Easy Low Fat Meringue Cookies

These cookies use a store-bought product and I simply dipped them  in glazes to improve them.


I found Vanilla Meringue cookies called Spaans at Whole foods. These are tiny meringues that taste mostly like sugar. the nutritional content says that 15 cookies equal 100 calories and have no fat.

Using two seperate recipes I was able to make them easily into a company worthy dessert.

Glaze #1 is from Jacques Pepin and is the chocolate sauce he suggests for his angel food cake..already on the blog it is one part unsweetened cocoa, one part water, one part cane sugar. Mix the cocoa and sugar till fine and has no lumps. Mix in water thoroughly..heat til boil constantly mixing to prevent burning. Let the glaze dry for an hour or so or it will remain soft.

The other recipe comes from the Tassajara Recipe Cookbook by Edward Espe Brown. It is a lemon glaze with walnuts. Sift confectioners sugar. Measure one cup. Add to it 3-4 Tablespoons lemon juice..Theoretically you could substitute orange or grapefruit juice. Then mix until it is consistency of cream. I altered the 1/2 cup of walnuts which appears in the original recipe to keep the recipe lowest fat..I take one full walnut and mince it.


Dip the cookies one at a time..for the chocolate sauce just dip and place on a plate. When you have as many chocolate ones as you want start dipping in the lemon dip and press each cookie into the minced walnuts..you should get to use one walnut to 16-20 cookies and then you will need another walnut to mince.

When dipping shake off excess glaze before you set cookies to dry in one layer on a plate.

To serve let dry then place on a clean plate..if any stick to the original plate use a metal spatula to loosen.

The cookies with the chocolate have roughly the same amount of fat added as the ones with walnuts so a serving of 16 cookies contains about 3 grams of fat. These can be served with fruit or sorbet or alone.

Easy Low Fat Meringue Cookies

These cookies use a store-bought product and I simply dipped them  in glazes to improve them.


I found Vanilla Meringue cookies called Spaans at Whole foods. These are tiny meringues that taste mostly like sugar. the nutritional content says that 15 cookies equal 100 calories and have no fat.

Using two seperate recipes I was able to make them easily into a company worthy dessert.

Glaze #1 is from Jacques Pepin and is the chocolate sauce he suggests for his angel food cake..already on the blog it is one part unsweetened cocoa, one part water, one part cane sugar. Mix the cocoa and sugar till fine and has no lumps. Mix in water thoroughly..heat til boil constantly mixing to prevent burning. Let the glaze dry for an hour or so or it will remain soft.

The other recipe comes from the Tassajara Recipe Cookbook by Edward Espe Brown. It is a lemon glaze with walnuts. Sift confectioners sugar. Measure one cup. Add to it 3-4 Tablespoons lemon juice..Theoretically you could substitute orange or grapefruit juice. Then mix until it is consistency of cream. I altered the 1/2 cup of walnuts which appears in the original recipe to keep the recipe lowest fat..I take one full walnut and mince it.


Dip the cookies one at a time..for the chocolate sauce just dip and place on a plate. When you have as many chocolate ones as you want start dipping in the lemon dip and press each cookie into the minced walnuts..you should get to use one walnut to 16-20 cookies and then you will need another walnut to mince.

When dipping shake off excess glaze before you set cookies to dry in one layer on a plate.

To serve let dry then place on a clean plate..if any stick to the original plate use a metal spatula to loosen.

The cookies with the chocolate have roughly the same amount of fat added as the ones with walnuts so a serving of 16 cookies contains about 3 grams of fat. These can be served with fruit or sorbet or alone.

Yogurt Cake

In 1994 I bought a book by Jacques Pepin titled Simple and Healthy Cooking. In its introduction Pepin speaks of reducing the proportions of fats and sugars while always maintaining his focus on taste. This is a book to which I return over and over for its high quality healthy renditions of favorite foods. I strongly recommend you buy this book and try your hand at his wonderful easy recipes. All of his recipes in this and other books have the nutritional content which allows you to keep track of what you are eating. Pepin continued to produce books with the same themes and they are well worth reading.

I have been yearning for cake and so today made his yogurt cake.

