Homemade Pop Tarts

I've never been the biggest fan of pop-tarts, but when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it out.

So yummy!! I made these in three flavors; chocolate (melted milk chocolate chips), strawberry (no sugar added strawberry preserves), and apple cinnamon (apples tossed with brown sugar and cinnamon). All of them were amazing! The pastry was absolutely phenomenal, I found myself eating it plain (gasp!). ALthough the picture doesn't show it, I did top the pop tarts with icing (which I ran out of). I was afraid that the chocolate ones would be a bit too sweet with the icing, but it wasn't at all. They actually reminded me of the chocolate croissants that they used to sell at Panera (*faves*).

I do have a bunch of dough left over, and am debating if I should make more pop tarts, or if I should make a cinnamon apple roll up. Decisions, decisions. ;)

Splurge - Chocolate Chip & Raisin White Cake Mix Cookies

Okay this next post is defintely NOT HG, but I had to post it anyway. My great grandma used to make these cookies when I was a kid. They were these amazing, soft, chocolate chip and raisin cookies. A few weeks ago, I started craving them, and my mom informed me that they were made with cake mix! Cue a week and a half of searching the 'net for recipes, and coming to terms with the fact that I was about to make something full fat and sugar. The recipe that I used was, apparently, taken from the back on a Duncan Hines cake mix box back in the 70s. I did add about a cup of raisins since that's how my grandma made them. These are SO GOOD. They taste exactly like the ones my grandma used to make. I might try modifying the recipe later (e.g. applesauce for oil), but I wanted to just make it straight the first time so I could have these cookies again.

I just figured out the calorie total for each cookie, and it ended up being 196 for 1 large cookie. Not good, but not too horrible either.

So-Good Chocolate Chip Softies

Why am I always posting sweet stuff? Oh well. This recipe is from HG's 200 Under 200 cookbook. I made these yummy chocolate chip cookies tonight. I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips, which made these totally awesome! I also had to use raspberry acai applesauce since I was out of plain, but it didn't change the flavor at all. These are so good, I wish the recipe made more than 8. I'm going to have to try and double the recipe one day.

Creamy Hot Apple B-Fast with Brown Sugar Crunch

Another HG recipe from the 200 Under 200 cookbook. It was freezing when I woke up this morning, so I decided to make something nice and hot for breakfast.

Nice and hot apple crunch. Yum! I did make a few changes to recipe based on what I have in the house right now. I didn't have any vanilla pudding mix, so I subbed in some more corn starch and used milk instead of water. Also, I couldn't find the brown sugar nature valley bars, so I used the oat and honey ones.

This is seriously the best recipe for breakfast in the fall. Hot, gooey, apples and cinnamon...*sigh*...good stuff. And, with the changes made to the recipe, about 231 calories for the huge bowl :)

Sugar Donut Muffins, Part II

Okay, remember yesterday, how I said if I tried making the Sugar Donut Muffins again, I would use cider? Well, I tried it out this afternoon and Oh.My.God. These things are amazing.

They look delicious, right? I made a few more changes to the recipe I posted yesterday.

• Substituted sweet apple cider for the milk and melted butter


• Halved the amount of sugar used for the topping


• Added about a teaspoon of cinnamon into the sugar

Al these changes made it so that each mini muffin is...*drum roll*...29 calories!!!!!!!! Whoo!!!! These taste exactly like the donuts at the orchard, except no frying or pounds of butter :D . Knowing my dad, these will definitely be gone by tomorrow.

Sugar Donut Muffins

I'm finding it harder and harder to make Hungry Girl recipes because some of the ingredients are so hard to find. Because of this, the focus of this blog will no longer be solely HG, but just on healthy alternatives for everyday recipes. Anyhooo, onto the baking. It was rainy and cold here today, so I made these Sugar Donut Muffins to warm the house up. The original recipe is by Anniebakes, but I modified several things to make it low calorie. My modified recipe:

• 3/4 c. Splenda


• 1/4 c. Egg Beaters


• 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour


• 2 tsp. baking powder


• 1/4 tsp. salt


• 1/4 c. no sugar added applesauce


• 3/4 c. skim milk


• 1 tsp. vanilla extract


• 2 tbsp. Smart Balance, melted


• 1/2 c. sugar


• cinnamon

I substituted no sugar added applesauce for the oil, egg beaters for the egg, and Splenda for the sugar. I also added a dash of cinnamon of the muffins (after I took the picture). I calculated it out to be around 40 calories per muffin (the recipe made 36 mini muffins).

These are really good. They kindof remind me of the apple cider donuts that the store at the orchard makes. I'm thinking that, next time, I'll substitute cider instead of milk and melted butter.

Jelly-Filled Cupcakes

Last night, Sam and I made the "Jelly-Filled Cupcakes" from the 200 Under 200 cookbook. These things are SO.GOOD. The recipe calls for strawberry jelly, but we used sugar-free blackberry jam instead. It goes perfectly with the yellow cake.

Polka Dot Brownies

No Hungry Girl recipes today, but I do have a few low cal recipes that I feel like posting. First up, Polka dot Brownies. We made No Pudge, according to the box, but decided it needed something more. Since the batter was too thick to mix in chips, we sprinkled white chocolate chips on top befor we baked them. They looked like polka dots, hence the name. These things are absolutely sinful. No Pudge is amazing by itself, but the white chocolate chips just put it over the top.

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cherry Muffins

Last night, my friend and I made some "Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cherry Muffins" from the original Hungry Girl cookbook. We did add some chocolate chips and a cherry (from the leftover pie filling) on top to give it a little something extra. Usually we make these with Reduced Fat Brownie mix, but Christmas Tree Shop was having a sale on No Pudge, so we used that. They are amazing with the No Pudge, much richer than the RF brownies. We've been making these for a while, and they are probably my favorite HG recipe.

Chocolate Marshmallow Madness Cupcakes

The recipe is from the 200 Under 200 cookbook. Yummy, yummy chocolate cupcakes with fluff glaze and mini marshmallows and morsels. I've made these a bunch of times, and they are AMAZING!!! I doubled the recipe for the glaze since it really isn't enough for 12 cupcakes, but that seemed a bit much for these. I'll probably 1.5 the recipe next time to see if that works. If you ever make these for a party or get together, make them right before, not the night before. Overnight, the glaze melts down into the cupcake so they don't look as pretty.

Apple Fritters

Next up, "Apple Fritters" from the 200 Under 200 cookbook.

These are SO GOOD!! I thought that they would be small (since they're only about 95 calories a piece), so I was only going to make 6, instead of 12. Well, I was wrong. I ended up making 10 really good sized fritters. Next time, I'll just make the 12. These really remind me of apple turnovers, which is my weakness, so now I have a super low-cal substitute! I'll definitely make these again.