Daphne Oz's Apple Pie Yogurt Sundae & other desserts from Oct. 7, 2011's The Chew

 Daphne does Dessert – healthy, easy, what is there to tweak??? Not much, except the recipes Daphne Oz told us were on the website weren’t all there.  The herbed air-popped popcorn one was there, but it said to use “3 oz popcorn kernels, approxately  12 cups”. 

What 3 oz looks like in a 1/2 cup measure

Original Recipe from Website

The spelling of approximately wasn’t the only glaring error – 3 oz of popcorn kernels is just shy of one half cup. I am assuming the techie in charge of the website meant to type “3 oz popcorn kernels, approximately ½ cup”

Daphne had two more desserts, a Banana Bon Bon that was pretty straightforward – sliced bananas drizzled with 75% cacao dark chocolate melted in the microwave until glossy. Leaving it’s recipe off the website isn’t going to keep anyone from making it, but her third yummy treat, her “Apple Pie Yogurt” needs a bit more of a road map.

Since I was finally able to find organic apple cider made from USA apples, I made it for dessert tonight. It took some trial and error as the amounts given on air were hit or miss. 

Here’s my best attempt:

"Apple Pie" Sauce:

• 1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped into big chunks 
• 1 cup organic apple cider from US apples
• ¼ tsp Cinnamon
• Fresh-grated nutmeg – about ½ of the nut
• ¼ tsp fresh grated ginger

Yogurt:

• 1 6 oz carton of lowfat yogurt – I used Tillamook Vanilla Bean because it is absolutely yummy & is from cows never fed artificial hormones like rBST.

Simmer the sauce ingredients together until the apples break down and the cider is mostly absorbed, about 20 minutes on medium heat. Essentially, I made my grandmother’s unsweetened chunky applesauce, which means in a pinch I can buy chunky applesauce, spice it up & use it instead as the “apple pie” part of this sundae. (If you want your sauce to be more like syrup & less like applesauce, add a couple of teaspoons of cornstarch to the cider – it will have that clear, syrupy consistency, the apples will remain intact for the most part, & it’ll take a lot less time).

Let cool a bit, then alternately layer with a low-fat yogurt, then top with some fresh, rough-chopped walnuts.

This dessert was beyond SCRUMPTIOUS!!!! It barely fit into an IKEA beer glass so it was substantial – so substantial that I could only eat half. The rest is in the fridge - & I’m hoping it’s as good cold tomorrow as it was tonight while it was warm. Hey Mario, I might even add psyllium husks for extra crunch.

If you’re anything like me, I have to know the nutritional info for the entire recipe in case the little devil on my shoulder convinces me to eat the whole thing. Happily, the whole recipe comes in @ 416 – which while over ¼ of my daily allotment of 1600 calories, is also a lot less than if I’d eaten what it tastes like - a huge slice of sour cream apple pie – and it’s a drop in the bucket when it comes to comparing fat content - a whopping 23 fewer grams! Since I only ate 1/3, my total calorie count was under 140 for a dessert that felt and tasted truly decadent.

Calorie breakdown by ingredient:

• Apple (27 grams or 4.5 oz of peeled chunks): 60
• Apple Cider – 1 cup Zeigler’s: 120
• Yogurt, 6 oz Tillamook Lowfat Vanilla Bean: 210
• Walnuts: 2 halves, chopped: 26

Total fat: 2 grams from yogurt, 2.6 from walnuts

*switching to a non-fat plain yogurt will drop the calories significantly – though I think I’m gonna stick with it the way I made it, tasting out of control!