The holidays are upon us again. I may be in the minority, but I hate the holidays. Too much stress. Buying presents is a pain. There’s no real joy in buying presents for kids who will love the gift for about 30 second before they move on to something else. I would rather see the gift of charity to others. Looking forward to January.

Another thing I am worried about is my blood pressure. At my last doctor visit, it was high. It doesn’t make sense. I eat healthy and exercise. I’m even on medication that makes it harder to absorb sodium. My resting heart rate is 56. I don’t get it. So, I am taking my blood pressure a few times a day to check if it’s an anomaly. It just sucks because I am losing weight and doing all of the right things.

Not to get too negative, I do find joy in making holiday treats. With a healthy twist of course. I am starting off with a recipe for Gingerbread Brownies from I am Baker. Looking at this recipe there isn’t a whole lot to change. Cutting the carbs a bit will be easy. I am looking forward to eating some gingerbread. I love the stuff.

Here are the original stats:

Here’s what I changed:

• I replaced the butter with unsweetened applesauce to reduce the calories and saturated fat.
• I replaced the all purpose flour with almond and coconut flours to reduce the carbs.
• I replaced the sugar with their sweetener equivalents to reduce the carbs.

Here are the final stats:

Here is the final recipe:

Gingerbread Brownies

Makes 12 Brownies

• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 ½ cups light brown sweetener, packed
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• confectioners’ sweetener, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×9-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine applesauce and brown sweetener. Stir well.
3. Mix in eggs, molasses, and vanilla.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
5. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the applesauce and egg mixture until completely combined.
6. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the edges are set and the center is no longer jiggly. If you are using a 9×13-inch pan, bake for 25-30 minutes.
7. Allow to cool completely before sprinkling with confectioners’ sugar. Cut and serve!