Tasty Tuesday: Diet Coke Brownies

I've given up baking for the last couple of months.  Baking is one of the hobbies, though, that I really do enjoy.  I've missed it, but in an attempt to keep my diet on track, I've fought temptations and found other ways to fill my time.
But last week, I discovered a box of Ghiradelli brownie mix just hanging out in my pantry.  My diet was winding down anyways.  Plus, it was a cold, miserable day and we were just hanging out at home for a few hours.But I still didn't want to go completely crazy! And then I had an epiphany.  I honestly don't know if I had seen it somewhere before (likely Pinterest if I had!) or if I just had a hunch because I had done diet soda cupcakes before, but either way, I figured I could just combine a can of Diet Coke with a box of brownie mix and have a healthier (-er being the key part of that considering the "double chocolate" of the brownie mix wiped out any chance of healthy in these) version of brownies.

Well, I did, and after baking them for 50 minutes, they were completely amazing and delicious! Really, I liked them as much as real brownies.  Well, maybe that's not entirely true.  I liked the bottom 2/3 as much as real brownies. They were a bit undercooked and fudgy, and oh so yummy.  The top 1/3 was good too, but definitely more cake-like and not as decadent.  

Considering I proceeded to eat about half the pan (but only the bottoms of each!), it's a good thing these were the healthier version! Oh, and if you want to go even "healthier," you could always use the low-fat brownie mix...I just didn't have that in my pantry!