***A REVIEW FOR HIGHLY SKEPTICAL PEOPLE AND PEOPLE WITH ~25 CALORIES TO SPARE.***
Note, I try to avoid “high-calorie desserts made into low-calorie (50 cal and less) foods” altogether because of the sugar substitutes (lack of research). I personally believe that it’s better to train your body not to crave “unhealthy” foods in the long term. This is an exception because of the popularity of this recipe, and my recent, unexpected quarantine cravings.
*Scroll to the next asterisk if you just want the brownie review and want to skip the backstory behind my journey to trying this recipe.
I’m gonna be honest. I’ve craved brownies for the last 3 months and ever since u/boo9817’s ridiculous brownie dropped, and I have *shamefully* stalked her Instagram for the past 2-3 weeks, checking her stories to see how other people felt about these brownies. If you’re like me, you would be super wary of these “low calorie” brownies that keep popping up in this subreddit, because there’s no way it would taste as good as a regular brownie. I’ve tried over 10 “under 50 calorie microwave brownie” recipes in the past year and ALL of them have failed. I know there are a lot of good 100 calorie ones out there, but some days you only have 25-50 calories left in your budget.
I was determined though, so I bought oat fiber last week after debating whether I wanted to drop $10 for this 0-calorie flour substitute. I researched for 3 days on which brand was the best, which was the cheapest, and ultimately decided to buy **LifeSource’s oat fiber**. When they arrived, I quickly went to try out the (similarly famous) microwave plain mug cake base from this subreddit. I didn’t have any erythritol because I didn’t want to drop another $7 for Lakanto/Swerve, so I experimented with monkfruit/erythritol packets ($3) from Monkfruit in the Raw, Truvia packets, and Sweetleaf Stevia Drops. I’m terribly sorry Boo, but it was a big fail for me. To be fair, I didn’t use pure erythritol, but you could really taste and feel the gritty texture of the oat fiber. I also tried Boo’s microwave mug brownie on her Instagram (not the magic or ridiculous ones) without erythritol of course, and it was unfortunately just as disappointing.
I thought to myself, “Well, I just wasted $10 on oat fiber,” and gave up in 50-calorie brownies. Today, however, I experienced a tremendous urge for chocolate and I could not stop thinking about the damn ridiculous brownies. If 20+ people have mastered the less-than-50-calorie brownies, I should be able to as well. Now, I avoid buying pure erythritol for 3 reasons:
1. The “*cooling*” effect on the tongue (Monkfruit in the Raw packets are *nasty*)
2. The stomach issues that sugar alcohols cause
3. The stupid $7 price tag
**(Allulose review)** Regardless, I was going to make those brownies. I’ve been reading about allulose for the past month and found that it is basically like erythritol, but without the cooling effect. **It does have calories (.4/gram)**, but only **1/10 of regular table sugar and 70% of the sweetness**. I could deal with 5 or so calories if I can avoid the stomach issues and cooling effect. Thus, I went out today and spent my precious $7 on **Swerve’s allulose,** which I found at a Target that was in a neighboring city 20 minutes away from me. Did I drive there to get allulose just so I could make those ridiculous brownies? You betcha. And you know what happened when I got home? I opened the bag and tasted it… and well, I was conflicted. No, I cannot close my eyes and say that it is exactly like sugar. Thankfully, there’s no cooling effect, but it just… doesn’t have a clean sugar taste. It isn’t as sweet as sugar but I don’t think it’s a big enough of difference that you have to add more to a recipe. I still think it’s a tad better than sugar alcohols, but there’s so little research done that I’d probably only use this in moderation. Is it the closest thing in the market right now to sugar without any potential side effects? Possibly. (It’s also one of the main sweeteners in Nick’s Ice Cream, which is arguably the best “diet” ice cream out there, so I trust it a little more)
**Anyways, on to making the brownies. It’s 10:00 pm and I’m seriously craving some chocolate. I pull out all the ingredients that I bought today and my shabby food scale. Based on my previous experiences with oat fiber, I was scared of making these brownies. My initial plan was to bake it at the appropriate pan size, but I was not about to dump 45 grams of my $7 allulose down the drain. The next best choice was to **cut the original recipe into 1/4 and microwave it**. I tried it with both **oat fiber and regular flour** since I still wanted to believe in the 0-calorie, magical powder. So yes, my review is still flawed since I didn’t follow the recipe 100%, but this is just to help those of you who are cheapskates like me and highly skeptical of anything marketed as “low-calorie”.
