Miss Metabolism

This is my first non-video post! I did not film this recipe because it was just an experiment … but an experiment that turned out great! I had set out to make a tasty and cute Valentine’s Day treat for one of my group fitness classes. Lately Pinterest has been telling me that red velvet cheesecake brownies look scrumptious, so that was one idea. However, I’m not a big fan of all the food coloring added to red velvet…I mean, it’s probably safe and all, but it’s such a tease…like what’s the “red” flavor? So I made Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies with a little flare of red velvet in that I mixed some of the strawberry jam into the brownie layer. And I made it healthy.

How do I make up healthy recipes? I usually start with standard classic recipes and then make some easy modifications that involve cutting the sugar and fat in roughly in half. So I used my Pillsbury cookbook and found standard brownies and standard cheesecake. Then I cut the fat and sugar drastically and added in that strawberry jam. Adding some of the jam to the brownie layer not only makes it reddish, but also helps keep it moist, like adding applesauce or pureed prunes (have you ever made prune brownies???). I also decided to try it with whole wheat flour, in hopes that the chocolate flavor would cover up the whole wheat flavor. It did not. But no worries, still delicious!

FYI here are the original recipes I started with: Pillsbury Brownies and Pillsbury Cheesecake

Now here is my recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

Not shown: I ended up adding another 2 T cocoa powder to the brownie layer, just because.

BROWNIE (bottom) layer:
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 Tablespoon butter, margarine, or vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
4 servings egg whites (3/4 cup)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 jar strawberry jam (4-6 oz)
Optional: 2 T cocoa powder (I added since I ended up not liking the pinkish-brown color as much as I thought I would)

CHEESECAKE (top) layer:
2 blocks Neufchatel reduced fat cream cheese (8 oz each), softened to room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 servings egg whites (3/8 cup)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

SWIRL (very top) layer:
Other half of the jar of strawberry jam

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Line a 9×13″ pan with foil and spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Mix up the brownie layer:

• Melt the chocolate in a large microwave safe bowl by microwaving 1-2 minutes.
• Add butter and sugar and mix well. Microwave again if necessary so it’s quite fluid.
• Wisk in egg whites, then remaining brownie ingredients.
• Pour it in the pan

Wow the whole wheat flour I used actually had pieces of bran in it. Very un-refined...I like it!

3. Mix up the cheesecake layer:

• Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth (best with an electric mixer)
• Add egg whites slowly, then salt and vanilla. Do not over-whip. Mine was not perfectly smooth, but that’s fine for this recipe.
• Pour it in the pan over the brownie layer.

Not perfectly smooth, but who cares? It works just fine for this type of recipe.

4. Drop spoonfuls of jam on top (use up the rest of the jar)

• Tip: I forgot to do this, but it works better if you stir up the jam thoroughly first, so it’s not as chunky and will swirl better. Also the spoonfuls I used were a bit too big (like Tablespoons). Teaspoon-size would be better.

Globs of jam. Make yours a bit smaller for best results.

5. Use a knife to swirl! Don’t be afraid to cut down into the brownie layer as well. I just made a bunch of lines vertically and then horizontally, and then again and again until it looked OK. Don’t swirl too much or else it will just looks like a mess.

Already looking yummy!

6. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. When I make a reduced fat recipe, I like to under-bake it so it stays very moist (that’s one reason I use pasteurized egg whites…no fear of under-cooked eggs), but that’s up to you. So I baked about 22 minutes.

Baked!

7. Cool, then refrigerate or freeze before cutting. I did 30 minutes in the freezer. Then I cut into TINY squares for my class to taste! I put them in mini cupcake liners.

They're so adorable I just can't stand it!

8. That’s it! Refrigerate or freeze from there. Mine are in the freezer waiting for Valentine’s Day!

I did not calculate nutrition facts yet, but I have this to say…I ate QUITE A FEW of these because they were SO GOOD I couldn’t believe it (needed to taste over and over to make sure, right?). BUT I DID NOT EXPERIENCE ANY SUGAR RUSH! Now I’ve experienced my fair share of baking disasters…not that my baking turns out bad, but that I have a disaster in over-eating what I make and feeling the sugar run through my blood (and deposit as fat!). This time, disaster averted. It’s my own “glycemic index” test and I can personally say that the level of sugar in these was moderate enough to taste good but not cause that terrible sugar-rush and sugar-crash feeling. Now I can feed these to my morning group fitness participants and not feel any guilt about that! Yeah, cheesecake brownies for breakfast!

Would love to hear your feedback, either here or on Facebook! Thanks for reading!