Chocolate-Applesauce-Flax Seed Bars

Mikekey's Note:

This is a variation of a recipe from "Desserts for Diabetics" by Mabel Cavaiani. This is very easy to make, and they stay moist for a couple days (they never last longer around here!) DO NOT try using cold applesauce--doesn't work! You can make these non-diabetic friendly by using all sugar. NOTE: The flax seed is whole seed, not ground.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 18

Yield: 18.0 bars

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄3; cup sugar
• ¾ cup Splenda granular , sugar substitute
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon allspice
• 3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon flax seed (whole, not ground)
• 1 ½ cups unsweetened applesauce
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1⁄3; cup canola oil
• ½ cup walnuts , chopped (or pecans)
• ¼ cup raisins (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
3. Place flour, sugar, Splenda, flax seeds, cocoa and spices in a mixer bowl and mix at low speed to blend well.
4. Heat applesauce in a glass bowl in microwave for about 2 minutes until hot. Stir in baking soda. (DO NOT USE COLD APPLESAUCE!).
5. Add to dry mix with oil, nuts and raisins. Mix at medium speed until creamy. Spread batter into baking pan.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until bars pull away from sides of pan. Cool on wire rack. Cut into 18 bars.
7. Exchanges: 1 starch and 1 fat; or 1 carbohydrate choice.

Reviews

[CoffeeB]

These are really really good and I especially like the choco taste w/o feeling the guilt. The snap from the nuts and flax seed comes thru nicely as does the applesauce for flavor and moistness. I cut the recipe in 1/2 and also used 1/2 cup Nutritious Flour Blend and 1/2 cup white flour. I did opt to use craisins in place of the raisins and also used the chopped up walnuts. These are a fine mix between a cake and bar. Made for PRMR~

[rusticgirl]

Haven't tried these yet, but it's highly misleading to have 'flax' in the name when there's only 1 tbl of flax in the recipe! That amount of flax is practically useless.

[Engrossed]

These are VERY GOOD SOFT HEALTHY bars. They didn't turn out flavorwise as expected though...they taste sort of like a bran muffin to me...that may be because I used 1c whole wheat pastry flour and 1c whole wheat flour. I also can't taste the chocolate or spices at all. This was my first experience with flax seeds...they're not bad. I used pecan chips and omitted the raisins so I could eat this on the South Beach diet.