Recipes: 2 Amazing Desserts

Both of these are super yummy, surprisingly healthy (or not TOO bad, at least) and definitely worthy of sharing. I believe the first is from Betty Crocker online & the second from Vegetarian Times magazine.

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Mini Cappuccino Cheesecakes

(makes 12 servings)

• 4-6 chocolate wafer cookies, crushed
• 2 containers (8 oz. ea.) of fat-free cream cheese, softened (I used the bricks)
• 1 package (8 oz.) reduced-fat Neufchatel cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3 egg whites
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 1 Tbs. + 2 tsp. instant espresso coffee (For a less-intense coffee flavor, you can use dry instant coffee instead of instant espresso, which is hard to find anyway.  I just used 2 packets of Starbucks Via instant coffee & it was still pretty coffee-y - very good.)
• ground cinnamon or cinnamon-sugar and/or baking cocoa for garnish, if desired

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 300. Spray 12 medium muffin cups with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1 tsp. of the chocolate wafer crumbs on bottom of each muffin cup (we used a tad more to cover the bottom of each cup, plus, the kids really liked mashing them with the mortar and pestle).
2. Beat cream cheese in medium bowl, using wire whisk (screw the hard labor, I used a hand-mixer), until smooth. Beat in 2/3 cup sugar, the milk, flour, vanilla and egg whites until almost smooth.
3. Reserve 1.5 cups of the batter & set aside. Beat 2 Tbs. sugar and the coffee into remaining batter, using wire whisk, until blended. Carefully spoon about 3 Tbs. coffee batter into each muffin cup. Carefully spoon 2 Tbs. reserved vanilla batter over coffee batter. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over vanilla batter (we had a little bit of coffee batter leftover, so don't worry if it's not exact. Also, these aren't going to puff up or anything like cake batter - fill up those cups!).
4. Bake about 18 minutes or just until set. Cool 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours but no longer than 24 hours. Run small spatula (or butter knife) around edge of each muffin cup; remove cheesecakes. Sprinkle with cocoa powder if desired. (we let them cool for 30 minutes and then I put the muffin pans uncovered in the freezer for 2 hours. Mucho tasty.)

Nutrition:

1 serving: Calories 160 (cals from fat 45); Total Fat 5 g (saturated fat 3 g); Cholesterol 15 mg; Sodium 290 mg; Total Carb 20 g; Fiber 0; Protein 9 g; Vitamin A: 18%; Calcium 12%

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Banana-Applesauce Muffins
(makes 12 servings)

• 1.25 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup oat bran (oat bran and wheat bran are easy to find at whole foods in their bulk grains aisle - and super cheap! I bought enough of each to make this recipe about 3 times and the total cost for both was $1.25. If you just want enough to try this once, take a 1/4 cup measuring cup in your purse and only buy what you need.)
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup honey (Equal to 4 Tbs. honey - very easy to measure and pour if you use the Tbs. after measuring the vegetable oil, the honey slides right out - no sticky mess!)
• 1 large egg (or 2 egg whites), beaten
• 2/3 cup skim milk or soymilk
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease/spray muffin tins and set aside.
2. Combine flour, oat bran, wheat bran and baking powder in bowl and set aside.
3. Combine oil and honey in separate bowl, and mix well. Add egg, applesauce, vanilla & milk, and whisk to blend. Add applesauce mixture to flour mixture and mix until just blended. Do not overmix. Gently fold bananas into batter. Spoon batter into muffin tins.
4. Bake until muffins just begin to brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and serve warm. 

Nutrition:
1 serving: 120 Calories; 2 g Fat; 3 g Protein; 23 g Carb; 18 mg Cholesterol; 71 mg Sodium; 3 g fiber