Light and Easy Recipes and Meal Ideas

Bread & Dough

Irish Soda Bread

Calories: 67 •

Even if you're not Irish, this is an easy and delicious Irish Soda Bread recipe you will enjoy. Recipe makes 16 slices - 2 points per slice. To get somewhat even slices, I cut these in wedges, like you would a pizza pie. I cut the loaf in half, then half again. For each quarter, I sliced those in half, and then half again too. So you end up with 16 bread wedges. You can slice it any way you want, I just did it that way so I knew the slices were even and I could more easily determine the points value that way.
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2 Ingredient Dough Bagels

Calories: 137 •

Just some of my methods and techniques for bagels and dough. I included a more in-depth video that goes through different flours, measuring flour, the type of yogurt used, and how to best store these.

I also recommend buying a Dough Cutter (commission earned). It's good for dividing the dough, scraping flour and goo off the counter, and lifting dough from the work surface onto the baking sheet.
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Cocoa Cinnamon Soft Pretzels

Calories: 161 •

One of my favorite recipes on this site. Just give it a try. They are easy to make and out-of-the-park delicious.

Notes for this recipe: 1. The cocoa cinnamon sugar mixture makes more than needed to cover 4 pretzels (a little more than double). You can store the leftover cocoa cinnamon sugar in a zip lock bag and sprinkle on oatmeal or baked apples. 2. Fage brand greek yogurt recommended because it is considerably thicker than any other greek yogurt I have used. It makes a better dough overall. 3. You can make the dough in advance and store it in the refrigerator overnight
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2 Ingredient Pizza Dough

Calories: 250 •

This is a delicious, quick and easy pizza dough. Recipe makes enough dough for 2 small personal size pizzas.

Toppings in the photo include marinara sauce, cherry tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, fresh basil and mozzarella cheese. Nutrition information and WW SmartPoints values exclude toppings.

Recipe and directions for home-made marinara sauce, can be found here.

Notes and tips: When measuring flour, don't scoop or dunk the measuring cup into the bag of flour. This will give you an over-measure of flour and add more calories to the dough. When measuring flour it's always best to weigh it, but if you don't have a kitchen scale you can gently spoon the flour into the measuring cup. Then use the back of a butter-knife to level the flour at the rim of the cup. This will give you the most accurate measurement without a scale.
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Breadsticks

Calories: 92 •

I love these breadsticks to dip in soup, sauces and gravy.

Watch video for demonstration on twisting these. You can purchase a dough cutter on Amazon, similar to what I'm using in the video by clicking this link: Dough Cutter (commission earned).

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Pumpkin Bread

Calories: 115 •

This pumpkin bread makes a very festive and delicious fall breakfast or snack. It's moist, soft, slightly sweet and easy to make.

Notes: when measuring flour, don't scoop or dunk the measuring cup into the bag. You will get an over-measure of flour that way which will result in a higher amount of calories, and the loaf may come out a drier than expected. Instead, lightly spoon the flour into the measuring cup. Level off the top of the measuring cup using the back of a knife.
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Bananas in a Blanket

Calories: 112 •

A new family favorite in my house. When the bananas are baked, they become creamy and sweet like a pastry filling. Essentially, you just wrap 2 ingredient dough strips around a banana - and bake.
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Bagel Wreath

Calories: 128 •

Great for parties, brunches and holiday get togethers. The dip shown in the photo here is just a few over-easy eggs mashed up.

For best results, I recommend that you watch the video tutorial I have for regular 2 ingredient dough bagels (if you haven't watched it already). You can find the recipe and video here.

WW SmartPoints and nutrition information excludes the over-easy egg dip.
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Rye Bread

Calories: 78 •

This is a simple recipe you can make on the weekend to enjoy all week long. You will need a dutch oven for this loaf. I use a relatively inexpensive cast iron dutch oven (5 quart) that you can probably find at Target. Otherwise Amazon has it for about $40 - Lodge 5 Qt Cast Iron Dutch Oven (commission earned). I use this dutch oven only for bread. I've had it for a number of years, and it makes an incredible loaf.

The total prep/cook time with rest is about 3 hours. To calculate the SmartPoints and calories, I took the total value for the entire recipe, then divided by 20. If you get 20 equally sized slices, each slice is 2 Points. But your slices will likely be uneven in size since this is a round loaf. I give it my very best guess and move on.

To cut the loaf, use a bread knife if possible. Slice it directly down the center. Place each half, crumb side down (crust facing up). Slice each half of the loaf into 10 slices - as evenly sized as you can.

