Chocolate Chip Clouds

Light, airy and chewy with chocolate chips in every bite. These cookies are a must for Santa, we've been making them for years and everyone loves them. Made with egg whites, sugar and chocolate, they are very light, gluten free and just melt in your mouth.

The perfect chocolate treat, and when you make them the night before, they are chewier the next day, which is just how I like them. Hope you enjoy and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

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Easy Garlic Broccolini

Broccolini, also known as baby broccoli, makes a fantastic, quick side dish and compliments just about anything from beef roasts, lamb, fish, turkey, chicken, lasagna and more. 

It's actually not a younger version of broccoli, but rather a natural hybrid between regular broccoli and a plant called Chinese broccoli. My family prefers it to broccoli and since it takes less time to cook, I make this at least once a week. It has longer, thin stalks with small florets and only needs a few minutes to cook. I make this side dish at least once a week – even my toddler eats it with no complaints!

The best part, it's healthy and ready in under 10 minutes so if you're cooking for the holidays or just a meal for your family and need an easy side dish, this is it! You can double it or halve it as you need.

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Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Strawberries

Vanilla beans, strawberries and cream make this luscious dessert worthy of a standing O!

Panna cotta is one of my FAVORITE desserts when prepared properly. It’s such an easy dessert to make and it can easily be adapted with many different flavor profiles. Although it's usually made very rich with heavy cream, I've been able to play around with the ingredients through the years to give this dessert that same lusciousness, yet using much less cream.

If you need a dessert this Holiday season to impress your guests, I promise, this one is it! And since it needs at least four to five hours to set it's the perfect dessert to make a day or two ahead.

I've tried so many panna cotta recipes from blogs through the years that looked so beautiful, only to be disappointed. Perhaps I'm a bit of panna cotta snob, because I know what a good panna cotta should taste like. It shouldn't have the texture of jello, instead it should be creamy and smooth, almost pudding like in texture. I've tested this particular recipe FIVE times to get it perfect, so if you plan on trying this – don't change a thing!

For diabetics, yes, this will work with Splenda or other sweeteners, and of course cut back on even more calories. So go grab a spoon and savor each spoonful of this vanilla treat.

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To Die For Coconut Cookies

'Tis the season, so I thought I what a perfect time to revive some of my older Holiday recipes from the archives. If you like coconut macaroons you will love these cookies! Similar to a macaroon, but with the addition of cornflake crumbs, they are sweet and delicious and easily made gluten-free.

Coconut lovers... this is a must! With the holidays quickly approaching, I'm sure lots of you are busy baking so I am dedicating the rest of this week to skinny holiday sweets. 

This recipe was emailed to me a while ago by a woman who told me these were "to die for" hence the name. I held on to it for a while with intentions of trying it for the holidays and I was super pleased with the results–I think you will be too! For the cornflake crumbs, you can buy gluten-free crushed cornflakes in many supermarkets, but if you wish to make your own, just put them in the food processor and crush until very fine. If gluten free is an issue, check the labels on the cornflakes, not all are gf.

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Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Lace Cookies

These delicious cookies are light, crisp and chewy, made with basic ingredients like oats, flour, butter, sugar and spices– then once baked they are sandwiched together with melted dark chocolate. If you're baking cookies for Holiday parties, or just to leave Santa, these are a must!

Holiday traditions in my family always included baking cookies with the kids. My Mom did it with my brother and I, and she still does it with my children. To ease some of the guilt, I try to include some lighter cookie recipes in the mix and these lace cookies are one of my favorites. Of course, I do practice restraint and tracking (and exercise) helps keep me in check this time of the year.

One thing to keep in mind when baking these cookies is the batter will spread once baked so don't put them too close together on the cookie sheet. Once baked they will keep well in an airtight container.

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Banana Cranberry Bread

If you have ripe bananas lying around, today is the perfect day to make this wonderfully moist banana bread studded with tart ruby cranberries!

It's snowing here today – the kind of day I look for any excuse to turn on my oven so I can warm up my home with the scent of fresh baked goodness. With ripe bananas on my counter, and some cranberries left over from yesterday's pear-cranberry crumble, I knew exactly what I wanted to make.

