Recipe Doctor : Light Bliss Bar to enjoy

Dear Recipe Doctor: I would be deeply grateful if you could invent a light version of Starbuck’s Cranberry Bliss Bar. If you can do this, I would be able to make these at home throughout the year.

A. I started out with a light blonde brownie recipe I developed a couple of years back using half whole wheat flour, less sugar, and a less-fat margarine, and topped it with a light lemon frosting made from lemon curd, less-fat margarine and powdered sugar. The dried cranberries and white chocolate chips were stirred into the brownie batter.

Mock Light Cranberry Bliss Bar

If you don’t want to use Sugar Twin’s Brown Sugar to cut the calories from sugar in half, just increase the brown sugar from 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup (to reduce the calories from sugar by 25 percent).

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup unbleached white flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup less-fat margarine with plant sterols added

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup Granulated Brown Sugar Twin (if you want to reduce the calories from sugar – if not, just use 3/4 cup brown sugar and omit the Sugar Twin)

1 large egg

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Lemon Fluffy Frosting:

2 tablespoons lemon curd (from jar)

2 tablespoons less fat margarine (8 grams fat per tablespoon)

2/3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch square baking dish with canola cooking spray.

Add whole-wheat flour, white flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a separate bowl. Whisk together well and set aside.

Melt 1/3 cup less-fat margarine in a small nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar and Brown Sugar Twin, if desired. Cook, stirring constantly for about a minute. Let cool for a few minutes.

Add brown sugar mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add in the egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low speed until well-blended. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until all ingredients are just blended. Fold in white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, until just golden brown around the edges and on top. Let cool.

Meanwhile, add lemon curd, 2 tablespoons margarine and powdered sugar to a small mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until smooth. Spread on cooled cranberry bars and cut into 12 bars.

Yield: 12 bars

Approximate nutrition per serving: 180 calories, 6.5 grams fat (2.1 grams saturated, 32 percent fat calories), 3 grams protein, 29 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram dietary fiber, 23 milligrams cholesterol, 172 milligrams sodium. Weight Watchers Points: 4.