Low(er) Calorie Version of a Pumpkin Bar

 In an effort to ensure that I fit into my wedding dress when the time comes I've ended up doing a lot of calorie counting.  After I made the last pumpkin bars I was pretty appalled to see the final calorie count per bar (if you turn a 10x13 inch pan into 24 servings it's well over 300 calories a piece). 

I decided to make a few changes and see what I ended up with.  First, I reduced the amount of sugar from 1 and 2/3 cups to 1 cup.  I also halved the amount of oil called for and replaced half of it with unsweetened applesauce.  Finally, in an effort to add some nutritional value, I used whole wheat flour instead of white.

Recipe:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  
• 15-ounce pumpkin puree
  
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat this time)
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

The bars were done after about 30min at 350 degrees.  Instead of cream cheese icing I used a cinnamon butter cream(made with water, not cream).  In the end, the bars themselves were about 65 calories "lighter" each, however it turns out the cream cheese icing actually had fewer calories than the butter cream.

Still not a dieters food, but 65 calories is almost the caloric equivalent of 1 mile of walking, so who's complaining?


-Beth