The original recipe is linked on Boo’s Instagram and in multiple subreddits, but here is my version:
**DO NOT RECOMMEND REGULAR FLOUR FOR THE MICROWAVE RECIPE. Updated recipe: 22cal**
**Update 2: Tried 1/4 original recipe in OVEN—makes one cupcake. Oat fiber is crumbly/squishy and tastes a bit dry. Would use regular flour instead.**
1. 6g cocoa powder **[11 cal]**
2. 2g vanilla protein powder (I don’t drink protein shakes so I had to borrow my dad’s, and he doesn’t have chocolate. I think the brand is Phase 8, and its 150cal per 42 grams) **[7cal]**
3. ~4g oat fiber or regular flour (3.75g, go to 4g and take out a little) **[0cal / 15cal]**
4. 9g allulose **[4 cal]**
5. Pinch of baking soda and salt (1/10 of a soup spoon? I eyeballed it)
6. 28g Unflavored Sparkling Water / Seltzer (I didn’t use diet coke because I haven’t touched sodas in 5+ years and didn’t want the flavor)
**Updated the recipe since it was a bit too sweet and had a protein powder taste. Still not sure how to fix the texture. Very slight grainy texture due to oat fiber, but does not ruin the overall recipe. Does come out flatter than if you tried regular flour. Do not recommend adding more oat fiber to try to bulk. EVERY GRAM COUNTS!**
Mix dry ingredients, add sparkling water, and toss it in the microwave for 1:45-2:15 minutes (depends on the strength of your microwave) but DONT LET IT OVERFLOW—I took it out 30 seconds in to “cool down” before cooking it again. Total of **22 calories** for oat fiber version.
*Side-by-side comparison*: [**https://ibb.co/p4mqqBJ**](https://ibb.co/p4mqqBJ)
**Oat Fiber (WINNER):** [**https://ibb.co/Xy0cYKb**](https://ibb.co/Xy0cYKb)
Now, I didn’t expect this. After the failed plain mug cake and brownie mug cake (made by the same person who made the ridiculous brownies), I’d nearly given up on oat fiber. I think there’s something magical in the ratio of the dry ingredients in this recipe because there was NOT a hint of grittiness at all. Initially, I had low expectations; the consistency was super liquidy and while it was in the microwave for the first minute, it turned super glossy and nearly overfilled the small bowl multiple times (think of when you microwave oats). I’d check on it frequently because it was hard to determine when this was ready, as it tended to get a little harder after cooling. Also it dries out if you microwave it even 15 seconds too long, so it’s better to undercook it a bit. There are also spark noises while cooking???
*Taste-test:* The texture is pretty smooth and fudgy, like a half-baked brownie. It sticks to my tongue/teeth and is pretty dense–not spongey at all. The **taste is… 90% LIKE BROWNIES.** I don’t know how Boo came up with this, but I gave this to my sister and she didn’t even notice they were “diet” brownies. The only thing it’s missing is the greasiness of regular brownies, but it’s perfect for me since my stomach is sensitive to heavy foods anyways. There was also a faint taste of the protein powder, but overall, I enjoyed it. The **texture is about 80% there**; it doesn’t have the same bite/feel as a regular brownie, but you can experiment with more cocoa powder or less liquid if you’re not fond of the stickiness. It’s a cross between fudge and fresh, homemade mochi. For **25** **calories**, however, this is a winner. Note, If you’re using sweetened protein powder or a sweetened sparkling drink, I would consider **cutting back on the sugar substitute** (although I feel like it could change the texture, I will update you guys tomorrow). Also, my stomach did grumble a bit after, but I’m thinking it’s the seltzer, as I don’t drink carbonated stuff to begin with (no signs of post-bathroom occurrences yet, but do remember that this recipe is 1/4 the original).
**Flour (a disappointment):** [**https://ibb.co/r396Pb1**](https://ibb.co/r396Pb1)
Good thing this one didn’t win because we didn’t want the extra 15 calories anyways lol. This one cooked faster than the oat fiber ones and didn’t overflow (although almost looked like it at one point). Interestingly enough, there wasn’t any spark noises.
*Taste-test:* Now the taste is pretty similar to the oat fiber ones, but the texture just ruined the experience. If you’ve ever experimented with low-calorie mug brownies before, you’ll know what I’m talking about when I say that this has a slightly **gummy** texture. There’s more chew to it than oat fiber, but not the good chewiness that you get in underbaked brownies. I’m talking about the chewing gum kind of chewiness. It was better than the failed oat fiber recipes from before, but I could only have 2 bites before I tossed it.
If you’ve made it to the end, thank you for reading about my experience with oat fiber, allulose, and the ridiculous brownies. I hope you guys do try these (feel free to make 1/4 of the batch if you’re a skeptic like me), because I’m thoroughly impressed. I’ll definitely be making these again with *slight adjustments* (not sure if I want to go through the trouble of baking it), but as someone who prefers whole foods, I don’t think I’ll be eating these every day. **Also, I will consider remaking the plain mug cakes again and any other popular erythritol recipes with *allulose* instead if you guys are interested. **Lastly, I just wanted to say that just because they worked for me, doesn’t mean it’ll work for you. Anything could change depending on the accuracy of food scales, ingredient brands, microwave wattage, substitutions, etc. Keep in mind, I used a microwave instead of an oven, so the results can be completely different. I don’t want to get your hopes up completely, but I think these are one of the best desserts you can get if you have only 25 calories at the end of the day. Nonetheless, I simply wanted to share my experience with these famous, truly *ridiculous* brownies.
TLDR; 1/4 recipe with allulose and sparkling water. Use oat fiber if microwaving. Use regular flour if baking in the oven.
Dining and Cooking