Oatmeal–Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ricotta Cheesecake with Warm Blueberries
California Pizza
Kitchen’s Key Lime Pie (1 slice)
840 calories
46 g fat (27 g saturated)
92 g carbs
Price: $6.25
Key lime tends to be the bad seed of the fruit-pie lot, a fact owed to its rich, creamy filling and buttery graham cracker crust. And when it’s prepared according to the more-is-more philosophy common at American chains like CPK, this Southern classic can easily go from unruly to downright defiant. In our recipe, we teach you how to make a version of the citrusy treat that packs the perfect balance of rebellion and obedience. Mom would be so proud.
Eat This Instead!
Key Lime Pie (Check out our recipe!)
330 calories
10 g fat (5 g saturated)
39 g sugars
Cost per serving: $1.34
Save! 510 calories and $4.91!
WORST CHEESECAKE
Cheesecake Factory’s
Wild Blueberry White Chocolate Cheesecake
990 calories
N/A g fat (44 g saturated)
98 g carbs
Price: $6.95
After filling up on the Factory’s uber-fattening fare, we’re surprised their patrons can even look at the cheesecake menu. But if you dare to sneak a peak, this is what you’ll find: an array of brick-sized slices all hovering around the 1,000-calorie mark. Depressing right? But don’t worry, there’s an antidote to your cheesecake blues: ricotta. Yep, the simple swap from cream cheese to ricotta makes for a cheesecake slice with fewer calories, more protein, and less fat. But since you won’t find the Italian cheese in many chain kitchens, we brought you a delectable recipe that’ll let you have your cheesecake and eat it, too.
Eat This Instead!
Ricotta Cheesecake (Check out our recipe!)
360 calories
19 g fat (8 g saturated)
40 g carbs
Cost per serving: $1.96
Save! 630 calories and $4.99!
Bob Evans’s
Peanut Butter Brownie Bites
1,024 calories
49 g fat (13 g saturated)
96 g sugars
Price: $4.00
“Bites” sounds more innocent than a full-blown brownie, but in this case, the modest word is nothing but a marketing ploy. What you have here is two of the chain’s standard peanut butter brownies sliced up into smaller pieces. And by “standard,” we mean “enormous.” Restaurants consistently pump out bulging baked goods that pack far more calories than their homemade counterparts, and when you consider that sweet treats also taste better warm out of your own oven, you really have no excuse for not donning that apron.
Eat This Instead!
Fudgy Brownies (Check out our recipe!)
200 calories
12.5 g fat (6 g saturated)
16 g sugars
Cost per serving: $0.46
Save! 824 calories and $3.54!
WORST CHOCOLATE CAKE
Chili’s Molten Chocolate Cake
1,110 calories
59 g fat (30 g saturated)
136 g carbs
Price: $6.29
A dome of moist chocolate cake erupting with gooey chocolate lava is every cocoa lover’s fantasy, and though we don’t make a habit of crushing dreams, we’ve gotta call this vicious volcano out. First off, there are more calories here than five Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars. Second, thanks in part to a crown of chocolate-smothered ice cream, this dessert houses 2½ days’ worth of saturated fat. You can afford to eat a dessert like this a few times a year; the rest of the year, turn to our version—as rich and chocolaty as anything you’ll find in a restaurant, but with a third of the calories of Chili’s version.
Eat This Instead!
Molten Chocolate Cake (Check out our recipe!)
320 calories
22 g fat (11 g saturated)
31 g carbs
Cost per serving: $1.20
Save! 790 calories and $5.09!
Uno Chicago Grill’s
Bananas Foster
1,280 calories
64 g fat (36 g saturated)
129 g sugars
Price: $4.99
We don’t know who Foster is, but he sure hates bananas. This New Orleans classic takes the nutritious yellow-peeled fruit, drowns it in butter, smothers it with sugar, douses it with rum, and sets it on fire. And as if this nutritional beating weren’t bad enough, chains like Uno usually serve the dish in out-of-control portions, a move that, here, makes for a banana treat with more sugar than an entire carton of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream. Bananas!
Eat This Instead!
Banana Pudding (Check out our recipe!)