1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons Corn or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup fat free yogurt
1 cup sifted cake flour ( I used whole wheat pastry flour instead)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 egg whites
5 cups fresh blueberries, washed drained and patted dry

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.Lightly coat an 8" round cake pan with vegetable cooking pray and set the pan aside. ( I used a bit of oil on a paper towel instead)Place the sugar, oil and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Combine with a wisk until well blended. Add the milk and yogurt, mix well. Then add the flour and baking soda and mix gently until they are incorporated. Place the eggwhites in a copper or stainless steel mixing bowl. Beat by hand with a large balloon whisk or with an electric mixer (fitted with a whisk attachment) at medium to high speed until the whites form stiff peaks when the beaters are lifted. Fold them into the batter. ( don't be too perfect with the folding..the idea is to not completely deflate the whites which will lift your cake..some streaks of white will be ok) pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
Cool the cake in the pan on a cake rack until it is lukewarm, then inbert it onto the rack and cool it completely.
To serve, cut the cake into 10 pieces. Tope each piece with 1/2 cup berries. I used frozen berries from Maine and sprinkled a bit of confectioners sugar through a sieve over the top of the cake.

This cake freezes well so I cut it in half and wrapped it first carefully in waxed paper then tucked it into a ziplock bag. To defrost place in the refrigerator

Here is a slightly different version..Lemon flavored

http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/138450/Lemon-Yogurt-Cake-with-Fresh-Berries

each piece is 162 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 0.6 grams saturated fat, 0 cholesterol, 64 mg sodium

Yogurt Cake

In 1994 I bought a book by Jacques Pepin titled Simple and Healthy Cooking. In its introduction Pepin speaks of reducing the proportions of fats and sugars while always maintaining his focus on taste. This is a book to which I return over and over for its high quality healthy renditions of favorite foods. I strongly recommend you buy this book and try your hand at his wonderful easy recipes. All of his recipes in this and other books have the nutritional content which allows you to keep track of what you are eating. Pepin continued to produce books with the same themes and they are well worth reading.

I have been yearning for cake and so today made his yogurt cake.

1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons Corn or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup fat free yogurt
1 cup sifted cake flour ( I used whole wheat pastry flour instead)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 egg whites
5 cups fresh blueberries, washed drained and patted dry

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.Lightly coat an 8" round cake pan with vegetable cooking pray and set the pan aside. ( I used a bit of oil on a paper towel instead)Place the sugar, oil and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Combine with a wisk until well blended. Add the milk and yogurt, mix well. Then add the flour and baking soda and mix gently until they are incorporated. Place the eggwhites in a copper or stainless steel mixing bowl. Beat by hand with a large balloon whisk or with an electric mixer (fitted with a whisk attachment) at medium to high speed until the whites form stiff peaks when the beaters are lifted. Fold them into the batter. ( don't be too perfect with the folding..the idea is to not completely deflate the whites which will lift your cake..some streaks of white will be ok) pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
Cool the cake in the pan on a cake rack until it is lukewarm, then inbert it onto the rack and cool it completely.
To serve, cut the cake into 10 pieces. Tope each piece with 1/2 cup berries. I used frozen berries from Maine and sprinkled a bit of confectioners sugar through a sieve over the top of the cake.

This cake freezes well so I cut it in half and wrapped it first carefully in waxed paper then tucked it into a ziplock bag. To defrost place in the refrigerator

Here is a slightly different version..Lemon flavored

http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/138450/Lemon-Yogurt-Cake-with-Fresh-Berries

each piece is 162 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 0.6 grams saturated fat, 0 cholesterol, 64 mg sodium

Apple Walnut Jumble

Here is a fast and tasty snack/dessert.

Core a good organic apple..apples should be crisp and have a bright taste. Slice and cut up into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon break into it 3 walnut halves..that is 6 grams of fat!! good fat though loaded with Omega 3's
finally add 3 tablespoons of multigrain cheerios. Sometimes I mix in a teaspoon of ground flax seed to add more omega's and make it even better for lowering cholesterol.

Mix all together and enjoy!

Apple Walnut Jumble

Here is a fast and tasty snack/dessert.

Core a good organic apple..apples should be crisp and have a bright taste. Slice and cut up into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon break into it 3 walnut halves..that is 6 grams of fat!! good fat though loaded with Omega 3's
finally add 3 tablespoons of multigrain cheerios. Sometimes I mix in a teaspoon of ground flax seed to add more omega's and make it even better for lowering cholesterol.

Mix all together and enjoy!