This bread turned out moist and wonderful, I love the contrast of the sweet bananas with the tart cranberries in each bite. Some other Skinnytaste banana bread recipes you may enjoy are Banana Nut Bread,  Roasted Strawberry Banana Bread, Petite Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Loaves, and Pumpkin Banana Bread.

Stay warm and enjoy!

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Pear Cranberry Crumble

Just in time for the holidays! This warm baked fruit dessert is made with Royal Riviera pears and seasonal tart cranberries, then topping with a oat-nut crumble topping – delish!

Harry and David sent me a box of their finest pears to develop a recipe for their blog Field Notes. Royal Riviera pears grown in Southern Oregon are so sweet, juicy and tender, you can literally eat them with a spoon. Since these pears are so special, I wanted to create a dessert that would do them justice and since fruit crumbles are one of my favorite desserts, I knew exactly what I was going to make.

This recipe will serve 6 to 8 people depending on their appetites. If it's a special occasion and I want to splurge, I'll serve it warms with my favorite fat-free vanilla frozen yogurt from Stonyfield's and serve it a la mode.

Cranberry Pear Crumble
Servings: 8 • Size: 1/2 cup • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 6 pts (does not include yogurt)
Calories: 197 • Fat: 7 g • Protein: 2 g • Carb: 37 g • Fiber: 5 g • Sugar: 25 g
Sodium: 75 mg • Cholesterol: 0 mg

Click here to see the full recipe on the Harry and David Blog.

Baked Salmon Cakes

Baked salmon cakes make the perfect Holiday appetizer, made with wild Alaskan salmon, diced peppers, capers and breadcrumbs. For dipping, I made my favorite Zesty avocado cilantro dressing which compliments the flavor of the salmon and makes these absolutely addicting!

Target has partnered with the Target Inner Circle crew to put together a Holiday Party 101 blog series. As a team we are sharing everything you need to plan the perfect holiday party from cocktails, music, decorating tips, invitations, and more!

I was put in charge of the appetizers which was a fun challenge for me, and I came up with the idea to lighten up a recipe I recently had at a friend's house after stumbling on Simply Balanced Wild Alaskan Salmon at Target. I also picked up some holiday plates, napkins and this simple white flat plane platter from their Threshold collection which I will be using for everything.

When purchasing fish, I always opt for wild rather than farm raised so I was happy to see wild Alaskan seafood in Target. I adapted the original recipe from Ina Garten with lighter ingredients, then baked the cakes rather than frying and they turned out wonderful. I love a good dipping sauce and knew that my avocado cilantro dressing would be the perfect fresh compliment!

If you are looking for a healthy appetizer idea this Holiday season, look no further. Wild salmon is loaded with heart-healthy omega-3s and these salmon cakes are pretty easy to make. You can assemble them ahead of time, then put them in your oven when your guests arrive. Set them out on the table and watch them disappear!

To tune in to more holiday party-throwing tips, be sure to follow #mykindofholiday and #targetinnercircle on Pinterest. Target will be compiling all the posts for an article on A Bullseye View. Happy party-planning everyone!

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Baked Mini Spinach and Sausage Arancini

These mini baked Italian rice balls are made with brown rice, chicken sausage, spinach and mozzarella cheese. Served with some warm marinara sauce, they make the perfect finger foods for the Holiday season or any time you want to serve appetizers.

The Holidays are right around the corner, so this week I am sharing Holiday recipes to get you in the spirit. I don't know about you, but I love Italian rice balls. They are often deep fried and high in calories so I typically stay away unless I'm making this Sicilian Rice Ball Casserole which turns rice balls into a meal!

I came across a recipe from the Baby&Toddler on the Go Cookbook (which btw is such a great book for feeding young kids) for mini baked brown rice aranci, and adapted them with adult palates in mind and more of the flavors I typically like in a rice ball. This recipe cuts a substantial amount of fat by baking instead of frying and replaces the white rice with brown – but you still get plenty of flavor from the sausage and Pecorino Romano cheese.

You can make the filling ahead of time, roll them into balls and refrigerate until you are ready to bake them. I would bread them just before baking.

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Skinny Cranberry Bliss Bars

A blondie cookie bar with chunks of white chocolate chips and dried cranberries, topped with sweet cream cheese icing, tart dried cranberries and white chocolate drizzle  – perfect for the holidays!

