TASTE
Virtuous peanut-butter chocolate bars
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By Elaine Magee
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Now for something completely different, using a cake mix: Peanut-butter chocolate bars made with yellow cake mix.
The original recipe calls for a stick of butter, but I used fat-free half-and-half instead. It also calls for 2 more tablespoons of butter for the chocolate filling, but I was able to just leave it out. I used a cup of reduced-fat peanut butter but feel free to use regular if that's what you have at home. And instead of 2 eggs, I used 1 large egg and 1/4 cup of egg substitute. I decreased the chocolate chips a little and used fat-free sweetened condensed milk instead of regular. I also made the cup of grated coconut and pecans optional but only because these bars already tasted really good without them. These changes cut the calories by a third and the bars have 60 percent less total fat and two-thirds less saturated fat and cholesterol!
Original recipe contains 370 calories, 23 grams fat, 9 grams saturated fat, 36 milligrams cholesterol per serving.
CAKE MIX PEANUT-BUTTER CHOCOLATE BARS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with canola cooking spray.
Add cake mix, peanut butter, fat-free half-and-half, egg and egg substitute in large mixing bowl, and beat with electric mixer on low speed just until blended. Scrape down sides of bowl and beaters with a rubber spatula halfway through mixing. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the mixture for the topping. Use your fingertips or a large spoon coated with canola cooking spray to press the remaining mixture evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. Set aside.
For the filling, add the chocolate chips and condensed milk to a small nonstick saucepan (or an 8-cup glass measure if you're using the microwave) and cook the mixture over low heat until smooth (or microwave on high for about a minute and 20 seconds). Stir in the vanilla and the coconut and pecans if desired. Pour the chocolate filling mixture over the crust in pan and spread it to cover the crust completely.
Using your fingers, crumble the reserved crust scattering small clumps evenly over the chocolate filling. This will get sticky, so feel free to use a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar to keep your fingers from sticking as much to the dough.
Bake the bars until light brown on the edges (about 25 minutes). Remove pan and place it on a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into 24 bars, and store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Makes 24 bars.
Elaine Magee is a registered dietitian. Learn more at www.recipedoctor.com.
