Mini Lemon Chess Bites

I know you have all been drooling over the photo, so I figured it was time to share.

I love Paula Deen.  I love her cooking.  I love her accent.  But, my butt can't take her calories.  So what's a girl to do when she gets a hankering for Paula's Lemon Chess Gooey Butter Cake?  Slim it down, of course!  I saw where her son Bobby had done a vanilla flavored one with very little butter, but it needed a bit of doctoring.  So, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that...Voila!  They literally melt in your mouth!

Now how do the calories stack up? Here are the counts for 3 of the mini bites total.  Y'all know you're going to eat more than 3 too, right?

Paula's:  321 kcal, 15.6 g fat, 42 g carbs, 2.6 g protein

Mine:     225 kcal, 7.9 g fat, 35.3 g carbs,  3 g protein

That's 30% fewer calories and HALF the fat!  You could lighten it even further by using reduced fat cream choose as well.  Feel free to give me a call, Mrs. Paula, and have me on your next show!

Lighter Lemon Chess Bites (click to print)

Crust:

1 18 ¼ oz. vanilla cake mix

½ cup buttermilk

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 large egg

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

¼ cup 2% Greek yogurt

zest from 2 lemons (1 T.)

juice from 2 lemons (6 T.)

2 Tablespoons white cornmeal

1 Tablespoon melted butter

2 eggs

2 ½ cups sifted confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F, 325 F for dark pans. Place mini muffin liners in tins and spray liberally with cooking spray. Mix filling ingredients together and put 1 teaspoon in the bottom of each mini muffin cup liner. Press evenly on bottom of cup with fingers or anything smooth and round you can find that fits.

Place the cream cheese and Greek yogurt in a mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs, melted butter, and cornmeal and beat on medium speed till mixed thoroughly. Stop the machine and add the confectioners' sugar. Beat on medium speed until the sugar is well incorporated. Finish filling the liners to ¾ full with filling.

Bake until golden and just set. About 15-17 for lighter pans at 350 F; 14 minutes exactly for dark pans at 325 F.  You could also bake it in a 9x13 pan at 350 for approximately 35-45 minutes.

Yield : 60