Diet Cherry Soda Brownies

Fat and I have a love/hate relationship. I love fatty foods, because who are we kidding, everything tastes better with fat in it. But I hate the judgmental Thanksgiving-day marks my jeans seem to create on my belly after a day of eating all the things. All the THINGS!

To curb the cravings of fat-food and shame I found myself filtering through an unending list of Pinterest Pins where Kelly’s Diet Coke Brownies kept popping up. I heart me some Kelly. Darling is my healthy alter-ego, and in a perfect world I would have summoned all the knowledge, ability and willpower to crave all veggies and healthy all the time and dash these chocolate and carb cravings to the wind, much like she has in the most graceful and sassy of ways.

But I just love my chocolate. So of course, I was drawn to these brownies like a drug sniffing dog on a stash.

Too much? Well, that’s about the best way to put it. And they couldn’t be more simple. Two ingredients, whisk, bake, devour. It doesn’t get easier than that.

Required ingredients – 1 12oz. Diet Coke, or in my case Black Cherry Jones and 1 box Low-Fat Brownies Mix. Done.

The first try of these, with the Sugar Free mix, was an utter disaster. *stares blankly ahead* Sugar-Free brownies in themselves sound like an atrocity against human decency. Sorry to any diabetics out there… But it’s the ultimate of culinary oxymorons.

After cooking them an additional 7 past the required time the bottoms were left with a gelatinous goo on the bottom that didn’t resemble anything known to this world…They weren’t runny or seeminly underdone, just off.

*Confession* : I ate about 1 row of these before I decided it was what could only be described as a miserable failure and had to slide the whole lot into the trash and sulk in this diet baked good sadness… But don’t worry – I tried again.

After my third run to the stores of my own (no this is not an exageration…) I finally FINALLY found a Low-Fat brownie mix at Target. Why that wasn’t my first choice, don’t ask. It’s Target, they have everything… I went home and made these again with much greater success.

So into the large mixing bowl went the one box of brownie mix, and one 12oz bottle/can/vessel of soda. Mix, pour into greased 8×8/9×9/13×9 pan and bake according to package directions plus 5-10 extra minutes for good measure.

And Viola!

On top of the cherry soda brownies, it only seemed appropriate to make a Soda Fountain-esque dessert out of it – complete with whipped cream and a cherry on top.  These brownies were divine. They’re fluffy but not dry, caky but dense and fudgy as soon as they meet your tongue. It was a perfect win. These brownies don’t slice worth a damn, but just spoon a bit out of the pan and devour promptly. PMSy fabulousness.

The cynic in you will be pleasantly surprised. I promise. No more judgmental Thanksgiving tummy marks here!!

Remember: 1) Use Low-Fat brownie mix. 2) Sugar-Free brownies are a crime against baking. That is all.

Print