Weight Watcher's Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars

Well, it's that time of year again. The start of birthday season for my family. Mom's is this month (in 2 days actually! Happy Birthday Mom!), my brother's is in April, and my dad's is in May. So begins that time of year when I get to bake lots of cookies, and ship them off to Oregon.

My mom is a life-long Weight Watcher's kind of girl, so I searched high and low for a Weight Watcher's recipe that would be low cal but still delicious. It may be January, but I like to throw convention to the wind. Who cares if you are only supposed to make pumpkin items in the fall? I say, do it in the winter! Another point I might make is that we were homeless in the fall, and I had nowhere to make tons of pumpkin treats. One could say I'm just making up for that special time of year I lost.

Anyhoo, I'm loving these pumpkin bars. Not that I've ate that many, I mean I am shipping them off to Oregon (sorry Mom!). There isn't a ton of sugar in them, but you don't miss it. There is just enough to sweeten the pumpkin. They are also surprisingly moist, and chocolate-y for the amount of chocolate that's in them. The best part is they are only 84 calories in a bar, and 2 points! Low cal and low guilt :)

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten
(1) 15 oz- can of pumpkin
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 tbsp mini-chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 15-by-11 inch pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours through salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs through vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
4. Pour flour mixture into egg mixture. Mix until just combined. Fold in regular chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into the prepared pan evenly. Sprinkle mini-chocolate chips over the top.
6. Bake in oven for 23-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely in pan before cutting into bars.

Recipe adapted from Heart Healthy Online