Fudgier Buttermilk Brownies

Updated! This recipe hails from the New American Heart Association cookbook. To make it a lower-sugar recipe, I subbed in some Splenda® for the brown sugar. These are so good and so addictive.

Ingredients
2 egg whites
1 cup unbleached white flour
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup Splenda® sugar substitute
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup nonfat buttermilk (or, ½ milk with 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Let stand for 5 minutes before using.)
1 tablespoon instant coffee, dissolved in the buttermilk (helps to really bring out the chocolate flavor)
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Trader Joes' tastes amazing. Use anything but that Hershey's stuff.)
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup chocolate chips (optional, but highly recommended)

Optional Frosting:
½ cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons nonfat milk
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Pour the batter into a greased 9-inch square baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a cooling rack. Cut into 16 squares when completely cooled and frost, if you like.

To make the frosting, just mix (carefully) all of the frosting ingredients in a small bowl until there are no lumps of sugar or chocolate.

Serves 16; approx. 68 calories/serving, 0g fat, 15g carb