290 calories
7 g fat (2 g saturated)
36 g sugars
Cost per serving: $0.65
Save! 990 calories and $4.34!
Oatmeal–Chocolate Chip Cookies
The wonder of the oatmeal-chocolate chip cookie lies in its texture: a perfectly chewy interplay of butter-softened flour and baked oats. When it comes to cutting calories with our cookie consumption, we’d rather enjoy a first-rate cookie in a slightly smaller portion than eat an oversized and otherwise lackluster specimen. These are just like your mom used to make, only with an extra pinch of sea salt, which plays off the chocolaty sweetness in mysterious and magical ways. Serve with a jet-cold glass of milk (but you don’t need us to tell you that).
You’ll Need:
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
⅓ cup butter, softened
1 extra-large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup sugar
½ cup dark chocolate chips
How to Make It:
• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, beat the butter, egg, vanilla, and both sugars until you have a uniform consistency. Add the flour mixture to the bowl, mixing gently to combine. Mix in the chocolate chips.
• Cover a cookie sheet with nonstick spray. Drop the dough on the sheet by generous tablespoons, keeping the cookies at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, just until the edges of the cookies begin to brown. Cool for a few minutes before eating.
Makes about 14 cookies
Per Cookie:
$0.20
200 calories
8 g fat (4.5 g saturated)
18 g sugars
Banana Pudding
Allen & Son in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, may have achieved its renown by hickory-smoking pork shoulders into tender, juicy submission, but turns out this ’cue shack knows a thing or two about the sweet stuff, too. Its dessert menu reads like an encyclopedia entry on Southern comfort food: pecan pie, key lime pie, coconut-chess pie, peach cobbler. They save the best, though, for the last day of the work week: a sweet, custardy banana pudding that is the measuring stick by which all others should be judged. This is our tribute to that Friday-only phenom.
You’ll Need:
½ cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% milk
3 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
4 large ripe bananas, sliced
½ box (12 oz) vanilla wafers (about 3-5 wafers)
How to Make It:
• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Combine the ½ cup of sugar, the flour, milk, egg yolks, vanilla, and salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, whisking occasionally, for about 12 minutes, until the mixture thickens into a pudding.
• Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until thick, stiff peaks have formed. Fold in the 2 table-spoons of sugar and mix for another few seconds to incorporate. (The meringue can also be whipped by hand with a whisk in a cold aluminum mixing bowl, but be prepared for a bit of a workout.)
• Layer the bottom of an 8" x 8" baking dish or oven-safe bowl with half of the bananas, then top with half the cookies. Repeat to form two layers of wafers and bananas, then pour the pudding over the top. Spread the meringue over the pudding. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the meringue is golden brown.
Makes 8 servings
Per Serving:
$0.65
290 calories
7 g fat (2 g saturated)
36 g sugars
Ricotta Cheesecake
with Warm Blueberries
The name says it all: a sugary, fat-laden slice of cake made almost entirely of cheese that we just can’t get enough of. Go figure. This version is cut with ricotta for a light, creamy texture, and the warm blueberries lend a delicious dose of brain-boosting anthocyanins.
Citrus Zest
The juice inside lemons, limes, and oranges isn't the fruits' only prized possession. The fragrant rind is home to the most intense citrus flavor of all and works great when stirred into everything from borscht to brownies. The best way to get it off is with a microplane, but the fine side of a cheese grater also works. Just be sure to stop as soon as you see the white pith emerge—its bitter notes can sink an otherwise tasty dish.
You’ll Need:
8 oz graham crackers
6 Tbsp (¾ stick) butter, melted
1 container (12 oz) part-skim ricotta, drained
2 packages (8 oz each) light cream cheese, softened
¾ cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 eggs
1 bag (16 oz) frozen blueberries
How to Make It:
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cover the outside of a 9" springform pan with a layer of aluminum foil.
• Grind the graham crackers in a food processor. Add the melted butter and whiz again. Pour the crumb mixture over the bottom (not the sides) of the pan and use a measuring cup to press them firmly into the pan. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the crust is a deep-brown shade.
• Blend the ricotta, cream cheese, ¾ cup of sugar, and lemon zest in the food processor until smooth. Add the eggs and pulse a few times.
