The change of seasons is something we could never live without. Fall is a family favorite around Kevin’s Healthy Kitchen. Before our weight loss we were decidedly more sedentary. After we started losing weight we found all kinds of fun ways to get our exercise in; like going apple picking! We visited a farm this year and picked apples from an orchard. It was a ball! The only problem? You need about a dozen apple recipes the minute you return. Kevin came up with a great apple cinnamon pinwheel recipe that is of course both low-fat healthy and delicious!
We used to make these with all the traditional flour, butter and sugar. The trick (or treat!) to making these healthier, is using reduced fat crescent roll dough and swapping out the butter and sugar for margarine and Stevia.
With just those simple swaps, we saved 316 calories, 16 grams of fat and 8 grams of saturated fat!
We chose to focus on the apples instead of the dough in this recipe and used a Honey Crisp variety; they’re a little more expensive but well worth it when you taste these pinwheels! Kevin made these in the morning so we had them with a cup of coffee, but you could certainly serve them as a tasty dessert too. These are so good and light you can even have 2!
2 tbsp Cinnamon, divided
1 tsp ground Ginger, divided
1 tsp Nutmeg, divided
1 tsp Allspice, divided
2 tbsp Stevia divided
2 Apples peeled and thinly sliced
2 tbsp Vanilla extract, divided
2 tbsp Lime juice, divided
2 1/2 tbsp light Margarine
1 container Reduced Fat Crescent Roll dough (such as Pillsbury)
Light Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix half of all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. Peel 2 apples and slice them thin. Place the apples in a large bowl and add 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of the lime juice to the mixture and stir. In a large skillet melt the low-fat margarine. Stir in the apple mixture and sauté over medium heat for 10 minutes or until they become soft. Place the apple mixture and the remaining vanilla and lime juice in a food processor and blend until it becomes a spreadable consistency.
Kevin’s tip: “I use a hand mixer (sometimes called a boat motor), because it’s fast and easy to clean up. Great tool for this recipe if you have one.”
On a clean counter top or cutting board, spread the remaining spice mixture out in a rectangular shape (so it matches the shape of the dough). Unroll the crescent roll dough and place it on top of the spices. Using a spoon spread the apple mixture evenly across the surface of the dough. Starting at the bottom, roll the dough into a cylinder. Using a serrated knife cut the dough in one inch sections. On a lightly sprayed cookie sheet, place the dough cut side down and bake 15 to 18 minutes. Best served warm with a cup of coffee or glass of milk!
Yields: 12 pinwheels
Serving Size: 2 pinwheels
Calories 104g | Fat 4g | Saturated Fat 1g | Carbs 11g | Fiber 3g | Sugar 7g | Protein 1g