Skinny Valentine's Day Dessert: Salted Nutella Cookies

I just bought a new silicone baking mat this week, and was dying to try it out, so I decided to make some Valentine's Day cookies. I wanted to make a unique cookie recipe, something that you wouldn't find at the grocery store. I was craving salt, so I already knew I would make a salted cookie. Then, while shopping for baking ingredients at the store, a jar of Nutella caught my eye. I don't know anyone who doesn't love that chocolatey-hazelnut spread, and it seemed just sexy enough for a Valentine's Day cookie. These were a total experiment, and I was surprised at just how well they turned out. They might be the best cookies I've ever made, and surprisingly low in points, too. This recipe will make about 32 cookies, so they would be perfect to bring to a Valentine's Day party!

Skinny Salted Nutella Cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

WW PointsPlus Value: 2

½ cup light butter, softened
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup Nutella
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt (for sprinkling)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugars, then add egg, vanilla, and Nutella. Add dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.
• On a parchment paper (or silicone mat!) lined baking sheet, drop tablespoons of dough, evenly spaced. Then using a fork, or just your fingers, gently press the cookies flat. Sprinkle each cookie with a bit of the Kosher salt. Bake about 10-12 minutes (shorter baking time for chewier, and longer for crispier cookies). Serve with a hot cup of tea or coffee. These make a fantastic cold weather treat!

Skinny Valentine's Day Dessert: Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes

I already posted a Valentine's Day dinner recipe, but I thought I'd also do some chocolate baked goods. Valentine's Day is an excellent excuse for chocolate. At first, I was going to make some red velvet cupcakes (the sexiest of all the cakes), but since I usually like to have those on my birthday in March, I decided to try something a little different. Instead of red food coloring, why not go even sexier, and use red wine? These cupcakes are easy, fantastic, and have such a strong flavor that they don't even need frosting.

Skinny Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Serving Size: 1 cupcake

WW PointsPlus Value: 4

5 Tablespoons light butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup red wine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars. Then add egg, red wine, and vanilla and beat for a few minutes. Then stir in dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
• Pour batter into cupcake tin, filling cups about two-thirds full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve lightly dusted with powdered sugar, and hey, since you already opened that bottle of red wine...

Skinny Banana Oatmeal Cookies

I've heard a lot of people say that when they go on a diet and start to lose weight, they find themselves craving sweets more frequently. This was absolutely the case with me. I've always been all about the savory. If I'm going to eat a 500 calorie dessert, why not make it a cheeseburger? But when the pounds started dropping off, I wanted dessert all the freakin' time. I'm not sure what the medical reason is for this (if they don't talk about it on Grey's Anatomy or House then I'm in the dark), but I'm sure there's a long Greek word to describe it. Anyway, I thought I'd share a few tips with how to deal with these cravings:

1. Keep your fridge stocked with fresh fruits that you love. Nine times out of ten, my sweet craving can be satisfied with fruit. Fruit tends to have a high water content and loads of fiber, so it fills you up quickly. Not to mention it has a Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value of zero!

2. You already know how much I love nonfat Greek yogurt, seeing as how it makes an appearance in many of my recipes...but it's also a great dessert! I like to add whatever fruit I have on hand (see tip #1) to a 1/2 cup of nonfat Greek yogurt and drizzle it with honey. You can even add a bit of oatmeal or granola for a nice crunch.

3. If you're more of a baked goods fan, fill your pantry with healthy baking supplies, so when the urge comes to bake, you're ready. Stock up on whole wheat flour, oats, dark chocolate, and light butter.

4. Rice cakes. Quaker makes them in tons of sweet flavors, my favorites are apple cinnamon and caramel corn. These are a nice crunchy sweet, and you can eat them completely guilt-free.

5. After dinner, have a cup of tea. Luckily, living with an Englishman means there's rarely a shortage of delicious tea in our apartment, and I found that drinking a cup of tea after dinner is a good solution to the sweets cravings.

So here's a delicious cookie recipe that's healthy and will satisfy your sweet tooth. Since they're banana and oats, I would even say you could eat a couple of these bad boys for breakfast.

Skinny Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Gina's Skinny Recipes

Serving Size: 1 cookie

WW PointsPlus Value: 2

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp light butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar

1 egg

1 very ripe banana, mashed

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups quick oats

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar. Then add egg, banana, and vanilla.
• Stir in dry ingredients and oats until just mixed.
• Drop rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheet and bake 12 minutes.
• Cool on a wire rack and...hey, I said let them cool! Those were just in the oven, you're going to burn your -- oh well, don't say I didn't warn you.
• Enjoy with that cup of tea we talked about earlier. It will give you warm cookie tummy. You can thank me later.

Skinny(ish) Homemade Oreos

Now these are by no stretch of the imagination healthy, and should absolutely be eaten in moderation (should your willpower allow...mine did not, so I'll be taking this batch into work). But they are a bit lighter than the original recipe, thanks to a few tricks I've learned in my many many years (actually about 6 months) of (somewhat) successful "skinny" baking. I've adapted the recipe from one of my absolute favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen.

Skinny(ish) Homemade Oreos

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen (who adapted it from Retro Desserts, Wayne Brachman)

Serving Size: 1 Oreo (2 cookies + 1/2 tsp of cream)

WW PointsPlus Value: 4

The Cookie Bit:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup white flour

1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 sticks softened light butter

1 large egg

The Creamy In-Between-The-Cookies Bit:
1 stick softened light butter
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat to 375°F.
• Mix the flours, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. With an electric mixer on low, add the butter, and then the egg. Mix just until they're all combined.
• Place rounded teaspoons on paper-lined baking sheets, and with wet hands, gently flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes.
• While they're baking, mix the butter, sugar and vanilla with the electric mixer. Then put on some Devo, and whip it good for a couple minutes, until it's nice and fluffy.
• Once the cookies have cooled completely, you can assemble them into final oreo form. Put the cream in a large ziplock bag and cut a corner off (like a ghetto pastry bag), then squeeze out about a 1/2 teaspoon onto a cookie. Top with another cookie, and press to disperse cream evenly. Repeat until all cookies are assembled. Any misshapen cookies go into the reject pile for quality control and taste testing.
• Commence quality control taste test.