• Pour the cheese mixture over the crust in the pan. Place the pan in a baking dish. Pour enough hot water into the dish to come halfway up the sides of the pan. Bake until the cheesecake is golden and the center of the cake moves slightly when the pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour.
• Cool for an hour on the counter, then refrigerate until the cheesecake is cold, at least 4 hours.
• While the cheesecake cools, combine the blueberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes, until the blueberries begin to pop and become syrupy. Cut the cake into wedges and serve with a generous scoop of the blueberries over the top.
Makes 10 servings
Per Serving:
$1.96
360 calories
19 g fat (8 g saturated)
40 g carbs
Fudgy Brownies
Low-calorie bakers have tried every trick in the book to come up with a “healthy” brownie: butter substitute, egg substitute, sugar substitute. One well-known cook even makes his brownies with mashed black beans. No thanks. Make a batch of brownies like that and you’re likely to eat half a pan and still not feel satisfied. We’d rather get it right—with a restrained amount of butter and sugar and a dose of good dark chocolate—and offer a delicious square to devour than deal with the possibility of leaving you disappointed.
You’ll Need:
½ cup (1 stick) butter
2 oz semisweet dark chocolate, chopped
¾ cup sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ tsp vanilla
3 eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
How to Make It:
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Melt the butter and chocolate together in a pan set over low heat. Stir in the sugar, cocoa, and vanilla and remove from the heat. Add the eggs, flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk until smooth. Stir in the walnuts if using.
• Pour the batter into an 8" x 8" baking pan coated with a bit of nonstick spray. Spread the batter out into an even layer. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out nearly clean. (If you like your brownies less fudgy, bake a few extra minutes, until the toothpick comes out perfectly clean.)
Makes 12 brownies
Per Brownie:
$0.46
200 calories
12.5 g fat (6 g saturated)
16 g sugars
Key Lime Pie
This is the easiest pie in the history of baking. Mix, pour, bake, devour. Simple as that. If you can’t find bottled Key lime juice (or fresh Key limes) in your local supermarket, you can have Amazon.com send you a 16-ounce bottle of Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice for about $5. In a pinch, regular lime juice will do, even if the majority of south Floridians would cry foul.
Now that you've got all that extra Key lime juice, what to do with it? Try one of these with your new citrus supply:
• Mix equal parts curry powder, Key lime juice, and tomato paste. Slow cook chicken chunks and chickpeas in the sauce.
• Mix 2 tablespoons of juice with a half stick of softened butter. Top grilled fish and meat with it.
• Make a Key lime martini by shaking 1 part juice, 1 part simple syrup, and 2 parts vanilla vodka.
You’ll Need:
2 eggs
2 egg whites
½ cup Key lime juice*
1½ tsp grated lime zest
1 can (14 oz) low-fat sweetened condensed milk
1 graham cracker crust (6 oz)
1½ cups low-fat whipped topping
* Key limes have an intense tart flavor that standard limes just can't match. If you do use regular lime, add some extra zest to intensify the citrus kick.
How to Make It:
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat the eggs and egg whites with a whisk or a mixer until blended. Stir in the juice, zest, and milk and beat until well blended.
• Pour the mixture into the crust. Bake on the center oven rack for about 20 minutes, until the center is set but still wobbly (it will firm up as it cools). Allow the pie to cool on the counter, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Before eating, spread the whipped topping evenly over the filling.
Makes 8 servings
Per Serving:
$1.34
330 calories
10 g fat (5 g saturated)
39 g sugars
Grilled Fruit Kebabs
with Yogurt & Honey
The heat of the grill does something magical to fruit, teasing out natural sugars, softening flesh, and adding an element of smoke and char that transforms the average into something otherworldly. Tack on a cool yogurt sauce and you’ll forget about the choco-bombs and sugar-fests that normally qualify as dessert; you’ll also forget that you’re eating one of the healthiest desserts on the planet.
You’ll Need:
2 peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped into ¾" pieces*
2 cups pineapple chopped into ¾" pieces
2 cups watermelon chopped into ¾" pieces
4 metal skewers (or wooden skewers soaked in cold water for 20 minutes)
½ cup 2% Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
* Mix up the fruit based on the season and what looks best in the market. Mangos, grapes, plums, apricots, and pretty much any firm-flesh fruits grill up beautifully.
