Skinny Fudge Brownies

It’s an exciting day in the kitchen today! Why, you ask? I made you brownies–guilt-free brownies! It’s always a good day when brownies are involved.

Go ahead, I’ll wait while you read that title again. Yup, it says skinny! I know it’s uncommon to relate brownies with the words skinny and guilt-free, but I was on a mission to make it happen.

It took me three attempts to get this recipe perfect, but it was totally worth the effort. The first attempt came out too dry. The second attempt yielded a rubbery brownie (yuck!). The third attempt was guilt-free brownie perfection.

Yeah, I had to crack the eggs three times, measure the ingredients three times, melt the chocolate three times, and, the worst part, wash the dishes three times. What can I say, I do it out of love…and the fact that I refused to lose to a batch of brownies.

I recently had the pleasure of baking with Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar. Zulka specializes in all-natural sugar made directly from the cane plant. Unlike traditional refined sugar, Zulka products retain naturally occuring colors and flavors that are traditionally removed during the refining process.  The result is a more natural sugar that tastes like you’re biting into fresh sugar cane.

Zulka was nice enough to send me a big bag of their Morena Pure Cane Sugar for me to bake with. Man, have I been doing a ton of baking lately. I’ve been knee deep in mixing bowls, and my kitchen has been dusted in a thick layer of flour for days. I’ve been using my Zulka sugar in just about everything I bake:  cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and even iced tea. It tastes amazing and bakes up nicely. I’m going to make it my go-to sugar for all of my baking needs.

These brownies taste amazing. They’re fudgy, yet light in texture. The Greek yogurt produces a subtle tang, which is just lovely. They have a crunchy top and crisp edges.

They’re everything a brownie should be, only half the fat and calories of a regular brownie. Winning!

I mixed in a generous handful of mini chocolate chips to give the brownies that extra boost of chocolate flavor. The chips melt slightly, giving the brownies a creamy center. They’re so good!

I bake my brownies in the Wilton Nonstick 12-cavity Brownie Pan. Yeah, it’s another pan, but I happen to adore this one. It separates the brownies into perfect portions, creating consistent squares. The best part:  all four edges are crunchy, not just one or two sides. All you have to do is grease the pan with some baking spray, and they pop out easily with the help of an off-set spatula or butter knife. Viola, brownie perfection!

My family and friends adore these brownies. I get texts informing me that they’re out of brownies and could I please replenish their stock. Ah, the life of a food blogger.

Enjoy!

And now for the giveaway! Zulka was kind enough to provide me with one bag of their Zulka Morena Pure Cane sugar to give away to one lucky reader.

Required Entry: Leave a comment telling me what you would bake with Zulka Morena Pure Cane sugar.

Additional Entries:

Follow The Messy Baker on Pinterest
Like The Messy Baker on Facebook
Follow The Messy Baker on Twitter
Subscribe to The Messy Baker via email or RSS feed
Follow Zulka on Facebook
Follow Zulka on Twitter

Make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry. That’s 7 chances to win!

***The giveaway is for one bag Zulka Morena Pure Cane sugar. The giveaway is for U.S. Residents only and will run from Thursday, May 2cnd to 6:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday May 10th. The winner will be chosen at random drawl and will be notified via email. The winner will have 2 days to respond before another winner is chosen.

Disclosure:  I received a bag of Zulka Morena Pure Cane sugar for recipe development and review purposes. All opinions are my own.