Healthy Dessert Recipes Really Do Exist!

healthy dessert recipes

Healthy Dessert Recipes - that are healthy enough!

Ok, I admit that healthy dessert recipes seems like a contradiction in terms doesn't it? Well in a way it is, but then again what would life be without a little wicked celebration? Then the question becomes if we want a sweet treat do we need to go the whole hog or not? Well I believe that with a little know-how, we can create sweet treats that are just as satisfying as old favorites while still providing a good deal of healthy nutrition. Check out my Longevity Healthy Eating Guidelines for comprehensive information on providing healthy eating for you and your family.

Eat Fruit and Get Used to Less Sugar

First we need to educate our taste buds a little though. If you are used to a fair amount of sugar in your diet including super sugary treats and desserts cutting down could be challenging. One of the best ways to get used to a little less of the white stuff is to begin enjoying more fruit and checking out varieties you don't normally eat to tease your palate with new flavours.

Because fruit digest more quickly than other food, eating fruit straight after a meal may interfere with proper digestion. While the other food digests the fruit is forced to sit in the stomach and ferments. This can cause a lot of unnecessary discomfort!

Fruits digest better when you eat them away from other foods so think about them as "lone rangers" generally. Some semi-sweet fruits like apples and even sweeter fruit like bananas are exceptions that combine reasonably well with grains though, because they are not fast fermenting fruit. Nuts, seeds and fruit especially berries go well together.

Include fruit for breakfast with or instead of your usual cereal or in between meals with a handful of nuts instead of your usual coffee and frosted doughnut, hink of this as training preparation for preparing, cooking and eating healthy dessert recipes.

When you think about substituting healthy dessert recipes for your usual boxed devils food chocolate cake, bear in mind that you can incorporate part of the protein component of your meal in your dessert. Then instead of being just a naughty treat at the end of your meal you can actually think about the dessert as an important part of the nutrition in your menu.

healthy dessert recipes

Some Protein Foods Make Great Healthy Dessert Recipes

You could build your healthy dessert recipes around a combination of the following protein foods - eggs, dairy, soy or oat milk, soft dairy cheeses, soy cheese, or tofu (soy curd), nuts and seeds. Another protein you may be less familiar with that you can make delicious desserts with is whey protein. Whey is a very easy to digest protein widely used by body builders to build lean muscle.

Choose Healthy Sweeteners for Your Healthy Dessert Recipes

For healthy desserts choose your sweeteners carefully. Substitute white sugar with unprocessed dark molasses or muscovado sugars, dried sugar cane granules, raw honey, pure maple syrup, stevia powder, or zylitol. Zylitol comes from strawberries and the husks of corn or brown rice. It is unique among sweeteners in that it does not raise blood sugar levels, and is gut and tooth friendly.

Use Whole Grain Flours

If you are using a flour based dessert choose whole grain flours. Use your imagination and be adventurous and don't limit yourself to whole wheat flour. There are so many other grain flours that you can incorporate. All add to the nutritional value to your healthy dessert recipes. Each has a unique combination of minerals and vitamins not to mention flavors and textures.

Soy and Quinoa flours have the added bonus of contributing significant amounts of useable protein to your dessert. Recently introduced to the West, Quinoa comes from a hardy berry that grows in the harsh conditions of the Andes and was an important food of the Inca. Brown rice flour has a slightly nutty flavour and is lighter than whole wheat giving a lighter texture to baking.

healthy dessert recipes

A Small Sample of Healthy Dessert Recipes

Blueberries with Lemon Cream

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese

¾ cup low-fat organic vanilla yogurt

1 tsp honey

2 tsp freshly grated lemon skin

2 cups fresh organic blueberries

Directions

1. Using a fork, break up cream cheese in a medium bowl. Drain off any liquid from the yogurt; add yogurt to the bowl along with honey. Using an electric mixer, beat at high speed until light and creamy. Stir in grated lemon skin.

2. Layer the lemon cream and blueberries in dessert dishes or wineglasses. If not serving immediately, cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

Blueberry Tart with Walnut Crust

Makes 12 Servings

Ingredients

Filling

8 ounces reduced-fat cream

¼ cup reduced-fat sour cream

¼ cup plus 2 Tbsps pure maple syrup

2 cups fresh blueberries

Crust

½ cup walnuts, lightly toasted

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 free-range egg white

1 Tbsp butter, melted

1 Tbsp canola oil

Directions

1. To prepare crust: Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Coarsely chop walnuts in a food processor. Add whole-wheat flour and process until the mixture looks like fine crumbs.

3. Whisk egg white in a medium bowl until frothy. Add the crumb mixture, butter and oil; toss to combine. Press mixture into bottom and ½ inch up the sides of a 9-inch removable-bottom pie pan. Set pan on a baking sheet. Bake until dry and slightly darker around edges, about 8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

4. To prepare filling: Beat cream cheese, sour cream and ¼ cup maple syrup in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth. When crust is cool, spread filling evenly into it, being careful not to break up the crust. Arrange blueberries on the filling, pressing lightly so they set in. Drizzle remaining 2 Tbsps maple syrup over berries. Chill for at least 1 hour to firm.

Make Ahead Tip - Refrigerate for up to 1 day.