My friend and fellow blogger Suerae posted a recipe she had for a pumpkin crunch cake. It looked absolutely delicious! Suerae told me it would be a challenge to make it guilt free. Well, I love a good challenge! I came up with this healthier alternative and it’s absolutely delicious! If you’re looking for an alternative to pumpkin pie at the holidays or you want to have a little something to remind you of the holidays without baking a pie, this is a great way to do so without adding any extra pounds.

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GUILT FREE PUMPKIN CRUNCH CAKE - Anthony J. Caruso

INGREDIENTS

Butter flavored cooking spray

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 (12 oz) can fat free evaporated milk

1 1/2 cups sugar substitute with fiber (recommended: Splenda)

3/4 cup egg substitute

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 box sugar free yellow cake mix (recommended: Pillsbury)

3/4 cup light butter spread, melted (recommended: Smart Balance Light)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray a 9×13 pan with butter flavored cooking spray. Combine pumpkin, milk, sugar, eggs and cinnamon in a large bowl and pour into pan. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture. Pour melted butter evenly over cake mix, making sure to cover the mix. Use butter spray to saturate any dry spots. Bake for 60-70 minutes, until cake is cooked and pumpkin mixture is bubbling.

Here’s the skinny:

First, I used fat free evaporated milk to cut out extra fat and calories in the full fat version.

To cut out sugar, I used a sugar substitute with fiber and I also used a sugar free cake mix.

I used egg substitute to get rid of the extra fat and cholesterol that is in regular whole eggs.

Lastly, the recipe calls for a cup of butter. I used a light butter spread, which has 80% less saturated fat than butter, plus I used only 3/4 cup. I used butter spray to soak up the rest of the cake mix, as well as coated the pan with it instead of butter.