Pumpkin Brownies and Other (re)Treats!

Has your doctor ever recommended that you cut back on sweets or sugar or alcohol or some other 'unhealthy' habit?

If your doctor is giving you a hard time about your diet, don't feel too bad.  Trust me, their diets are far from perfect.  I know this because I spent this weekend hanging around with a bunch of doctors at Alex's annual resident retreat....

Based on the number of bacon cheeseburgers consumed at last night's dinner - If it's possible to get heart disease from association, I am in serious trouble.  This morning at breakfast there was a buffet.  Three people had fruit on their plate.  Me.  Alex.  And the 4-year old daughter of one of the doctors.

Yes, you read that correctly, a 4-year old has better dietary instincts than a group of health professionals.

So when I decided to make some sweet treats for the weekend trip, I thought I'd resort to a little healthifying trickery.  You know, the sort usually used by moms with picky 6-year olds.  This is what I'm dealing with.

I started with a by request favorite, these chocolate chip cookies.  No health secrets here, except that I figured I'd lead with something innocent and well-loved to draw them in....

I used dark chocolate chunks this time instead of chips since I'm an adventurous soul (and that's all the store had of the dark chocolate variety).

Next, I took my favorite healthified banana bread recipe and added dark chocolate chips.  Get some fruit and potassium into their systems.

But my greatest triumph: Pumpkin Brownies.  It was my own private entertainment watching them chow down on dessert and get their only.  vegetable.  serving. all. day. 

Not exaggerating.

Recipe: (from Spark Recipes)
1 box Devil's Food cake mix
1 15-ounce can pureed pumpkin

Yup, seriously, that's it.

optional additions: nuts, 2 tsp. vanilla (I went for the vanilla.  There isn't a baked good around that vanilla doesn't have a shot at improving.)

All you do is mix the ingredients together, pour into a 13 x 9 baking pan, and bake according to package directions - mine was for 30-35 minutes.  One of the greatest finds ever for recipes like this - Reynold's new pan lining paper - foil on one side - non-stick parchment on the other - clean clean clean pan at the end!  And no contact between aluminum foil and your food.

I didn't need to waste a second of time scrubbing...  Love!

Nutrition Information:
Servings: 16
Calories: 135.3
Total Fat: 2.7 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 g
Sodium: 278.6 mg
Total Carbs: 26.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.4 g
Protein: 1.8 g

Although this does use boxed cake mix, which isn't exactly known for its healthy components, the complete lack of eggs, oil and butter cuts down on all sorts of bad stuff like calories, fat, and cholesterol.  And of course there is the inclusion of a serving of vegetables, not commonly found in a brownie recipe...

Verdict:
Honestly, I wasn't a fan.  The texture was very cake-like, and while I love chocolate, and I love cake, I do not love chocolate cake. 

That said, I do love the idea of adding nutrients to something desserty, and the box I brought to the retreat was gobbled up without any complaints.  (I never did reveal my secret ingredient though.) 

I've even found a recipe for black-bean brownies that I might try out on my doctor guinea pigs in the near future.

<devious laugh>