i’ve posted a few days ago on some questions i had for boos brownies - i’ve finally tried it but halved the 8x8 recipe. here’s what i did:

30g plain flour 32g cocoa powder (used nestle toll house) 20g pb2 (was going for 18 but accidentally tipped in a little extra whoops) 66g ethyritol 165g sparkling water 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

I’d say it turned out pretty bleh in flavour - I don’t think it was sweet enough. it just tastes like really pure chocolate (i’m assuming from cocoa powder). after few mins after i took it out of the oven the top started blotching (see pics 3-4). the texture is really weird to describe - it would stick to my hands (so felt wet) but at the same time it was heavy / dense but airy. idk if the “airiness” came from the carbonated water. i’m really bad at describing textured but when i tasted it it didn’t taste like fudgy brownies or cakey. the closest thing i can put a resemblance on it would be something like a soggy wet kitchen sponge (sorry that’s a terrible analogy) - ok like it wasn’t disastrous. it was edible but far from what i’d want to get to by the time i bake this for other people. as this was just a test batch i didn’t put in any choc chips / other fancy stuff but i’d imagine they’d help a bit with taste. i also plan on using soy protein powder ultimately but have very limited at home so didn’t want to waste any on my test batch.

would there be anything you guys could suggest me to improve on? i don’t mind upping the calories slightly if some swaps / additional things need to be done, eg more flour or other substitutes, milk, yoghurt. egg, applesauce etc. these are just some common stuff i’ve seen in other recipes but please feel free to suggest more or others! thanks so much

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    parent

  • Use Diet Coke, Pepsi, ginger ale adds sweetness

    parent

  • The "blooming" on top is probably from the ethyritol, I have that happen when I use monk fruit. It doesn't affect the flavor or anything. 

    I don't remember pb2 in the original recipe, did you add that? It might have made the cake more dense.

    parent

    the original one called for whey but because I’m trying to make a lactose free version i’m thinking of using soy protein (but i have very little at home so used pb2 instead for now. thanks so much for the reply btw!

    parent root

    The thing is also Boo's brownies are good, but they're still definitely diet brownies. I personally think they taste better fresh out of the oven, and they do scratch that itch, but they aren't rich like regular brownies. I also like some cool whip on top, but then I end up just adding back a bunch of calories if I'm not careful, lol! Good luck with your experiments!

    parent root

    yeah fair enough! thanks so much! my original post was kinda long so i won’t make you read it haha but im basically testing this for a friends birthday! my friend gyms a lot so thought id make protein / diet brownies as a surprise. i guess im still coming from a low cal / high protein pov but also want to strike a balance between that and taste. if im adding in protein powder do you think i should reduce other dry ingredients? i’m not that much of an expert at all when it comes to baking so i never know what the functions of eg flour / butter / milk / egg are. ik the whole point is these higher cal ingredients get substituted out but was just wondering which / any of these i should maybe try adding in a little to improve it haha but thanks anyway for helping!!

    parent root

    I'm not even close to a baking expert, so I don't have any further advice, though chocolate chips will definitely improve the flavor with not necessarily a ton of calories. I'm sure your friend will appreciate your thoughtfulness!

    parent root

    I don’t think this recipe functions without lactose

    parent root
  • parent

    Man that looks so legit. Do you use flour fully, or cut it with anything like oat fiber?

    parent root

    Plain flour :) the entire 8x8 tray was only 395 calories

    parent root

    Could you drop your recipe for this? seems there are so many variations

    parent root

    I just follow the original recipe. But here it is:

    • 42g cocoa powder
    • 28g chocolate whey protein concentrate
    • 40g flour
    • 80g brown sugar sweetener
    • 1 tsp baking powder
    • pinch of baking soda and salt
    • 180ml sparkling water

    Make sure you don’t over mix. Gently fold in the sparkling water until just combined. Then quickly chuck it in the oven.

    I bake for 23-25 mins 160c fan forced. Remove from oven and let sit in tray for 5 mins.

    parent root

    Much appreciated!!!

    parent root