I thought we would head into the kitchen today and talk baking for a minute.  Lately, I have been on the hunt for some lower calorie desserts that don’t use artificial sweeteners.  We’ve been enjoying frozen fruit bars, yogurts, and fresh fruit after dinner.  However, I get a little edgy when I’m deprived of chocolate for too long.  In the interest of avoiding a total brownie/cupcake binge, I’ve been experimenting with some healthier alternatives so I can indulge a little.

Enter: Bethenny Frankel’s Low Fat Fudge Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Bethenny (or the Real Housewives NYC fame) has a bunch of baked good recipes on her web-site (not to mention breakfasts, lunches, and dinners).  Whether you like her or not (and I do), it’s tough to argue with a chocolate muffin.  I made the recipe as described here with one change: I did not have any oat flour, so I substituted whole wheat flour instead.  The muffins are egg and dairy free and sweetened with applesauce and 1/2 a cup of sugar in the raw.  I was a little nervous that the whole wheat flour might mess up the recipe, but the muffins turned out fine.  I think the oat flour might have made for a moister muffin, but I was pretty pleased with the results.

I really liked them, but I think the chocolate chips are key.  The muffin by itself might be a little bland.  Next time, I’ll experiment with the oat flour and a nicer unsweetened cocoa.  (I used Hershey’s.)

According to one of the comments on her site, someone did the calorie count and they total in at around 170 calories, 5 grams of fat, 3 grams of sugar, which doesn’t seem bad for a dense, large muffin.  I’m thinking of freezing the rest and pulling them out for a sweet treat after dinner.

They are not the prettiest muffins I’ve ever made, but everything looks better on a cake plate.

I’m really curious to try this chocolate cake with peanut butter glaze next.