These super light gluten free lemon brownies are made in the Weight Watchers style and have just 3 PointsPlus per generous brownie. Tart and sweet!
One of my favorite recipes from Gluten Free Classic Snacks is one that you might not expect to find in a book packed full of every packaged cookie, cracker, snack cake, breakfast treat and candy you can imagine. It’s the recipe on page 159 for Gluten free “Weight Watchers” Chocolate Brownies. They’re very lightly sweet, with a deep and rich chocolate flavor, and even though I’m not usually one for feeling guilty about what I’m eating (everything in moderation!), I feel particularly good about those brownies. I think it’s mostly that they taste so decadent without being overly sweet. So when I saw Mel’s recipe for “lemonies,” I knew something like these Weight Watchers-Style Gluten Free Lemon Brownies had to happen. Of course, they’re not brown(ie) at all. They’re yellow. Like lemons. And when you slice the recipe into 12 servings, they only have 3 PointsPlus per bar.
Like all good bar recipes they come together very quickly, even with the glaze. These bars are light and very lemony, and like their Classic Snacks cousins, not at all too sweet. You’ll need two lemons for all that juice and zest. Big, juicy lemons are super affordable in my grocery store right now, so that shouldn’t be a problem!
A few thoughts about nutrition calculators, calorie-counting and Weight Watchers PointPlus values:
- PointsPlus Values: As indicated in the recipe instructions below, slicing the recipe into 12 servings instead of 9 lowers the PointPlus value from 4 to 3. If you are on Weight Watchers, that is very important information. But if you’re not on Weight Watchers (I’m not, but I generally like its philosophy), please note that the underlying nutrition information that informs the points value doesn’t change very significantly when you have the slightly larger serving. Just a thought.
- Fat, Sugar and Calories: I personally do not believe that fat is nearly the culprit in maintaining weight and overall health that sugar is. These bars are low in fat and quite low in sugar without being even the least bit dense or gummy. When I make them again for myself and my family (okay for myself), I will try increasing the butter to 6 tablespoons (84 g) and cutting back the sugar in the bars to 1/4 cup (50 g). Both fat and sugar are tenderizers in baking. Just another thought!
- About the glaze: The glaze layer in this recipe is very, very thin. It juuuuust covers the bars, and adds a lovely pop of lemon and of course some more sweetness. If you’d like to leave off the glaze, I recommend increasing the granulated sugar in the bar recipe to 100 grams (1/2 cup) and adding the 2 teaspoons of lemon zest from the glaze to the bar recipe. That will preserve the bright lemon taste of the bars, and provide the right amount of sweetness without altering the Weight Watchers points or nutrition.
- Copycats: Finally, Weight Watchers does not make a packaged lemon brownie, gluten free or not. Just we do. :)
HELLO! I’m Nicole! I make gluten-free food enjoyable & affordable. If they can make it with gluten, we can make it without. That’s a promise!
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Nicole,
I made these this weekend – and they were fabulous! I only had a 9 inch square pan so I reduced the baking time and watched like a hawk. They were thinner but still fabulous. My gluten-eating hubby ate half the batch himself. Another winner from you! Your’e the best!
That’s awesome, Beth! Thanks so much for letting us know. So glad you both loved them!
Nicole, these look delicious!! I have a question…I don’t have dry powdered milk, but I do have reg milk. Is that ok?
I would think using regular (wet) milk would change the texture significantly. Also, the condensed nature does something for the texture as well. (can’t remember what, at the moment)
Thanks Michelle!
Hi Nicole! I have a strange (but probably simple question). We have our own chickens and typically they produce medium size eggs. When your recipes call for 50 g of 1 egg, should I scramble some together until I get the 50 g, or would it not matter as much if it were 45 g? I know gluten free baking is more of a science than a “feel”, so just thought I’d ask! I love everything you do and cook from your books constantly!! Thank you!!
Kelly
Hi, Kelly, It’s not a strange question at all! In fact, the main reason I provide that sort of weight information is for readers like you who are lucky enough to have their own chickens (something I beg my husband for on a regular basis). If it’s only 5 grams off, I wouldn’t worry. But if it’s more than that, I’d scramble and weigh out 50 grams, just as you said. All baking is a science, not just gluten free, so you’re definitely right to ask the question!
Awesome, thank you so much!! And I guess owning chickens is something that happens when you marry a guy from the country! I never thought I’d be a chicken parent haha!
Another winner in our house! Can’t stop baking all your recipes – in miniature of course!
Adorable, Olivia! They look perfect!! Thanks for the photo!
Nicole for us Brits, can you tell us what the equivilent of “all purpose gluten free flour blend” is? Is this self raising or plain? Also what can we use as an alternative for the milk powder? Both my daughter and I cannot take cows milk. Finally (I promise) Cornstarch, is this what we call corn flower – used for thickening soups and what not. Sorry to be a bother just need a bit of translating for us in the UK. As ever the recipe looks delicious.
Thanks
D.
Hi, Arbanax,
For the flour, please see my Gluten Free Flours page for full information. All purpose flour is not self-rising.
I indicate how to substitute for the dry milk in the ingredients list.
Yes, cornstarch is what you call corn flour.
Good luck!
Love that you made these gluten-free, Nicole! They look light and lovely and completely delicious.
I couldn’t help myself, @MelsKitchenCafe:disqus!
Yum! I love me a good lemon bar… these look great! BTW: I am no longer afraid of fat! :) yahoo!
That Whole30 did good things for you, @jennifersasse:disqus! Woohoo!!