These brownies are the product of my tinkering with a standard brownie recipe, which yielded a fantastic outcome. You would not know they were healthy because they are so moist and decadent!
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 servings |
Ingredients
- ¼ cup applesauce
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 2 egg whites
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon coffee flavored extract
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (Optional)
- ½ cup chocolate chips (Optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8×8 inch square pan.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the applesauce, white sugar, egg whites and butter until smooth. Mix in the buttermilk, vanilla extract and coffee extract. Combine the cocoa, all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt; stir into the sugar mixture just until incorporated. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, but the brownies are still moist. Cool, and cut into squares.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 179 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 23 g |
| Cholesterol | 10 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 99 mg |
| Sugars | 17 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I used only whole wheat pastry flour and the recipe came out wonderfully. I used coffee granules instead of coffee extract; those were the only changes I made to the recipe. My one piece of advice would be to freeze the brownie for an hour before cutting it so the pieces will cut more cleanly. I used parchment paper so I was able to lift the brownie out of the pan very easily before freezing and cutting. I would be interested to know what the benefit of applesauce and buttermilk are to this recipe. Perhaps less fat is required because of them?
Good brownies! I used NuNaturals Stevia with fiber and liquid Vanilla stevia. I did not have coffee extract, so used NuNaturals Cocoa Bean Extract (which heightened the chocolate flavor). Easy and quick and less calories using the stevia.
good brownie, good texture. I used 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips and i used all whole grain flour. I also used 1/4 cup of Truvia and 1/4 sugar instead of 3/4 cup of just sugar and it tasted just as sweet. It was a very healthy brownie and a great chocolate fix for me
After making these and trying a little bite, I didn’t think my kids were going to go for these at all. My kids love brownies – rich, fudgy, sugary sweet brownies. But they actually liked these more than I did. Even though I think they would have eaten these plain, I made a batch of peanut butter frosting, which put these over the top for my kids!
I used oatmeal flour instead of all-purpose flour, and they turned out great. Might want to use the whole egg and use 1/2 cup applesauce, though.
These shouldn’t really be called whole grain brownies as there is only 1/4 cup of whole wheat pastry flour in the entire recipe. Made as is, they are good, but light – much like a chocolate cake. I would rather just make a regular ‘indulgent’ brownie recipe since this one only adds the little bit of w.w. flour. Made a second time, with the following simple tweaks: two whole eggs, all whole wheat flour (not pastry) and 1/2 tsp salt. They had a denser, fudgier texture with a bit more flavor and still retained moistness. I did not add the coffee extract to either batch as I don’t have any and have actually never seen it anywhere. A bit of instant coffee might do as a replacement for that as I’m sure it adds to the recipe. I baked the recipe in muffin cups at the indicated temperature and time. Topped with butterscotch icing they made a yummy treat. My kids really liked both versions. Thanks for the recipe.
I made a few changes and it turned out great. I omitted the applesauce. I used the entire egg. Olive oil 1/4 cup instead of butter. Creme Fraiche instead of butter milk (I live in France). I also poured it into muffin tins (same temp & time) because I have been traumatized one to many times for undone insides when using whole wheat and they turned out AMAZING! Also, it helps with portion control (well, anyway it could). Great recipe- thanks!
This was actually pretty good and quite easy. I doubled the recipe and did an 11×8 pan so it took a while longer to cook. I also used all whole wheat flour and soy milk rather than butter milk. I didn’t include the nuts of chocolate chips and it was fine without them. Although I did have some leftover chocolate frosting from another recipe so I used that to frost them and it was very yummy! The brownies were soft and chewy – not cakey. I used two whole eggs, rather than four egg whites (so it upped the fat content but was just easier to make).
Good brownie. For a healthier twist I used ground flax seed and water for the egg whites and all whole wheat pastry flour.
These were fabulous – I think the wheat flour added a great flavor to them, and I felt so virtuous (even though I ate almost the whole pan).
These really are amazingly delicious. They have a very soft, velvety texture and are more like chocolate cheesecake than a chewy brownie. I didn’t have any coffee extract so I just used 1/2 t coffee granules instead, and subbed oil for butter. Mine were done at 20 minutes, so watch yours carefully because these are fantastic brownies.
I like the idea of making treats and snacks for my family a little healthier, so I tried this recipe. My family loved it! I used chocolate chips but no nuts (some in my family don’t like nuts), and I think the chocolate chips keep it from tasting too different from regular brownies.
nice brownies with a sticky and fairly fudgy texture yer let down by there slightly bland taste.