I got a request this year to lighten Starbuck's Cranberry Bliss Bars – this make-over turned out excellent! I was able to cut the fat and calories by more than HALF, yet they still taste indulgent. The original bar is 340 calories with 19 grams of fat; this lighter version is just 149 calories with 5 grams of fat (4 points plus).

Last year I attempted to make these light but didn't have much success. I had used whole wheat flour and I believe that was my demise – it gave the bars an unpleasant texture and scent that I really didn't enjoy. 

This time I used Gold Metal all purpose flour and the results were excellent. This is dessert after all, and although I try to use whole grains in all my meals, it doesn't always work when baking. If you need a dessert for a holiday party, these are great. Leave them refrigerated until ready to serve.

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Skinny Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake Squares

 
Cheesecake squares with a cranberry swirl and a gingersnap pecan crust – so good, less guilt and perfect for the Holidays!

I'm so excited to share these with you, they turned out even better than I expected! 

 

A few years ago I started experimenting with adding fat free Greek yogurt to my cheesecakes and now it's a standard for me. It's a great way to cut down on the fat and the flavor is wonderful. This is a variation of my strawberry cheesecake swirl recipe, and my chocolate raspberry swirl cheesecake, only for a Fall/Winter theme cranberries are in perfect and in season. The gingersnap and pecan crust is the perfect compliment – you'll love this!

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Garlic Lover's Roast Beef

Vampires beware, there's garlic in every bite! And if that's not enough garlic, I like to serve this with roasted broccoli with smashed garlic and skinny mashed potatoes... in my house, there's never too much garlic.

With Father's Day right around the corner, I thought it was time to re-shoot this recipe which means this is what's for dinner tonight. I make roast beef quite often in my house because it's pretty simple to make and we all love it. Roast beef is really hard to mess up as long as you have a meat thermometer and you let it rest before slicing.

For lunch today I made a delicious carved roast beef sandwich with melted cheese and sweet caramelized onions that I will be sharing tomorrow here, it was sooo good!

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Crock Pot Turkey Breast with Gravy

Juicy slow cooked turkey breast with rich turkey gravy, all in your crock pot. This was my first time making a turkey breast in the crock pot, but it won't be my last!

What an easy way to prepare turkey breast that doesn't require too much attention. The vegetables are first browned with a roux on the stove to ensure the gravy has a rich flavor base, then it's all slow cooked in the crock pot. At the end, I simmered the braising liquid on the stove until it reduced and thickened into a delicious, easy gravy.

I modified this recipe from the Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook. It's a great base, and I can see playing around with the ingredients in this recipe.

Madison, my toddler said yummy juicy meat (that meant she liked it) and my husband was thrilled there were mashed potatoes AND gravy on his plate. This was like a mini Thanksgiving feast, I made some skinny mashed potatoes on the side, (you could also make cauliflower mash if you want to go low carb) and I also served this with some sauteed broccolini which is not pictured.

Today, I guess I'll be making some turkey noodle soup with the leftovers!

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Hot and Cheesy Crab and Artichoke Dip

Hot and cheesy imitation crab and artichoke dip, serve this with baked chips and you have the perfect appetizer for a party.

My husband was craving an imitation crab meat salad and we made the mistake of going food shopping hungry... at a wholesale store no less, so we came home with 3 lbs of imitation crab meat!

What to do with all that imitation crab? I decided to make a hot dip with it using ingredients I had on hand.

I can see using a good light Swiss, such as Jarlsburg or a light mozzarella instead of cheddar, but all I had was cheddar and I thought it was fine.

This is large enough to feed a crowd. If you don't want as much, you can certainly make half or freeze half for later. Make this a day ahead, then pop it in the oven before you are ready to serve. Let me remind you, this is a dip, so the serving size is 1/4 cup which I think is pretty average knowing people will pick on other stuff. Only 2 points plus per serving, I had to double check and see if I was wrong!

I tried this with pretzel thins, baked lentil chips (pictured here), baked corn chips.. it was great with all. Use what you like, and if you prefer to use real lump crab, go for it! You can even sprinkle some panko on top before baking... I would have but didn't have any.

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Skinny Chocolate Peppermint Cake Pops

Chocolate and peppermint are the perfect combination, and these cake pops are perfect if you need a last minute Holiday dessert!

