Hungry Girl's Amazing, Low-Calorie Cheesecake Brownies

I love Hungry Girl, aka Lisa Lillien, who writes recipes centered around one of my favorite cooking tricks: ingredient swaps (which my mother calls "Amberizing"). Some of her recipes have been a little iffy, but for the most part, she has good ideas, makes a pretty admirable attempt at not only nixing calories and fat but also including lots of fiber, and hits quite a few home runs, like this delicious cheesecake brownie recipe!

So while Lisa Lillien counts her money from her cookbook sales and I lament how I should have thought of that myself... here's how to make them.



1 box devil's food cake mix
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin

Mix these together and spread in a greased 9" x 13" pan. It will be thick but that's ok.

Then whisk together the following ingredients in a bowl until it's smooth:

6 ounces of fat free cream cheese, softened at room temp.
1/4 cup Splenda granulated

and, depending on what you have...
either add 2 tbsp. fat free half-and-half & 1/2 tsp. vanilla
OR dissolve 1 tsp. powdered vanilla creamer in 2 tbsp. water and 1/4 tsp. vanilla

Now you have a nice "cheesecake" topping, so drop spoonfuls over your brownie mix in the pan. Use a knife to make the swirls. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.

Now for the nutritional information... the serving size on this recipe is pretty generous: 1/16 of the large pan! That amount contains 133 calories, 2 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of fiber, and counts as 4 Weight Watchers Points. Not too shabby!