1 cup all-purpose flour, pre-sifted

1/4 tsp. iodized salt

1/2 tsp. double acting baking powder

1 1/4 cup white granulated sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa powder

3 Tbsp. chocolate cook&serve pudding mix 2 Tbsp. lightly salted butter, softened

2/3 cup smooth sweetened applesauce

1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup light sour cream

4 large egg whites

topping

 4 oz caramel pieces

 2 Tbsp. nonfat caramel topping   

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a small mixing bowl combine flour, salt, and baking powder until uniformly blended. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine sugar, cocoa, pudding mix, and butter until consistently moist. (Note: microwave butter on High for 10 seconds so butter is soft, but not melted.) With a wooden spoon, mix in applesauce, vanilla extract, and sour cream until all ingredients are moist with no lumps.

4. In a small bowl, whip whites with a whisk vigorously for about 20 seconds. Add to cocoa mixture.

5. Add flour mixture to cocoa batter. Mix about 20 strokes.

6. Spray a 8"x8"x2" glass baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and level with a spatula.

7. Bake for 25 minutes on center rack in middle of oven.

8. While baking, unwrap caramel pieces and cut each piece into four smaller pieces. Boil water for double boiler. When 20 minutes (of the initial 25 minutes baking time) passes, add pieces and caramel topping to boiler, keeping flame on low heat. Stir continuously until smoothly melted.

9. Take pan out of oven. With a knife, spread melted caramel on top of hot brownie batter and poke inward, so most of the caramel is not showing.

10. Bake for another 25 minutes (for a total of 50 minutes of baking).

11. Let cool at room temperature in the pan for at least 40 minutes on a cooling rack before cutting.