After much success with my first attempt at a skinny cake pop, the flavor combinations and possibilities are endless. Here I used chocolate cake with Wilton's peppermint white candy melts sold at Michaels.

The cake pop pan is made by Nordic Ware, it's about $16 and makes perfect, easy cake balls every time.

For the full recipe go to Dash Recipes where I contribute monthly skinny dessert recipes. Happy Holidays!

Skinny Eggnog Cake

Need an easy dessert to bring to a Holiday party?

This cake is easy and delicious. Simply combine a yellow box cake mix with nutmeg, Chobani, water and egg whites and you'll have a deliciously light cake ready in no time. Top the cake with some whipped topping spiked with rum or rum extract and dessert is ready!

I used Truwhip as a healthier alternative to Cool Whip, which contains no HFCS, hydrogenated oils, transfats or GMOs. I heard Trader Joe's also carries a similar whipped topping if you are lucky enough to have one near you. Happy Holidays!!

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Veggie Shooters (Crudites with Skinny Ranch Dip)

Fresh cut vegetables served in individual shot glasses with your favorite dressing makes for an easy, healthy, elegant appetizer. No double dipping!

Think color and use your favorite vegetables; raw zucchini or celery would also be great. These are also kid friendly, my daughter loves bell peppers, carrots and cucumbers.

Of course, you can buy store bought dressing to save time, but whipping up a batch of your own is easy. You can make the dip and cut the vegetables ahead of time, then assemble when you are ready to serve it. If you are serving vegans or dairy free diets, swap the ranch dip for hummus!

If you're heading to a Holiday party and are worried about over-eating, bring these veggie shooters and skip the chips!


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Skinny Frozen Hot Chocolate

A dreamy, icy blend of chocolatey goodness, without the guilt! Today's recipe is a guest post from my dear friend Brandi. She's blogs over at BranAppetit, please welcome her!

Hi guys! This is Brandi from BranAppetit, and I’m so happy to be here, sharing a recipe with you.

If you’re anything like me, you have families that love to eat and drink super high calorie foods during the holidays. I’m guessing it’s like this for everyone, really, but it doesn’t have to be! I definitely indulge in some foods that I only get during the holiday season like my mom’s fudge pie or my Mammaw’s ham gravy, but there are some easy ways to make great holiday treats a little more figure friendly.

Take this frozen hot chocolate.

A normal recipe would set you back hundreds of calories, but you can slim this down easily by swapping in skim milk and adding a touch of rich unsweetened cocoa powder for even more intense chocolate flavor.

My favorite way to have this is to add in a drop or two of peppermint or coconut extract, but it’s just as delicious without it, too. And with the warm December we’ve been having in Virginia, a frozen hot chocolate has been my go-to treat this year.

Hope you all have a great holiday season!
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Skinny Cake Pops

Cake pops made lighter by using a box cake mix, egg whites and fat free Greek yogurt – no oil, no butter required!

Today is my daughter Madison's 3rd birthday!

She is having a little birthday party in school and I was asked to bring something that wasn't too messy, so I thought cake pops would be perfect! But then I remembered lollipop sticks and 3 yr olds aren't such a great idea, so after thumbing though the Bakerella Cake Pops book for ideas we decided on cake balls that look like little cupcakes.

Cake pops are all the rave thanks to the very talented Bakerella, but using the traditional method of crumbling the cake with frosting adds a lot of calories to each pop. The only way to make them lighter is by using a cake pop pan, rather than the original method; it's quicker and easier too! I tested out my lighter cake box recipe to see how they would turn out, and it worked like a charm!

I played around with a few cake pop pans and machines out there and realized they are not all created equal. After testing out a bunch of them, I had huge success with the Nordicware cake pop pan, which is only about $16 at Target.

So today, in honor of my daughter's birthday I am giving away the Nordicware Cake Pop Pan, and Bakerella's Cake Pop Book on Skinny Bits (courtesy of Target). Giveaway ends Wednesday evening, so hurry!

Now be warned, these are FAR lighter than traditional cake pops, but they are dipped in chocolate, which will add up if you eat a lot, so you'll still need some self control! Dark chocolate, of course is the healthiest option, but for color purposes today I went with white chocolate. Candy melts (available at Michael's) were used for my daughter's cake balls.

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