Easy Heart Healthy King Cake Recipe

3 cups buttermilk baking mix
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup reduced-fat margarine, melted
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with nonfat cooking spray.

Blend mix and milk to make dough. Place dough on wax paper-covered surface sprinkled with additional mix. Knead 10 times. Form dough into long roll then flatten with rolling pin to about 22-by-10 inches, about 1/4-inch thick. Brush dough with two tablespoons melted reduced-fat margarine.

Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top, allowing melted margarine to absorb mixture.

Roll the dough in jellyroll fashion, lengthwise and into a large circle on cookie sheet. Brush top with remaining melted margarine. Bake 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 12 servings.

For the icing:

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons water
1 to 2 drops each green, yellow, red, and blue food coloring
Blend powdered sugar, vanilla and water.

Divide blended icing into three portions, tinting one with green coloring, one with yellow coloring, and combining blue and red coloring for purple icing.

Insert a plastic baby or coffee bean token into baked and cooled King Cake.

Drizzle each icing onto cake creating color sections.

For cheese filling combine:

1 (8-ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
Drop or two of milk

Cream all ingredients together with an electric mixer.

Spread on the flattened dough mixture on top of the sprinkled sugar and cinnamon mixture before rolling it into a ring.