"Low-Fat" Cream Cheese Brownies

Low-Fat + Cream Cheese Brownies = Oxymoron

I have wanted to make these brownies for quite some time and finally did it. A boxed brownie mix has been waiting patiently in my pantry closet for me to transform it into the rich decadent and fattening dessert it was meant to be. Little did it know I had other plans.

It is always a challenge for me to make delcious and luscious desserts without all the fat and guilt. It’s easy to make recipes low-fat, but the end result is not always very good. My goal for these brownies was to get all the fudgy full fat flavor along with a dence, moist and chewy texture.

Mission accomplished! I have a secret ingredient. And, no it’s not applesauce.


Low-Fat Cream Cheese Brownies

1 box of your favorite brownie mix
Use the ingredients on the box*, except replace the oil with prune puree. Follow the instructions on the box and then spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. Drop the cream cheese mixture by spoonfuls over the brownie batter and swirl with a knife to marbleize. Bake as directed on box, increasing the baking time by an additional 5 minutes.

Prune puree:

To make a 1/2 cup of prune puree, add about 12 prunes and 3 tablespoons of warm water to a food processor. Process until only tiny bits of prune remain. Add a little more water if necessary.

Cream Cheese Topping

Beat 1/2 Package of softened regular cream cheese*, 1 egg white, 2 T flour, 5 1/2 T sugar and 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla until well blended.

*To make these brownies even lower fat, (if your brownie mix advises to use 2 eggs), you could use 2 egg whites and 4 teaspoons of canola oil to replace the egg yolks. In addition, you could use low-fat cream cheese. I would’nt recommend fat-free though, it will change the flavor and texture.

As I mentioned earlier, I have wanted to make these brownies for a while. I actually forgot about them until I recently posted my Italian Prune Cookies. I received a comment from Eprof2 that his wife makes a Chocolate Chip Prune Cookie; his favorite. He was nice enough to give me the recipe and as I was reading it, I remembered the brownies I wanted to make. Both recipes use prune puree in place of the fat. All I can say is you have to try it.

You might not want to tell anyone your secret though, because as we all know prunes have a bad rap. I am on a mission to change this sad reality. In fact, it was Eprof2 that reminded me that even the prune companies are trying to change this by re-naming prunes...Dried Plums. Very clever. In fact, I will from this point forward refer to them as such!

Do you like Dried Plums?