My family loves this recipe, as do I. I’ll make it for xmas. But it’s way too high calorie for me, and I eat way too much of them. I’m looking to make it with less calories, without losing too much of the flavor, if possible. I’ve seen in ‘Shape’ magazine where they makeover recipes like this, making them healthier.
It’s a popular bake design:a crust on bottom layer baked, melted caramel and stuff in the middle layer, then the same layer of oats & flour on top–all baked.
One thing right now is the crust layers just barely makes enough to cover the bottom and top. Cutting this volume down would seriously jeopardize the ability to cover the top with the crust layer, not a major problem but a problem.
crust:
1 1/2 C oats (quick)
1 1/2 C flour
2 sticks butter
baking soda
1/2 t salt & baking soda
1 C brown sugar
carmel layer:
bag of caramels (14 oz)
can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 stick butter
Spread 1/2 crust mixture as bottom layer in 9x13 pan, bake for 10 minutes.
middle layer, melt carmel mixture over double boiler–when melted spread over baked bottom layer.
top layer: Cover with remains of crust layer.
Bake another 15 minutes or so.
So it’s basically a thick wedge of nearly pure fat and sugar, sandwiched between two layers of nearly solid starch?
Sorry, I’m going to say ‘not possible’ - there’s no reasonable way to make a serious impact on the calories in this item without either:
-making it really horrible to eat
-turning it into something completely unlike what it currently is.
If you’re happy eating something horrible, then just eat something horrible that happens to have less calories and if you’re happy eating something completely unlike the described item, then eat something completely unlike it, but with less calories.
I know that’s not the answer you’re looking for, but your question simply isn’t based in the real world.
I’m going to have to agree with Mangetout (with a name like that, how could I not?). Certain recipes can be revamped- Splenda and whole wheat flour or oats can replace sugar and white flour in cookies, breads, etc.- but when the main ingredient is caramels, you probably want to just keep it as is.
Make it, sweets, fat and all, but then bring some to co-workers/friends/neighbourhood kids so you don’t eat the whole pan. Then get a different cookbook and find something healthier to make.
Maybe you could try cutting down on the butter? Try a stick and a half for the crust and keep the 1/2 stick for the filling the same. If that works out okay, then next year try cutting it back a little more.
My sister in law cut down the calories on her cheesecakes by using ladyfingers as a crust, just lined the baking pan with them and put the filling in and baked it that way. You could try substituting Special K bars or granola bars (Nature Valley Oats & Honey?) or even Rice Krispy Treats as a crust.
Then again, some recipes just shouldn’t be tinkered with, especially if they’re a tradition.
The only reductions I can see you making is to use margarine instead of butter, and Splenda Brown sugar Blend instead of straight brown sugar…I tried it last week, and it’s good. Other than that, unless they make a sugar-free sweetened condensed milk, you’re stuck, so the only other reduction you can make is portion size, and give the rest away.
You could try subbing those calcium caramels (Viactiv) for the regular ones. I don’t know if there’s a significant difference in calorie content, but at least you’d get 100% or more of your daily calcium in one serving.
They do make a fat-free version, which would cut a few calories, but given the composition of the thing, the difference would be negligible. If you’re going to cut back on the butter, I’d suggest doing it more for the middle layer than the crusts. If you cut back too far on the fat for the crusts, they’ll be dry and crumbly and not very tasty.
There are non-hydrogenated butter substitutes (available at health-food or natural-foods stores) which would be less unhealthy than margarine or butter if you’re looking at cutting back on trans fats or cholesterol, but they have the same calorie content as any other fat. I don’t suppose you’d like to substitute apples for the caramel and make it a cobbler, eliminating that bottom crust?
Just a suggestion here, that has nothing to do with calories reduction: if there is barely enough of the crust when making it in a 9x13 pan, why not just make it in an 8.5x11 pan? The middle layer will be a bit thicker, but your crumbs should cover better.
Yes, I saw the low-fat or was it no-fat condensed milk can tonight. I’ll try that and see what it’s like. I don’t have a smaller pan. The 9x13 should work. I just need to take my time when making it I guess. Any less volume on the ‘crust’ would be a problem. I’ll play around with it, my family won’t really care. The worst they can say is they don’t want them next year, but they won’t.
