Kinda Healthy Brownies

Friday night snack attack!

We have been on dessert kick lately and tonight was no exception.  Ice cream alone wasn't going to do the trick so I decided to make brownies.  I was kind of amazed I had all the ingredients.

Here is the list of ingredients I used:
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used 4 ounces of plain unsweetened applesauce)

• 1 cup white sugar (I used Splenda; follow the equivalent  for 1 cup of white sugar)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I used the same amount of whole wheat flour)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) (I did not use nuts)
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (optional)
• 
  
• Directions:
• 1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.
• 2.  In a medium bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Stir in walnuts or add flax seed, if desired. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
• 3.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan. Let cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares.
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• Verdict:
• They satisfied the craving but I think the next time I will either use 1/2 white sugar and 1/2 Splenda or use regular flour.  Something was kind of off about it.  I also will up the cocoa powder a bit.  Now that I think of it, adding powdered sugar to the top might have helped a bit.  Overall they are good, just got to tweak the recipe some.  I would actually be fine with my kids having these for breakfast but maybe with some protein powder added.
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• I found this article interesting about substitutions and baking:
• http://www.healthylifect.com/home/article/Try-This-Cooking-with-Protein-Powder-3521492.php