Healthy Dessert Recipes

Yes, Virginia, there are healthy dessert recipes. They do exist and they can be just as delicious as non-healthy desserts. The key to enjoying healthy desserts is in finding a recipe that looks enticing and then making it yourself…a bit labor intensive, I know, but well worth the effort especially when you consider the alternative.

After you have found and made a healthy dessert, you can then tweak that recipe to make it more to your liking, so long as that “tweaking” doesn’t involve more butter or sugar. Heck, making your own alterations to a recipe is half the fun. I’ve always believed in being a bit of a mad scientist in the kitchen, much to the consternation of my wife and kids.

Anyway, here are a few healthy dessert recipes you may want to try…and tweak:

• Mini apple pies that only contain 5 tablespoons of sugar, that’s it, like, for the entire recipe and it makes two dozen of these little devils. Honey and the natural sweetness of the apples make these taste as if there’s a cup of sugar in them. Oh yeah, there are only two tablespoons of butter in these bite-sized desserts. Check out the recipe here.
• This Blueberry crumble features a wealth of high antioxidant blueberries, as one would expect, but it’s the “crumble” part of this recipe that makes it truly healthy and delicious simultaneously. That’s because the crumble is made from rolled oats and cinnamon. This does have a moderate amount of sugar in the recipe, but the oats and blueberries help to balance that out. Give it a look here.
• These Lemon icebox bars use reduced fat cream cheese and fat-free sweetened condensed milk to keep the calorie count low and the taste value high. Whole grain graham crackers and only a tablespoon of brown sugar also add to the health value of this recipe. Add the lemon zest and juice and you’ve got the perfect healthy dessert. Here’s the recipe.
• Healthy Chocolate pudding. Yes, unlike the unicorn, it does exist. However, it’s made with plain Greek yogurt which allows it to appear in this post. The next best thing, after  its health value, is the ease of production. Aside from the Greek yogurt, there are only two more ingredients, dark cocoa powder and maple syrup…not much, just 1.5 tablespoons. This delicious fix for your chocolate addiction can be found here.
• This spiced plum galette uses very little sugar (one teaspoon in the crust and just a tablespoon in the filling). It uses the sweetness of the plums and just a little cinnamon and vanilla extract to make up the difference. Also, a galette is a whole lot easier to prepare than a full-on pie as you’ll experience after you download the recipe here.
• These marbled tahini shortbread cookies use tahini paste (made from sesame seeds) to make them smooth, delicious and healthy. While the recipe does call for a cup of sugar, it’s spread out over two dozen cookies. Just a few of these should keep your sweet tooth cravings at bay. See what you think of the recipe here.
• These apple nachos have it all…sweet taste, great texture and healthy ingredients. And, it’s extremely easy to prepare. All you’re really doing here is slathering sliced apples with reduced fat Greek yogurt and then topping them with granola and pumpkin and chia seeds for some texture and nutritional value. Add in some almond butter, cinnamon and honey and you’ve got yourself a winner that crosses the line first here.

There you go, seven healthy recipes that should keep you busy and smiling all the way to St. Patrick’s Day. For already-made special diet desserts, check here!