No Bake No Fuss Mini Brownie Strawberry Sundaes- Recipe ReDux Post # 2

When I was a child I used to adore the strawberry sundaes at McDonald’s, loving the combo of the soft creamy vanilla ice cream with the gooey sweet strawberry topping.  Using a high quality light vanilla ice cream with heated natural (lower sugar) preserves in a petite portion, really creates the same flavor without a ton of fat and sugar.  To take it up a notch try it on top of this no-bake rich chocolaty brownie bar recipe that I just created and that is one delicious and reasonably healthy mini sundae!  Just a tad bit over 100 calories- WOW….

Ingredients:

For the Brownie

½ cup creamy or crunchy unsalted natural almond butter (I used Trader Joes Raw Unsalted Crunchy)
¼ cup pure maple syrup

½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 tablespoons cocoa powder

3/4 cup oats (old fashioned, not quick)(*use a gluten-free oats such as Bob's Red Mill if you are on a gluten-free diet)
¼ cup chocolate chips, measured, then finely chopped

Wax or parchment paper

For the Toppings

1 cup reduced sugar/natural strawberry preserves (I used Welch’s Natural)

1 cup light vanilla ice cream (I used Breyer’s Natural)

chopped almonds (optional, for garnish)

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, combine the maple syrup, cocoa, vanilla and almond butter and mix well.  Stir in the oats and chocolate chips and mix some more. Press mixture into an 8 by 8 inch pan. (Lining the pan with a large rectangular piece of wax/ parchment paper, placing the mixture on one side and then folding the paper over to press down works nicely since the dough is a bit sticky.) Chill in the fridge for an hour or more (if you can wait that long!) or in the freezer for 10-15 minutes and cut into 16 squares.  Heat the strawberry preserves in microwave (about 10-15 seconds per tablespoon). Top each brownie with 1 tablespoon ice cream and 1 tablespoon strawberry preserves and garnish with additional chopped almonds. Wrapping any leftover individual brownie squares in wax paper and storing in baggies in the freezer or fridge is great for convenience.  

Makes 16 mini sundaes

Serving size: 1/8th of recipe  Calories 130 Protein 3 g Carb 17 g Fiber 1 g Sugars 12 g Fat 6 g Saturated fat 1 g Sodium 5 mg