Chocolate Brownie Cakes

The past couple weeks have been very chaotic and so a baking/blogging break was needed as I try and get into a rhythm of working two jobs, keeping up with hobbies and maintaining some form of a social life. I've also been trying to find recipes that aren't super indulgent but are a little on the healthier side. I saw this recipe for Whole Wheat Brownies on Martha Stewart's Pinterest boards a few weeks ago and decided to give it a go. Given that there is still a decent amount of butter and sugar in these, they are in no way a healthy snack. However, compared to the brownie recipes I've tried before, there are fewer eggs, and less butter and sugar overall - I will definitely use the reasoning "but they have whole wheat flour!" to deem them slightly nutritious. All this being said, they are not your typical dense, fudgey brownie, and lean a little towards the cakey side, while still give you that much needed chocolate fix!

Ingredients 

3/4 stick salted butter (6 tbsp)

1/2 cup white flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 egg

8 ounces semisweet chocolate

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease a 9-inch square pan and line it with parchment paper. In a bowl mix together the flours, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda. In a second bowl combine the sugar, applesauce and egg. Melt together 6 ounces of chocolate and the butter (either in the microwave or using a double-boiler). Combine the chocolate with the sugar mixture. Gradually add in the flour mixture. Pour into the pan and sprinkle the remaining 2 ounces of chocolate on top - I actually used some milk chocolate chips instead. Bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

These are perfect with a glass of milk and could be made even better with some peanut butter chips or walnuts sprinkled in!