Gooey Jalapeno Poppers

Months ago, I pulled this "makeover" recipe out of my March edition of Shape Magazine. The recipe is from Rocco DiSpirito's book Now Eat This! America's Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories. As I've said before, this tends to happen quite a bit and I have piles of torn out pages stuffed in binders, which I tend to forget about.

The Husband & I love jalapenos, but I usually make them this way.  We were having friends over for dinner and I wanted to do jalapenos of some sort, and I remembered that I had a healthy version of jalapeno poppers laying around somewhere. Some digging later, I found it.

Though time consuming (for me anyways), everyone really enjoyed these.  They were pretty crunchy and the insides were creamy, despite the fact these were the low cal/low fat take on the deep fried ones.

Hubby said he would've preferred them a little spicier, but I think the fact that these were pretty mild jalapenos (you never know what you are going to get!) is the reason for that. Depending on the heat of the jalapenos next time, I might add a bit of cayenne or chipotle pepper to the cheese filling before stuffing the jalapenos.

Also, I was unable to find whole wheat panko like the recipe calls for, so I just used regular panko.

Gooey Jalapeno Poppers

6 jalapenos, halved, seeds and ribs removed
1/2 cup shredded 75% reduced-fat cheddar, such as Cabot
1/4 cup reduced-fat whipped cream cheese, such as Weight Watchers
4 scallions, finely chopped, divided
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat panko bread crumbs
4 large egg whites Salt and freshly ground black pepper Cooking spray
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream, such as Breakstone's

Preheat broiler on high. Place a wire baking rack on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place jalapenos on wire rack; broil for about 2 minutes or until they start to char. Cool completely. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix cheddar, cream cheese, and half the scallions. Using a teaspoon, fill each pepper half with the cheese mixture, packing tightly. Put flour and panko in separate shallow dishes. In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy but not quite holding-peaks. Working in batches, dredge jalapenos in flour (shake off excess), then add to egg whites and coat, being careful not to let the filling come out. Add a few at a time to panko and coat.

Lay jalapenos on wire rack and season with salt and pepper. Coat lightly with cooking spray. Bake for about 20 minutes or until breading is golden and cheese has melted. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir remaining scallions into sour cream. Season with salt. Serve with hot poppers.