Raspberry Nutella Brownies - A Quick & Easy LITE Super Bowl Treat!

The most unbelievable thing happened today, my husband actually made us lunch.  Okay, I'm exaggerating.  He just heated up food, but STILL!  LOL!  He'll be so annoyed if he is reading this.  It was nice to just veg out while he heated my food and brought it over to me.  What's even better he is going to make us dinner... something easy and quick - works for me.  

It's nice to be taken care of with food sometimes, and I'm sure most women out there would agree.  It isn't so much about who does what and always sticking to that routine, sometimes it's just nice to be taken care of with food.  I guess I show my love and affection for my family and friends through my cooking, so it's a lovely feeling to have that favor returned every now and then.  

Of course since my husband took care of lunch and will be taking care of dinner as well, I wanted to take care of dessert.  A few months ago I made Abby Dodge's 4 ingredient Nutella Brownies.  I modified this recipe slightly by adding raspberry preserves and I first thought of the idea based on the The Cheesecake Factory's Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake.  You know how chocolate and raspberry is such a classic combination, I figured I'd combine them and come up with a brownie recipe that is fudgy and gooey.  I think you guys will love this recipe and the best part is its super easy, quick and ideal for beginners.  It's the perfect treat for a Super Bowl gathering.

TELL ME: What are you guys making for the Super Bowl?  So far I have pasta and veggie nachos on my menu.  🙂  Stay tuned for a new recipe invention on the Veggie Nachos!

NUTRITION: Walnuts are an excellent source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids.  Nutella is surprisingly made of Skim Milk, however it does contain a decent amount of fat, it is hazelnut chocolate after all.  In addition, Nutella is low in saturated fat which makes it a better choice than butter.

MODIFICATIONS I MADE:

• Added ¼ cup Bonne Maman Raspberry Preserve - produced in France and contains no corn syrup, no artificial colorings, no additives, and no preservatives.  It's my favorite jam!  🙂  
• I didn't have hazelnuts on hand, so I used walnuts instead.
• I skipped using cinnamon.
• I added vanilla extract.

APPROXIMATE NUTRITION PER SERVING (yields 12 mini-brownies)

• Calories: 98 cals
• Fat: 5.6 g
• Saturated Fat: 0.9 g
• Carbs: 10 g
• Protein: 1.8 g
• Fiber: 0.7 g

RASPBERRY NUTELLA BROWNIES - A Lite Treat (inspired by Abby Dodge & Vino Luci Style)
~ yields 12 mini-brownies @ 350 degrees using a mini-muffin baking tray
~ fat and calories were not reduced in this recipe.  This recipe is already pretty low in calories and fat so there wasn't anything to reduce.

INGREDIENTS:

• Nutella - ½ cup
• Egg - 1
• Bonne Maman Raspberry Preserve - ¼ cup
• Vanilla Extract - ½ tsp
• All Purpose White Flour - 5 tbsp
• Walnuts - ¼ cup (roughly chopped)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

2. Line a mini-muffin tray with mini-muffin liners.  Gather the ingredients.

3. In a mixing bowl, add nutella and egg.  Combine using an Electric Mixer.

4. Add raspberry preserves, vanilla extract, and white flour.  Blend until well combined.  Do not overmix. 

5. Add chopped walnuts.  

6. Blend until combined.  Do not overmix.  I LOVE THAT COLOR!

7. Using a mini-scoop, scoop the batter into the muffin liners.  

8. Place in the oven for 10-12 minutes.  

9. I baked mine for 12 minutes, but I should have removed them at about 10 minutes for extra fudgy-ness and gooey-ness.  

10. These mini-brownies were delicious.  You can really taste the raspberry.

OVERALL RATING: 3.5 / 5

I really enjoyed these mini-brownies considering they are such a treat at 98 calories and by no means do they taste low-fat.  The only thing I would do differently is to consider removing the brownies from the oven after 10 minutes, of course, use a toothpick and make sure you can handle all that fudge.  I loved the texture of these brownies.  Although they appear to be slightly cake-like, they aren't.  They are super moist, gooey, and fudgy.  I think I've used those terms way too much, right?  LOL.  Enjoy!   

TELL ME: What are you guys making for the Super Bowl?  So far I have pasta and veggie nachos on my menu.  🙂  Stay tuned for a new recipe invention on the Veggie Nachos!