Clean Eating Apple Cake (OAMC)

Makes 20 servings, 1 square each
I have this amazing (and hysterical) friend, Mandy, and she makes a totally awesome apple cake. And I don’t just think it’s awesome because she baked it and delivered it to my door so that I woke up to fresh delicious apple cake (don’t you wish you had a Mandy?!). Everyone else thinks it’s awesome too. In fact, I’ll admit that I hid while I was eating it and didn’t share any with my kids. Don’t judge, you know you’ve done that too (like maybe when you were eating THESE). Since this cake was so delicious, I asked Mandy if she would mind me trying to clean it up and she of course said yes. However, if I was going to pick something that was worth eating white flour and white sugar for, it would be Mandy’s original recipe :)

How I “healthified” it:

• The originally recipe used white flour. I know Mandy used King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat instead and so did I. But you could also use whole wheat pastry flour.
• The original recipe used 1 ½ cups of white sugar. I used 1 cup of sucanat and ½ a cup of honey.
• The original recipe called for 2 eggs. I substituted 3 egg whites.
• The original recipe used 1 cup of chopped nuts. I reduced it to ½ cup and used sliced almonds. Then I substituted ½ of the vanilla extract with almond extract for a little extra almond flavor.
• Mandy’s version is topped with a caramel sauce which, although completely heavenly, is not exactly clean. I came up with two different drizzles for you to try instead (although I won’t tell anyone if you use Mandy’s caramel one, hehehe).
• The results - A decrease in calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, and sugars

Ingredients:
Cake -

• 4 medium apples, chopped into small pieces
• 1 cup sucanat
• ½ cup honey
• 3 egg whites
• ¼ cup of olive oil
• ¾ cup of applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I used King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ cup sliced almonds

Cream Cheese Agave Drizzle -

• ½ cup low-fat plain cream cheese
• 2 tbsp light agave nectar
• 1 lemon, finely zested and juiced, divided

OR

Peanut Butter Drizzle -

• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/3 cup agave nectar
• ½ cup milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp plain greek yogurt

CAKE - 
ONE: In a large bowl, stir together the apples, sucanat, honey, egg whites, oil, applesauce, and extracts. In a separate large bowl, blend together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nuts.

TWO: Pour the liquid-apple mixture into the flour-salt dry mixture. Blend well with your spoon until ingredients no longer have any dry spots. The dough will be thick.

THREE: Preheat the oven to 350. Generously spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

FOUR: Remove from the oven and assemble your chosen drizzle (or eat as is!)

AGAVE CREAM CHEESE DRIZZLE -
ONE: In a small bowl, heat cream cheese on high in microwave until slightly warm, about 10 to 15 seconds.

TWO: Remove from microwave and use a rubber spatula to stir agave into cream cheese until smooth.

THREE: Add a pinch of lemon zest and 2 tsp lemon juice and continue to stir. Slowly add 2 Tbsp water, a bit at a time, until mixture is consistency of thick cream.

OR

PEANUT BUTTER DRIZZLE -
Whisk together all the ingredients until the mixture is smooth and lump free. Add a Tbsp or so more of milk if it seems too thick.

Freeze leftovers in individual servings using the flash freeze method to feed your freezer stash.

NUTRITION INFO:

Original Recipe Per serving - 250 Calories (95 Calories from Fat), 11g Fat, 4g Saturated Fat, 34mg Cholesterol, 226mg Sodium, 37g Total Carbohydrates, 1g Dietary Fiber, 30g Sugars, 3g Protein, 4% DV Vitamin A, 5% DV Vitamin C, 3% DV Calcium, 4% DV Iron

“Healthified” Recipe Per serving (plain cake) - 154 Calories (36 Calories from Fat), 4g Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 0mg Cholesterol, 162mg Sodium, 28g Total Carbohydrates, 2g Dietary Fiber, 11g Sugars, 3g Protein, 2% DV Vitamin A, 5% DV Vitamin C, 2% DV Calcium, 5% DV Iron

Per serving (with agave cream cheese drizzle) - 172 Calories (44 Calories from Fat), 5g Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 3mg Cholesterol, 190mg Sodium, 30g Total Carbohydrates, 2g Dietary Fiber, 13g Sugars, 3g Protein, 3% DV Vitamin A, 5% DV Vitamin C, 3% DV Calcium, 5% DV Iron

Per serving (with peanut butter drizzle) - 200 Calories (55 Calories from Fat),64g Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 0mg Cholesterol, 167mg Sodium, 34g Total Carbohydrates, 3g Dietary Fiber, 16g Sugars, 4g Protein, 2% DV Vitamin A, 6% DV Vitamin C, 4% DV Calcium, 6% DV Iron
:)