Skinny Sweets: The Real Thing : Nutrition: Traditional ingredients combine to produce desserts with texture, taste but little fat.

They look just the way you expect: tender genoise with billows of whipped cream; chocolate madeleines so rich and dark they make your mouth water; golden brown oatmeal cookies laced with cinnamon, flecked with plump, sweet raisins.

What’s more, they taste good. The madeleines are smooth and chocolaty, not rubbery; the oatmeal cookies crunch when they’re supposed to.

But these desserts have a secret. They are “skinny desserts.” Most contain very little fat, some don’t have any. And these are desserts you can make at home. Instead of artificial sweeteners and fat substitutes, they rely on a combination of traditional ingredients--egg whites, nonfat milk and corn syrup.

But finding the right formula wasn’t easy. The Times asked two recipe development experts--Donna Deane, food stylist for The Times’ Test Kitchen, and Jill O’Connor, former pastry chef at the Golden Door health spa in Escondido--to create recipes for fat-free cookies and cakes, based on the fat-free desserts that are available at the supermarket. Their results come close to approximating the tastes and textures of commercial brands, but they are not duplicates.

Deane experimented with nonfat yogurt as a replacement for fat in oatmeal cookies. But it took time to get right: Her first batch of cookies was tough and flat-tasting. A few trials later, she developed a great cookie that tasters agreed competes with Entenmann’s fat-free oatmeal cookie. It’s crisp and chewy, with the familiar dark-brown hue from dark-brown sugar and molasses.

“Without some fat you’ll come out with little bricks,” Deane says. “That’s why we used the yogurt as a tenderizer.”

Replacing high-fat dairy products and whole eggs with nonfat equivalents and egg whites requires knowledge of the temperamental chemistry of baking.

Fat, for example, tenderizes pastry by “waterproofing” flour particles. When you eliminate it, excess water gets into the flour and makes the dough firm and unpalatable. Reducing the sugar and eggs too much can also make baked goods tough. Eggs moisten dry ingredients and develop gluten, while the coagulation of egg proteins during baking stabilizes the structure of the dessert. Of course the problem is that eggs, like butter, shortening and oil, increase the fat and cholesterol content.

Deane explains that getting a tender product is only half the battle--there’s flavor to consider. Entenmann’s cookies have a strong molasses flavor, with a slight almond taste and are very sweet. Deane’s version is sweet too; she uses vanilla and coconut extracts, as well as cinnamon, allspice and ginger to perk up the taste.

And, she advises: “Don’t use non-stick vegetable spray; it makes the cookies tough on the bottom. Bake the cookies on parchment paper instead. Remove them from the baking sheet while they are still hot.”

O’Connor learned the value of maintaining taste in reduced-fat desserts while at the Golden Door health spa. She makes chocolate madeleines, for instance, that are delicious served plain or with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Her cakes do contain a tiny amount of fat from egg yolks, which add flavor and color. But in her chocolate madeleines, the deep, rich chocolate flavor and moist texture comes mostly from a reduced cocoa sauce, simmered over low heat until it is thick and smooth. Apple juice is the surprise ingredient.

O’Connor suggests splitting one in half and filling it with a scoop of vanilla ice milk or frozen vanilla yogurt, and adds, “They’re wonderful with raspberry coulis. “

With O’Connor’s Butter-Free Genoise , she uses what she calls a “warm method” in which she heats the eggs and sugar together. “This dissolves the sugar crystals,” O’Connor says, “preventing them from regranulating after baking and cooling, which coarsens the cake’s texture. You create a finer textured sponge cake that stays moister longer.”

And it’s a terrific dessert. The slightly chewy, sponge-butter cake makes fine shortcakes and freezes well.

NO-FAT OATMEAL COOKIES

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg white

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon coconut extract

1 cup flour

2 cups oats

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup raisins, chopped

Beat together sugars, molasses, egg white, yogurt, vanilla and coconut extract until blended. Stir together flour, oats, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Stir in yogurt mixture and raisins just until blended. Do not overmix, or cookies will be tough. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from parchment while still warm. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 4 dozen.

sg Each 4-cookie serving contains about: 196 calories, 109 mg. sodium, 1 mg. cholesterol, 1 gr. fat, 44 gr. carbohydrate, 4 gr. protein, 0 fiber.

