly into a prepared pan.
- Sprinkle with miniature chocolate chips if you desire.
- Bake 20 to 24 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Do not over bake.
- Serve warm from the oven or room temperature.
- Serves 9 or 18 depending on how you cut them.
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