Low Fat Lemon Berry Cream Shortcake Recipe for Valentine's Day

Romantic Valentine's Day dinners offer many the first real opporutunity to blow every weight loss themed New Year's Resolution set this year!  While that six-layer chocolate cake--or a triple layered cheesecake  of some sort are frequently offered for dessert at the end of many Valentine's Day dinners, those Valentine's Day desserts need not be the downfall of your New Year's resolutions.  It's time to make a few diet friendly swaps in the Valentine's Day dessert menu!  This yummy Mini Lemon Berry Cream Shortcake is sweet and creamy--and lowfat!

Ingredients for Mini Lemon Berry Cream Shortcake with Blackberry Chocolate Sauce

Shortcake Ingredients:
1 1/4 c. Whole Wheat Flour
1 c. All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
3/4 cup low fat buttermilk

Lemon Berry Cream Filling Ingredients:
3 containers Yoplait Light Lemon Meringue Pie Yogurt
1 1/2 c. Fresh Blackberries

Blackberry Chocolate Sauce Ingredients
1/2 c. coarsely chopped Fresh Blackberries
1 tsp. Sugar
1/4 c. Water
2 Tbsp. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Low Fat Whipped Topping (Optional)

Instructions for Mini Lemon Berry Cream Shortcake with Blackberry Chocolate Sauce
Make Lemon Berry filling.  Place yogurt into a mixing bowl. Gently fold in blackberries until combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready to assemble shortcakes.

Preheat oven and prepare baking sheet.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Make the shortcake dough.  Combine dry ingredients into a bowl.  Add butter and cut in with a fork or pastry blender until mixture is the texture of cornmeal. Add buttermilk and form dough into a sticky ball.

Cut dough into rounds or shapes as desired.  Flour a work table lightly and turn dough onto the floured space. Knead shortcake dough 4-5 times and roll with a floured rolling pin. Dough should be rolled to a ½ -3/4 inch thickness. Cut out round of shortcake dough with a 3” biscuit cutter or a rounded glass of that diameter.  For Valentine's Day, we use a 3 inch heart shaped cookie cutter.

Bake the shortcakes and cool.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the shortcake dough rounds at least 1” apart on the baking sheet. Bake shortcake rounds for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove from pan and place on cooling rack.

Make blackberry chocolate sauce.  Add berries, sugar, and water to a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil and cook over low heat until berries are broken down--about 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat, add chocolate morsels and stir until chocolate is melted.  Set aside.

Assemble shortcakes. Once the shortcakes are cooled, split or slice each shortcake in half horizontally. Place the bottom layer on a serving plate, spoon a layer of lemon berry cream filling, top with the top half of the shortcake layer. Drizzle with a spoonful of blackberry chocolate sauce.  Add a dollop of low fat whipped cream if desired—or simply dust with confectioners sugar and serve.

Disclosure:  I am a Yoplait Light Swap Team Member.  I received a complimentary shipment of Yoplait Light Lemon Cream Pie Yogurt and a $25 gift card for use in creating this month's swap friendly recipe (s).  To learn more about swapping with Yoplait Light and to discover some tasty recipes and snack swap ideas--check out the Yoplait Light Facebook Page.