Restricted diet? You can still enjoy Congo Squares

Dear Jeanne: We enjoy your healthy-eating column. The recipe I am sending is terrific, but due to health problems, my diet is restricted. I am hoping you will be able to revise these yummy Congo Squares for me and my husband. Thank you!

— Ann Marie James, Florida

Dear Ann Marie: These are very good. Baking them in a pan rather than as traditional chocolate-chip cookies keeps them very moist. I took out 2/3 of the butter and replaced it with buttermilk. I took out a little sugar, but not much, because of the tangy buttermilk. Since the nuts are optional, you should know that the nuts in the original recipe add 2 grams of fat and 25 calories. The 1/3 cup in the revised recipe adds 8 calories and 1 gram fat. I hope you like my revision.

CONGO SQUARES

2 3/4 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks butter

1 pound dark-brown sugar

3 eggs

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup nuts (optional)

Mix dry ingredients together. Melt butter over low heat in pan; add brown sugar. After it cools, add the eggs, one at a time, and mix by hand. Mix in dry ingredients; add chocolate chips and nuts. Grease an 11-by-17-inch cookie sheet and spread in pan. Bake at 350 F, approximately 20-25 minutes.

Makes 35 squares.

REDUCED-FAT CONGO SQUARES

1/3 cup butter, melted

2 cups dark-brown sugar

2 eggs

1 egg white

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1/3 cup nuts (optional)