Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Fudgy Brownies

One of the hardest things to define is "healthy" eating. Is it low-cal? Low-fat? All homemade? Pre-packaged 100 calorie snacks? Trans-fat free? Raw diet? Vegan diet? South Beach?

For me and my family, "healthy" eating has meant a move towards "real" ingredients and away from ingredients developed in labs. I've taken this a step farther, lately, by making the final elimination of high-fructose corn syrup and artificial dyes from our diets. So whereas I always enjoyed baking from scratch, these days, it's pretty much a necessity.

In my quest to go HFCS-free, A Life Less Sweet has been an invaluable tool. She understands and explains the science behind it all, talks about the changes her family has made, and even taste-tests HFCS-free substitutions for former favorites. And the other day, she listed a recipe for her Favorite Brownies Ever.

A Life Less Sweet Brownies
(drool)

So maybe Favorite Brownies Ever aren't exactly healthy - but on the other hand, they are from-scratch and free of dyes, HFCS, and preservatives. I'm a brownie fanatic - and these are fantastic. Rich, deep, dark, and fudgy. YUM!

I cut the sugar down to 1 cup, but otherwise made them as directed. They were a huge hit with me and my playgroup buddies!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I like your little "what is healthy" blurb.

I once had a fight with someone - it was whether or not eggs are heatlthy. I think they are. Said opponent said no. Of course, I think Honey Nut Cheerios are healthy too. ;) If I don't have fats (cheese, eggs, meat, butter, etc) in my diet, I find I am hungry all day long. I'll have high cholestrol as an old bag but at least I'll be full!

LaDue & Crew said...

You are absolutely right. There are different definitions of healthy. All natural ingredients, freshly made, "what goes in will come out", ~or~ chemically engineered no fat, low calorie, artificially flavored foods in the "healthy foods" section, of which don't "come out" of your body... only to find later a recall on the product. I think a little fat with a healthy dose of exercise is better than a Splenda product any old day!

Kara said...

Becky, I think there's worse things than Honey Nut Cheerios - but maybe that's just my justification because I LOVE them :-)

LaDue - based on the mouth-watering things you make, I knew you and I would be on the same page for healthy :-)