Chocolate-Applesauce-Flax Seed Bars
"This is a variation of a recipe from "Desserts for Diabetics" by Mabel Cavaiani. This is very easy to make, and they stay moist for a couple days (they never last longer around here!)
DO NOT try using cold applesauce--doesn't work!
You can make these non-diabetic friendly by using all sugar. NOTE: The flax seed is whole seed, not ground."
photo by Engrossed
- Ready In:
- 35mins
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Yields:
-
18 bars
- Serves:
- 18
ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1⁄3 cup sugar
- 3⁄4 cup Splenda granular, sugar substitute
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1⁄4 teaspoon allspice
- 3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon flax seed (whole, not ground)
- 1 1⁄2 cups unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1⁄3 cup canola oil
- 1⁄2 cup walnuts, chopped (or pecans)
- 1⁄4 cup raisins (optional)
directions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
- Place flour, sugar, Splenda, flax seeds, cocoa and spices in a mixer bowl and mix at low speed to blend well.
- Heat applesauce in a glass bowl in microwave for about 2 minutes until hot. Stir in baking soda. (DO NOT USE COLD APPLESAUCE!).
- Add to dry mix with oil, nuts and raisins. Mix at medium speed until creamy. Spread batter into baking pan.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, or until bars pull away from sides of pan. Cool on wire rack. Cut into 18 bars.
- Exchanges: 1 starch and 1 fat; or 1 carbohydrate choice.
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Reviews
-
These are really really good and I especially like the choco taste w/o feeling the guilt. The snap from the nuts and flax seed comes thru nicely as does the applesauce for flavor and moistness. I cut the recipe in 1/2 and also used 1/2 cup recipe#404288 and 1/2 cup white flour. I did opt to use craisins in place of the raisins and also used the chopped up walnuts. These are a fine mix between a cake and bar. Made for PRMR~ -
Haven't tried these yet, but it's highly misleading to have 'flax' in the name when there's only 1 tbl of flax in the recipe! That amount of flax is practically useless. -
These are VERY GOOD SOFT HEALTHY bars. They didn't turn out flavorwise as expected though...they taste sort of like a bran muffin to me...that may be because I used 1c whole wheat pastry flour and 1c whole wheat flour. I also can't taste the chocolate or spices at all. This was my first experience with flax seeds...they're not bad. I used pecan chips and omitted the raisins so I could eat this on the South Beach diet. -
Wonderful snack bars...mine came out very brownie like - a delicious, moist, chocolate & nutty treat!! I don't know how much of a difference it made, but I did not use a mixer and decided to do it all by hand...it worked fine for me! I was a bit heavy handed with the flax seeds because I love them, and added about two additional teaspoons. I used walnuts and chose to use dried cranberries instead of raisins because I prefer their flavor with chocolate. I also really enjoyed the little effect of "chemistry in the kitchen" when adding the baking soda to the warmed applesauce - the "fizzle" was fun!! Will most definitely be making these again...I think it has been my most successful experience in baking with "Spelnda" yet - fabulous instruction - Thanks mikekey!! -
I did not make this diabetic friendly! I used 1 C Sucanat and I think I would add a little more next time. Increased the ground flax (I think even 2 T is not much). Added some M&M's. Baked in a 7x11 and cut it into 20 squares. A cross between a cake and a brownie. Thanks.
Tweaks
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These are really really good and I especially like the choco taste w/o feeling the guilt. The snap from the nuts and flax seed comes thru nicely as does the applesauce for flavor and moistness. I cut the recipe in 1/2 and also used 1/2 cup recipe#404288 and 1/2 cup white flour. I did opt to use craisins in place of the raisins and also used the chopped up walnuts. These are a fine mix between a cake and bar. Made for PRMR~
-
Wonderful snack bars...mine came out very brownie like - a delicious, moist, chocolate & nutty treat!! I don't know how much of a difference it made, but I did not use a mixer and decided to do it all by hand...it worked fine for me! I was a bit heavy handed with the flax seeds because I love them, and added about two additional teaspoons. I used walnuts and chose to use dried cranberries instead of raisins because I prefer their flavor with chocolate. I also really enjoyed the little effect of "chemistry in the kitchen" when adding the baking soda to the warmed applesauce - the "fizzle" was fun!! Will most definitely be making these again...I think it has been my most successful experience in baking with "Spelnda" yet - fabulous instruction - Thanks mikekey!!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Outta Here
United States
WARNING: Make my recipes if you want, but I am no longer an active member and will not acknowledge reviews, photos or answer questions via z-mail. I find this site to be pretty useless without the forums. I can find recipes on a lot of different websites.
