Recreating Turkey Day....

My neat freak husband decided to clean up EVERYTHING after our party of 8 enjoyed this year's Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, that meant he missed out on much of dessert as the others (who had consumed over 6 bottles of wine between them, not to make excuses!) dug in early and without warning. Poor Jeff was left with only a small piece of his favorite T-day dessert--Toll House Cookie Pie. He begged me to make another, and I agreed. Of course, two days later I made the critical mistake of telling him the nutritional contents of this pie, which made Jeff slow from his standard "2 slice a day" rule. If you want healthy, this isn't the pie for you. If you want amazingly delish, the surprisingly easy recipe is as follows:

Toll House Cookie Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell *
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup (6 oz.) Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts (It's supposed to be 1 cup, but we have always found that to be too much)
Sweetened whipped cream or ice cream (optional)

PREHEAT oven to 325° F. BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell. BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm with whipped cream.

NOTE: You can freeze this pie and it still serves up well!

Encore!

Dessert--low fat blondies with a light caramel sauce. The brownies were a bit dry. I tried to skimp a bit on the butter and cut out some of the splenda brown sugar. Next time I will stick with the recipe. Jeff loved them, so it was definitely worth the effort!

Butterscotch Blondies (Cooking Light with Marissa Modifications)
2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
1 1/4 cup firmly packed Splenda brown sugar (can use regular, but it's 2 1/2 cups instead)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoon unsalted butter
3/4 cup egg substitute

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Place butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook for 6 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Pour into a small bowl, and cool for 10 minutes. Combine butter and egg substitute, stirring with a whisk. Pour butter mixture over flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray; smooth top with spatula. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 48 squares.

24 servings (serving size: 2 squares)
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 100 (with Splenda); FAT 2.4g (sat 1g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.2g); PROTEIN 1.9g;

In another blog, I read that caramel sauce is worth the effort. So true! It's very easy and really added that needed touch to the dessert. And for only 45 calories per serving (one tablespoon), who could say no!?

Caramel Sauce (Cooking Light)
1 cup sugar (CAN'T use Splenda for this)
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon margarine
3/4 cup evaporated skimmed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of salt

Combine sugar and water in a heavy saucepan, and place over medium-low heat. Cook 13 minutes or until sugar dissolves. (Do not stir.) Cover, increase heat to medium, and boil 1 minute. (This will dissolve any sugar crystals clinging to sides of pan.) Uncover and boil 10 additional minutes or until amber or golden. (Do not stir.)
Remove from heat; let stand 1 minute. Carefully add margarine, stirring until it melts. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly. (Caramel will harden and stick to spoon.) Place pan over medium heat, and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes or until caramel melts and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and salt. Pour sauce into a bowl; serve warm or chilled. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.