After perusing through so many food blogs, I can only hold my head down in shame. I'll admit to it, I don't consider myself a cook. I am just a trial-and-error food prep. I hope I don't disappoint any readers who accidentally stumble upon my blog. As my utmost close friends all know, I am a total wreck during finals. Well, guess what this week is?! Yep! It's every student's nightmare... the inevitable and undeniably gut-wrenching FINALS WEEK! If weren't for the wonderful genetics my parents have afforded me, my luscious head of hair would be all gone from the constant hair-ripping. I am notorious for baking when I am stressed out. In light of the holidays, I am baking some holiday treats for some of my friends in San Francisco. Take into account, these are made to last long enough to get to them via mail (3-4 days at most) and to survive the shuffling during mail delivery. I wouldn't want them to open up a box of "crap" during the holidays, now would I? Then I'd just be asking for it...
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup of sugar + 4 tablespoons Splenda
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa
- 2 teaspoons of cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt
- nonstick cooking spray
- Spray a 9"x13" baking dish/pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Mix and sift all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
- Gradually fold in the yogurt with a wooden spoon, enough so that your dry ingredients will not splatter all over the place when blending with the electric blender. Don't fear the thickness of the batter You didn't do anything wrong!
- Once the brownie batter is well incorporated (smooth and shiny), pour it into the pan. Spread the batter evenly and chill the brownie batter in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
While the brownie batter is resting in the freezer, let's work on our Almost Non-Fat Cheesecake batter:
- cream cheese (softened)
- 1/2 can of Fat Free Condensed milk
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tablespoon of lime juice (you can use lemon, as well, but all I had at home were limes)
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon of flour (optional)
- Slowly add in the egg, lime juice, and vanilla extract. - Once incorporated, blend in the the flour. For me, this is a crucial ingredient since I will be mailing this out. The cheesecake must be able to withstand shuffling during shipping & handling. Also, the cheesecake will not melt even if kept in warm temperature for a couple of days. I know it's winter and I shouldn't be worrying about the temperature, but precautions are must! Remember the brownie batter in the freezer? It's time to take that out. Pour the cheesecake batter over the brownie batter and
carefully spread it evenly on top of the brownie. For Raspberry Swirls:
- 3 tablespoons raspberry preserve/jam
- 1 teaspoon lemon/lime juice
Now you're ready to pop it into the oven! Bake for 40 minutes (at 350 degrees).
Once the cheesecake brownie has been baked, remove the pan from the oven and let it cool at room temperature.
Refrigerate overnight and cut into squares. Enjoy!
P.S- This is my first time blogging (my pictures are horrible, I know) and I'm nervous, so please don't be too harsh with the comments!!!
3 comments:
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Nice blog. I got to taste the Raspberry Cheesecake Brownie Bar and it was really good.
Thank you for letting me be your guinea pig. The brownies were delish!!! Can't wait for new recipes :)