How to Make It:
• Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium heat. Thread the fruit onto the skewers, alternating between peaches, pineapple, and watermelon so that each skewer has a colorful variety of fruit.
• Grill for about 8 minutes, turning occasionally, until the fruit is nicely caramelized.
• Combine the yogurt with the honey and drizzle over the skewers. Garnish with fresh mint.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$1.76
140 calories
1 g fat (0 g saturated)
29 g sugars
Tiramisu
Tiramisu is like guacamole and pizza: It’s hard to have a truly bad version of it. The basic composition is so fundamentally delicious, even an ill-prepared rendition is still pretty damn satisfying. Unfortunately, that rule doesn’t hold true for nutritional virtue, which tends to suffer in inverse proportion to the deliciousness of a given tiramisu. This version bucks that trend, ditching the high-cal constituents—egg yolks and mascarpone—in favor of a lighter treatment of beaten egg whites and whipped cream cheese, an approach that yields an ethereal, but still rich and satisfying dessert.
You’ll Need:
3 egg whites
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ cup whipped cream cheese, softened at room temperature
½ cup strong espresso (or 1 cup strong coffee)
½ cup coffee liqueur such as Kahlua or Tia Maria
½ package (7 oz) ladyfingers or 4 cups cubed angel food cake*
1 oz dark chocolate, finely shaved
Espresso grounds or cocoa powder (optional)
* Ladyfingers—short, stubby sponge cakes— are traditional here, but angel food cake provides a similarly soft, absorbent base and keeps the calorie count a touch lower.
How to Make It:
• Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the sugar and lightly beat it into the whites. Place the cream cheese in a large bowl and fold in half of the whipped whites. Once fully incorporated, lightly fold in the remaining whites.
• Combine the espresso and coffee liqueur. Place a layer of ladyfingers (or angel food cake, if using) in the bottom of 4 wine or martini glasses. Spoon enough of the coffee mixture over them to soak the ladyfingers thoroughly. Divide the cream cheese mixture among the glasses, then top each with a good pile of dark chocolate shavings. Garnish with a dusting of espresso grounds if you like.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$2.02
260 calories
6 g fat (4 g saturated)
23 g sugars
Apple Pie
with Crunch Topping
Most apple pies are made w ith two crusts, one as the base, the other as the top, doubling up on the impact of the refined carbs and cheap fats that make up the pastry. Here, we replace the second crust with a crunchy topping made of oats, chopped almonds, and brown sugar, providing a perfect textural counterpoint to the soft baked apples while actually bolstering the overall nutrition of the dessert.
Most people prefer their apple pie with a little something on top. Here are three great low-calorie ways to gild the lily.
• A 130-calorie scoop of Breyers Vanilla
• For a leaner add-on, try a bit of 2% Greek yogurt spiked with honey
• For a more elegant counterpoint to the sweetness of the apples, a spoonful of crème fraîche (French-style sour cream) makes a lovely topping for this pie
You’ll Need:
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
2 Gala apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
⅓ cup granulated sugar
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbsp flour
Juice of 1 lemon
1½ tsp cinnamon
1 frozen pie shell, thawed
¼ cup chopped almonds
¼ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup rolled oats
2 Tbsp cold butter, diced
How to Make It:
• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Combine the apples, granulated sugar, applesauce, flour, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Stir to thoroughly combine, then scrape into the pie shell. (Depending on the size of your apples, this may make more filling than you need. The apples should rise slightly over the pie shell, mounding in the center.)
• Combine the almonds, brown sugar, oats, butter, and remaining ½ teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl. Use your fingers to help break up the butter and mix with the other ingredients.
• Sprinkle the topping evenly over the pie. Place on the middle rack and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the apples are soft and the crust is golden brown. Cool before slicing and serving with scoops of vanilla ice cream.