If you freeze the loaf, be sure to slice it first so it's easy to grab one slice at a time (you won't be able to cut the loaf unless it's defrosted). Store it in a ziplock bag, then toast each slice when you're ready to eat it.

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Apple Pie Stuffed Bagels

Calories: 198 •

These stuffed bagels are so delicious! Noone would guess they are WW friendly. If this is your first time making bagels, you may want to start with the regular bagel recipe first, just to get a feel for it. Here is a link to the regular bagel recipe with a video tutorial.

To store these, you can freeze them in a ziplock bag once they are completely cool. When you are ready to eat them, wrap them in foil and heat them in the toaster oven for about 10 minutes. Microwave not recommended.

You can find and purchase a Dough Scraper here (commission earned).

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2 Ingredient Dough - Whole Wheat Bagels

Calories: 127 •

Whole wheat flour absorbs more moisture than regular white flour - so I adjusted my usual ratio of yogurt to flour for these bagels.

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2 Ingredient Dough Pita Pockets

Calories: 85 •

The trick to getting these puffy and hollow is letting them rest. After you mix the dough ingredients, let it rest for 1 hour. The dough will NOT rise. But it will change! It will become more stretchy, elastic and resistant. You should get some spring-back when you roll it.

Watch the video to see how the dough should look. To get 6 thin flat circles, you will have to re-roll the scraps for the last circle. You can find and purchase the 5" Pastry Cutter > I used here (commission earned).
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Spinach & Ricotta Pinwheels

Calories: 247 •

These soft and cheezy pinwheels are delicious when dipped in Marinara sauce. They are so good, you could easily serve them at a party and no one would know they are a WW friendly recipe. The video shows a quick demonstration on assembling these.

Here is the recipe for zero point Marinara Sauce.
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Soft Pretzels

Calories: 138 •

You can skip the boiling part on these pretzels, but they will taste more like pizza dough than pretzels. Boiling the pretzel dough with baking soda is what gives these awesome treats a very "pretzely" flavor.

Notes: Nutrition information for sodium does not include the pretzel salt sprinkled on the outside of the pretzel.

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Mini Pita Pockets

Calories: 83 •

These are just a smaller version of the Pita Pockets recipe I had posted (but less calories and points). You can stuff them with anything you like.

To get them puffy and hollow - let the dough rest for about an hour before rolling it out and baking. The dough doesn't rise while its resting but it becomes more stretchy and elastic. Then, just roll it out, and cut the circles with a 2" pastry cutter. That's it. They will puff up in the oven.

You will need to re-roll the dough scraps to get 18 circles. You can find and purchase a Pastry Cutter here (commission earned).
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Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Calories: 75 •

Long before I made 2 ingredient dough, I made bread with traditional yeast or sour dough starter. This is a basic Whole Wheat Bread recipe using Active Dry yeast. I left out the honey to keep the calories and sugar lower.

You will notice there are 2 cups of white bread flour used in this recipe. This is to help the loaf get a nice rise and taste good. It's possible to get a good rise with 100% whole wheat flour but its a few extra steps and it's not very tasty unless you add at least 1/2 cup of honey to it.

I use King Arthur Bread Flour.
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2 Ingredient Dough Crescent Rolls

Calories: 114 •

These are not really "flaky" like a traditional croissant, but they are very soft and the cheese helps keep the dough layered during baking. I used Trader Joe's Shredded Light Mozzarella for this batch.

If you make 2 ingredient dough regularly, you may want to buy a Dough Cutter (commission earned). It makes it really easy to cut the dough, scrape stuff off the counter and lift the dough from the work surface to the baking sheet.
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Stuffed Bagels

Calories: 406 •

I used scrambled eggs and light mozzarella in this batch, but if it's your first time making these, pre-cooked turkey bacon and shredded cheese is a little easier. Do not put too much stuffing in these, because the skin will likely break and make a big mess in the oven.

Recipe makes 4 stuffed bagels. Serving size is 1 stuffed bagel.
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Mini Pizza

Calories: 157 •

These mini pizzas are easy and delicious. They make a great party appetizer or a fun dinner my kids enjoy. I used a 3 inch round cookie cutter to shape the crusts.

Shown here is shaved Parmesan and basil on some, and 1/2 oz of mozzarella on the others. You can find the recipe for Marinara Sauce here, which is zero SmartPoints on all plans.

Recipe makes 12 mini pies. Serving size is 2 mini pies.
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Stuffed Bread Pockets

Calories: 325 •

These stuffed pockets are just like a lightened-up calzone.
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