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Shortbread but less fatty

Adding half whole-wheat flour to the Brown Sugar Shortbread recipe bumps up the fiber. (Photo courtesy of the Recipe Doctor / The Spokesman-Review)
Elaine Magee www.recipedoctor.com
Adding half whole-wheat flour to the Brown Sugar Shortbread recipe bumps up the fiber. (Photo courtesy of the Recipe Doctor / The Spokesman-Review)

Dear Recipe Doctor: I noticed this recipe for brown-sugar shortbread on an Internet recipe site. It appealed to me because it sounded easy. But I don’t want to use 2 sticks of butter if I can help it. Suggestions?

A: I’ve got a house full of shortbread cookie lovers, so I jumped on this recipe. I love that you just pat the dough into the pan and that’s pretty much it. This might help all of you Girl Scout cookie people (who are in hog heaven right now) when that last box bites the dust.

Instead of 2 sticks of butter, I used 3/4 cup of a less-fat margarine blended with 1/4 cup of light cream cheese. I cut the calories from sugar in half by using half brown sugar and half calorie-free sweetener. If you don’t want to do this, just use 1 cup of the brown sugar. I’ve had a lot of baking success using half whole-wheat flour and half white flour, and this shortbread was no exception. The whole-wheat flour adds fiber and phytochemicals, and the shortbread might be more filling too.

Original recipe contains 283 calories, 15.5 grams fat, 9.5 grams saturated fat and only .5 grams fiber per serving (not including chocolate).

Brown Sugar Shortbread

3/4 cup less fat margarine (with 8 grams fat per tablespoon)

1/4 cup light cream cheese

1/2 cup dark or golden brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup Splenda or Sugar Twin (granulated brown)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached white flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Chocolate dip (optional):

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon canola oil

Preheat oven to 325 dgrees. Coat a 9-inch nonstick cake pan or springform pan with canola cooking spray.

Add margarine and cream cheese to large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add brown sugar and Splenda or Sugar Twin and beat until blended. Add flours and salt to mixing bowl and beat on low speed just until blended (do not overmix).

Press dough into prepared pan. Combine the tablespoon of sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the cinnamon mixture over the shortbread in pan. Cut into 12 wedges (cut through the dough but the wedges stay in the pan).

Bake until shortbread is lightly brown on the edges and slightly soft in the center (about 50 minutes). Cool shortbread in pan on a rack. Re-cut the cookies into wedges if needed. To make the chocolate dip, add semisweet chocolate chips and canola oil to a 1-cup glass measure and heat in microwave on 50 percent power for 1 minute or until chocolate is smooth and melted when you stir. Dip the rounded edge of each shortbread wedge into the chocolate. Use the edge of a fork or knife to smooth the end, and let any excess chocolate fall back into the measuring cup. Decorate the chocolate with sprinkles if desired.

Yield: 12 shortbread wedges

Per serving (not including chocolate): 180 calories, 8 grams fat (1.8 grams saturated, 40 percent fat calories), 3 grams protein, 25 grams carbohydrate, 3 milligrams cholesterol, 1.5 grams dietary fiber, 206 milligrams sodium.

Weight Watchers Points: 4

Per serving, the chocolate adds: 37 calories, 2.4 grams fat (1.3 grams saturated), .3 grams protein, 4.5 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, .4 grams fiber, .8 milligrams sodium.