BUTTER-FREE GENOISE

8 whole eggs

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla

Dash salt

2 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted

Combine eggs, sugar, cardamom and lemon zest in top of double boiler. Place over simmering water and whisk continuously until mixture reaches 120 degrees. Do not cook too fast, or eggs will curdle. Remove from heat and beat with electric mixer until tripled in volume and bowl is cool to touch. Whisk in vanilla and salt. Fold in flour, using rubber spatula or large balloon whisk.

Spray 2 (9-inch) cake pans with non-stick spray. Line with parchment paper and spoon in batter. Bake at 350 degrees 12 to 15 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Cool 5 minutes and remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack. Makes 12 servings.

Each slice contains about: 197 calories, 70 mg. sodium, 183 mg. cholesterol, 4 gr. fat, 35 gr. carbohydrate, 6 gr. protein, 0 fiber.

CHOCOLATE-FUDGE MADELEINES

3 cups flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon baking soda

Dash salt

1 cup apple juice

2 tablespoons instant coffee powder

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 tablespoon chocolate extract

Cocoa Sauce

Powdered sugar

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Sift again, then set aside.

Heat apple juice in saucepan. Add coffee powder and stir to dissolve. Set aside.

Beat eggs and sugar until thick and lemon-colored. Add vanilla and chocolate extract and continue to beat 5 minutes. Gradually add Cocoa Sauce, beating slowly until combined. Add flour and coffee mixture alternately to egg mixture, beginning and ending with flour.

Spoon generous tablespoon batter into madeleine tins sprayed with non-stick vegetable spray. Bake at 350 degrees 8 to 12 minutes until madeleines are puffed and spring back when touched. Do not overbake. Remove madeleines from tins and cool completely on wire racks. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar before serving. Makes 4 to 4 1/2 dozen.

Note: If desired, split each madeleine in half, top with scoop vanilla ice milk or frozen yogurt and serve with raspberry coulis.

Cocoa Sauce

1/2 cup apple juice concentrate

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup corn syrup

1 tablespoon vanilla

Bring apple juice concentrate to boil in saucepan. Add cocoa powder and stir to dissolve. Add corn syrup and vanilla and cook over low heat until mixture begins to simmer. Cool.

Each 2-madeleine serving contains about: 167 calories, 135 mg. sodium, 48 mg. cholesterol, 2 gr. fat, 36 gr. carbohydrate, 4 gr. protein, 0 fiber.

Angel Food Cake and chocolate pound cake are two good-tasting desserts that will satisfy cravings for sweets without adding fat to the diet. The Angel Food Cake gets its structure from egg-white protein and is stabilized with some sugar. It gets its strength from cake flour. It does not contain fat or baking powder. The Chocolate Cake is much more dense, but it does have a good, real chocolate flavor. Corn syrup replaces the fat.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 egg whites

1 cup water

1/2 cup light or dark corn syrup

Powdered sugar

Combine flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, baking soda and salt in large bowl.

Combine egg whites, water and corn syrup in medium bowl. Beat with wire whisk until mixed. Add to flour mixture and stir until smooth. Pour into 9-inch square pan sprayed with nonstick vegetable spray.

Bake at 350 degrees 35 minutes or until wood pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired. Makes 16 servings.

Each slice without powdered sugar contains about: 128 calories, 113 mg. sodium, 1 mg. cholesterol, 1 gr. fat, 30 gr. carbohydrate, 2 gr. protein, 0 fiber.

ANGEL FOOD CAKE

1 cup sifted cake flour

1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

12 egg whites

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

3/4 cup granulated sugar

Sift flour and powdered sugar together 3 times. Place egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, vanilla and almond extract in large mixing bowl. Beat until foamy. Beat in granulated sugar 2 tablespoons at time. Beat until mixture holds stiff peaks. Sift flour mixture gradually over egg white mixture and fold gently after each addition.

Spoon into ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Gently cut through batter with knife. Bake at 325 degrees 1 hour. Invert pan to cool. When cold, remove cake from pan. Makes about 12 servings.

Each slice contains about: 144 calories, 100 mg. sodium, 0 mg. cholesterol, less than 1 gr. fat, 32 gr. carbohydrate, 4 gr. protein, trace fiber.