More Lightened Up Desserts

In honor of my friends Darren and Stacy, I thought I'd post a couple more desserts from my Lighten Up! 5-Ingredients Less Fat Recipes cookbook. After I posted the Mexican Chocolate Cake recipe, Darren decided to go home and bake it for Stacy. She was impressed. So, here are a couple more recipes that are equally as tasty. I haven't made them recently, but they are tried and true!

3 Ingredient Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
1 (16 oz.) can dark sweet cherries, drained, syrup reserved
5 egg whites
1 reduced fat chocolate cake mix

1. Puree cherries in food processor.
2. Mix pureed cherries and egg whites in a large bowl with electric mixer.
3. Add dry cake mix and 1/4c. reserved cherry juice.
4. Mix well, and pour into a sprayed 9" x 13" pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
12 servings; per serving: 225 calories, less than 4g of fat

Sissy's Variations: I like to make this cake in a bundt. I don't know what made me do that, but I really like that you get way more than the 12 servings and it's easy to transport.

Banana Pudding
When I first started using this cookbook, I made my husband (then my boyfriend) highlight all the recipes in it that he thought he would like. This one got highlighted and marked with "oh yes!" It did not disappoint. It's so good, that you don't even miss what's missing.
Ingredients:
1 large (6 servings) pkg. sugar free vanilla instant pudding
2 1/2 c. skim milk
1 (8 oz.) tub frozen light whipped topping, thawed
3/4 c. POST GRAPE-NUTS Brand Natural Wheat and Barley Cereal
4 bananas, sliced

1. Mix pudding mix and mild in a large bowl with a whisk.
2. Add thawed whipped topping.
3. Layer in a serving dish: half the cereal, half the banana slices, half the pudding.
4. Repeat layers.
5. This must be refrigerated 6 hours or up to overnight for the cereal to become soft.
8 servings; per serving: 200 calories, 4g fat

Sissy's Variations: I can't think of any variations that I've ever done myself except adding a few banana slices decoratively on top of the cereal. I've been meaning to try this with the lower calorie/lower fat/light 'Nilla Wafers used in classic Banana Pudding.

Mexican Chocolate Cake

Finally updating with a new recipe. Not really a new recipe to me, though. This Mexican Chocolate Cake is an old, easy standby that's not only super yummy, but also lower in calories and fat than most cakes (most desserts, in general). This makes it vastly different from the other recipes in my blog!

I made the cake for a Cinco de Mayo potluck lunch at the office and had one request for the recipe and multiple compliments on the cake, so what better way to start back on the blog?

The recipe is from my Lighten Up! 5-Ingredient Less Fat Recipes cookbook.

Ingredients (cake):

• 5 egg whites
• 2 1/2 c. unsweetened cinnamon applesauce
• 1 reduced fat chocolate cake mix
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
  

1. Beat egg whites with electric mixer until foamy.
2. Mix in applesauce.
3. Add dry cake mix, vanilla, and cinnamon.
4. Mix at medium speed for 1 minute.
5. Spread in sprayed and floured 9" x 13" pan.

Ingredients (topping:)

• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1. Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle on top.
2. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.
12 servings; per serving: 220 calories, 3g fat

Sissy's Variations: I can never seem to find unsweetened cinnamon applesauce, so I just use plain unsweetened and add cinnamon until I think it looks right. Sorry, measurement! I also just spray the pan with cooking spray, but don't flour and have never had an issue with sticking.