There are several competing theories about the origin of brownies (some involving tales of cooks too proud to admit they accidentally omitted the baking powder from their chocolate cake recipes). Brownies received a mention in the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalog, and rose to popularity in the 1920s. Typical brownie recipes might include as much as a stick of butter, but ours contains half that. And while many brownie recipes are chock-full of chocolate, ours gets its rich, chocolaty flavor from lower-fat cocoa powder. The lightened version is rich, chewy, and fudgy, but gets only 30 percent of its calories from fat.

Before | After

Calories per serving
145 | 121

Fat
8.4g | 4.1g

Percent of total calories
52% | 30%