Makes 6 servings
Per Serving:
$1.41
360 calories
14 g fat (5 g saturated)
38 g sugars
Molten Chocolate Cake
The idea of baking and frosting a multitiered chocolate cake is daunting for most, but these little self-contained parcels of joy are the lazy man’s cake, the type of dessert that makes a non-baker feel like a pastry king when they emerge from the oven, pregnant with a tide of melted chocolate. Crack the middle and watch the flood of lava flow freely onto your plate—and eventually into your eagerly awaiting mouth. Did we mention these have only 360 calories?
You’ll Need:
4 oz bittersweet chocolate (at least 60 percent cacao), plus 4 chunks for the cake centers
2 Tbsp butter
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ Tbsp instant coffee or espresso (optional)
How to Make It:
• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly butter four 6-ounce ramekins or custard cups.
• Bring a few cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over low heat. Place a glass mixing bowl over the pan (but not touching the water) and add the chocolate and butter. Cook, stirring occasionally, until both the chocolate and butter have fully melted. Keep warm.
• Use an electric mixer to beat the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and salt until pale yellow and thick, about 5 minutes. Stir in the melted chocolate mixture, the flour, vanilla, and instant coffee if using.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared ramekins. Stick one good chunk of chocolate in the center of each ramekin. Bake the cakes on the center rack for 8 to 10 minutes, until the exterior is just set (the center should still be mostly liquid). The cakes can be eaten straight from the ramekins, but it’s more dramatic to slide them onto plates (after letting them rest for a minute or two), where the molten chocolate can flow freely.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$1.20
320 calories
22 g fat (11 g saturated)
31 g carbs
Blueberry-Peach Cobbler
By the time the dog days of summer arrive, you’re no longer dreaming of warm brownies or chocolate cake; you want something that both refreshes and celebrates the season, and this cobbler does both. At its core are the two greatest summer fruits of all time (which also happen to be two of the healthiest ingredients on the planet, bursting with fiber and potent antioxidants), baked into a state of sweet intensity and topped with crisp-tender biscuits, perfect for soaking up all those lovely fruit juices.
You’ll Need:
2 lbs peaches, peeled, pitted, and each cut into 6 wedges
1 cup blueberries
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp cold butter, cut into cubes
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
⅓ cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp brown sugar
How to Make It:
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the peaches, blueberries, the ¼ cup sugar, the cornstarch, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt in an 8" x 8" baking dish. Mix thoroughly with a large spoon.
• Combine the 2 tablespoons sugar, the flour, butter, baking powder, baking soda, and ¼ teaspoon of salt in a mixing bowl. Use your fingers to break up the butter and mash with the flour until the consistency is like coarse meal. Add the yogurt and stir gently to create a shaggy dough (don’t overmix or you will have tough biscuits).
• Divide the dough into 6 equal mounds. Arrange the mounds out over the peaches and sprinkle with the brown sugar.
• Bake for about 20 minutes, until the peaches are bubbling and the biscuits are golden brown.
Makes 6 servings
Per Serving:
$1.36
310 calories
9 g fat (5 g saturated)
32 g sugars
Grilled Banana Split
There truly is something transformative about the way the banana emerges from a grill grate. The warm caramelized fruit adds a layer of sexiness to the classic split, especially in the way the heat of the banana plays off the chill of the ice cream. Salted peanuts add crunch and contrast while chocolate doubles down on the decadence. And yet all of this can be yours for the low, low price of just 320 calories!
You’ll Need:
2 bananas, unpeeled*
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
4 scoops vanilla ice cream
4 Tbsp chocolate sauce, heated
4 Tbsp roasted and salted peanuts, roughly chopped
* For the best possible splits, the bananas should be ripe, but not soft.
How to Make It:
• Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Cut the bananas in half lengthwise, being sure to leave each half in the peel. Coat the cut sides of the bananas with the brown sugar, using your fingers to press the sugar into the flesh of the fruit. Place the bananas on the grill, cut sides down, and grill for about 3 minutes, until the sugar caramelizes and forms a deep-brown crust. Flip and grill for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the bananas are warmed all the way through but not mushy.
• Remove the peels from the bananas and place each half in the bottom of a bowl. Top with a scoop of ice cream, a good drizzle of hot chocolate sauce, and a handful of peanuts.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$0.96
320 calories
12 g fat (5 g saturated)
38 g sugars