Fruit pizza (healthified)

Review by Lyndee

Ingredients:

Sugar cookie roll

8 oz light cream cheese (softened)

8 oz Fat free cool whip

Various fruits, washed and sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Press cookie dough into pizza pan.  This is easiest if it’s been out of the fridge for a few minutes.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  While baking, beat together whipped cream and cream cheese until smooth.  Let cookie cool for at least 10 minutes when it comes out of the oven.  Once cool, spread your cool whip/cream cheese over the cookie.  Top with any fruit of your choice. I used blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and kiwi.  Let chill in the fridge until ready to serve. 

This was super easy to make and tasted delicious! We took it to our friends Memorial Day barbeque and it was a super hit with kids and adults, alike.  No one could tell I had used reduced fat ingredients! A great dessert for summertime.  

M&M Sugar Cookies (healthified)

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling (I used splenda)

2 oz cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces (I used reduced fat)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and still warm

1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 large egg, at room temperature (I used egg beaters)

1 tablespoon milk (I used coconut milk)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-1 1/4 cups M&M's

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.  Combine 1 1/2 cups of sugar and cream cheese in a large bowl (no need to stir them together yet). Put the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a pie plate and set aside. Pour the warm butter over the cream cheese mixture and whisk to combine - the mixture won't be completely smooth yet, that's fine. Whisk in the oil then the egg, milk and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.

Use a rubber spatula to start folding the dry ingredients into the wet. When the dry ingredients are partially incorporated, add 3/4 cup of the M&M's to the dough. Continue mixing until a soft dough comes together. (Don't wait to add the M&M's until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated - you'll end up overmixing.) Refrigerate 2-3 hours.

Portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets with a cookie scoop, using about 2 tablespoons for each cookie. Working quickly (if you handle the dough too much you're more likely to wind up with flat cookies), roll the dough into a ball with your hands then roll in the sugar set aside in the pie plate previously. Repeat until you've used all of the dough, placing 12 cookies on each baking sheet.

Use the bottom of a glass to flatten the dough balls into discs that are about 2 inches in diameter. Gently press 3 more M&M's into the top of each cookie. NOTE: Your M&Ms on top will crack from the heat while baking so I wait to put the M&Ms on top of the cookie until right after they come out of the oven. Just press however many you want on top right when they come out and they won't crack!

Bake the cookies, 1 tray at a time, for about 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are set (do not wait until the edges or brown or the cookies will be overdone….you want these to be a soft chewy cookie).  Remove from oven and press the M&Ms on top if you haven't already put them on top. The tops of the cookies will be puffy and slightly cracked. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes then transfer them to the rack to cool completely.  Makes about 24 cookies.

My husband and I thought these turned out really well. And you can’t tell that I made some modifications to save on fat and calories.  I made this smaller than instructed so that we got 36 cookies and also, a bit better for portion control.  

Cucumber Onion Dip

Review by Rachael:

Prep/Total Time: 15 minutes

1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened (could use reduced or fat free)

½ cup finely chopped seeded, peeled cucumber

¼ cup finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons Mayonnaise (I used fat free Miracle Whip)

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Rye chips, crackers or baked chips

In a small mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, cucumber onion, mayonnaise, salt & pepper; beat until blended. Refrigerate until serving. Serve with Rye chips, crackers or baked chips. Yield: 1 ½ cups.

I was looking for a new dip to make & share at our crafting at the cabin day. This sounded so light & “summery” to me! Since I am really looking forward to warm weather this sounded like something I had to try. Very easy to make, just mix everything together. At first I didn’t think it had much flavor, but the longer it sat in the fridge the better the flavors got. I really liked this dip & will make it again. Had a great flavor & I love that I can make it ahead of time! I did make a double batch because a single batch just didn’t seem like enough for a crowd. I took both club crackers & Italian Herb Flatbread crackers. I liked the club crackers with it but really loved the Flatbread crackers with this dip. If you are looking for something very easy to take – I recommend this dip!