HUGE 40 Calorie Brownies w/photo...

If the calculation is wrong and is actually 75 cal. for a less than 3" square.....hmmm?

Not sure what you are referring to, but if it is the sucralose (Splenda) sweetener, it doesn't count. Your body does not recognize it as fuel, therefore it does not metabolize it. (That's how it works.)




Read "How many calories does sucralose have?"

Other than that, when the recipe is entered into MFP it also does not count the sucralose calories and should read 37 calories, as written. That would be an 8"X8" pan cut like this #. If you look through the posts one person wanted EXACT dimensions and I posted them. :laugh:

Was just looking into this. Actually, granulated splenda is 2 calories/tsp, or ~100 calories per cup. FDA regulations allow things <5 calories per serving to be labeled as 0 calories, but the maltodextrin used as a bulking agent is a carbohydrate, and has 4 calories/gram like any other carbohydrate. That adds roughly 10 calories per serving, assuming you weren't already counting that, and ~2.5g of carbs. Still awesome, and I am going to make these for the first time this evening.

Edit: Entered all the calorie-containing ingredients, and added 24g of maltodextrin to account for the splenda (0.5g/tsp), and came out to roughly 40 calories, so that appears to be correct.

Included:
24g maltodextrin
3/4 cup liquid egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz unsweetened applesauce (50 calories)
8 tbsp cocoa powder (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup all purpose flour

Note: the automatic calculations seem off here, so I did these manually:
totals: 84g carbs, 4g fat, 31g protein = 496 calories /9 = 55 calories per serving
496-(19*4)= 420 calories / 9 = ~47 calories per serving (if you subtract out fiber)

Automatic calculations are significantly different from either, which makes me wonder about my other recipes. Hmm.

OTOH, if you subtract out fiber and take into account the TEF of protein then the numbers are pretty close, but is the app that smart? SO CONFUSED

I'm not sure you would subtract calories for the fiber. As far as I know, the only diet plan that does not count the fiber is for carbs. Low carb diets don't count fiber as carbs, but fiber certainly has calories.

I guess if a person is so concerned about each calorie, they shouldn't eat anything made with a recipe. No measuring is 100% accurate. Very few product brands have the same calorie count for the same product for which both would be acceptable in a recipe. I'm sure each artificial sweetener has a calorie or two difference. I have eaten these brownies several times and have not exploded with pounds of unexplained bodily fat. But, if anyone thinks that's whats going to happen, DON'T EAT THEM. When I have doubts about ANY recipe I see here on MFP, I just don't make it. Of course if one is just trying to prove someone wrong, a person could do that with just about any recipe, statement, opinion, etc a person posts. And that's what usually happens. Okay, I'm off to the store to buy cocoa powder, bye.

Wasn't trying to be critical... I think they're great, I am just OCD about everything. IMO you are a genius for coming up with this recipe. Whether they are 40 calories or 55 calories each (and they ARE huge servings), that is still crazy for a tasty brownie. I could literally eat an entire pan of these on a workout day and not even make a dent in my diet (and that's partially why it matters to me, because I think an average serving for me will be like 1/3 a pan ~~~)