Healthy Dessert Recipes!

Healthy Dessert Recipes ultimate guide on what to buy and what to make by a Registered Dietitian and expert in gut health. Featuring my healthy chocolate chip cookie dough recipe at the bottom!

My healthy easy dessert recipes are excellent for weight loss, gut health, and so much more! As a registered dietitian, I have been working for years perfecting the best healthy dessert recipes that are not only delicious but also extremely healthy!

Craving ice cream but in a healthy way? Try my Thick Smoothie Bowl Recipe! Smoothie bowls are a super quick, easy and healthy no bake dessert recipe to satisfy your sweet tooth immediately.

HEALTHY EASY DESSERT RECIPES MADE BY A REGISTERED DIETITIAN

If you're trying to lose weight, rest assured that healthy dessert recipes for weight loss will not only taste good, but they'll leave you feeling good! You know when you feel so heavy and icky after a dessert and you just don't feel good.. well my healthy easy dessert recipes with few ingredients will actually make you feel good and satisfy your sweet tooth!

My healthy dessert recipes are high in fiber, high in healthy fats, and low in sugar. And the best part is that I don't use refined sugar at all! I sweeten my desserts naturally with bananas, dates, honey, and pure maple syrup. No sugar, no artificial processed sweeteners, no junk!

My delicious easy healthy dessert recipes are great for:

• Weight loss
• Improved gut health
• Improved blood sugar
• Hormone balance
• Liver health
• Skin health
• Increased energy
• Lowering cholesterol

It is amazing how your body will love and thrive from cutting sugar out and eating high fiber high healthy fat and high protein.

HEALTHY DESSERT ESSENTIALS- A FEW INGREDIENTS YOU NEED IN YOUR PANTRY

I make my healthy easy dessert recipes with few ingredients like:

• Almond Flour
• Cashews (& cashew butter)
• Dates
• Raw Honey
• Full Fat Coconut Milk
• Unrefined Coconut Oil
• Raw Cacao Powder
• Pure Vanilla Extract
• Sea Salt
• 90-100% dark chocolate (I love Bakers chocolate because it's pure chocolate and has tested the lowest lead content out of chocolate bars)

Sometimes I use ingredients like coconut flakes, coconut flour, oat flour, gluten free flour, and flax seeds. But the ingredients above are my most frequently used ingredients in healthy baking and no-bake recipes.

HOW TO SWEETEN DESSERTS WITHOUT SUGAR

Want to make delicious healthy easy dessert recipes no sugar? It is totally possible! You do not need refined white sugar to make dessert sweet. Here is what I use to sweeten my desserts naturally.. starting from my favorite and healthiest option!

• Dates
• Date syrup
• Raw honey
• Pure maple syrup

I don't like to use anything like stevia, monk fruit, or calorie free sweeteners in my healthy dessert recipes.. to me it just doesn't seem natural that a sweetener would be calorie free. If your body tastes sweets, calories have to be with it or our bodies will get confused, and our hormones will get out of whack.

I like to go back to basics and use what nature gave me! Dates, honey thanks to the bees, and pure maple syrup from the trees!

HOW TO ADD MORE FLAVOR WITHOUT SUGAR

You can also make healthy easy dessert recipes without sugar by adding more flavor to your dessert! Using things like raw cacao powder for a rich chocolate taste, pure vanilla extract, or pure sea salt to bring out other flavors works wonders.

• Raw cacao powder
• Blended sweet fruits- strawberries, mango, pineapple, bananas
• Pure vanilla extract
• Pure sea salt

WHAT TO USE IN PLACE OF CREAM CHEESE & HEAVY CREAM IN HEALTHY DESSERTS

A long time ago I learned that dairy upset my stomach and caused my skin to break out. Now I'm not saying dairy is bad.. I just tend to eat less of it for skin health. If you have a dairy sensitivity like me, my favorite thing to use is cashews!

Most of my healthy dessert recipes are dairy free because I don't eat much dairy, but you can still use dairy in healthy desserts! Make sure to use organic dairy whenever you can.

• Whole milk: use full fat coconut milk or blend 1 cup raw cashews with 4 cups water & strain
• Heavy cream: blend 1 cup raw cashews with 2 cups water & strain
• Cream cheese: use soaked raw cashews (like in all my cheesecake recipes)
• Butter: use coconut oil or cashew butter

WHAT TO USE IN PLACE OF FLOUR FOR HEALTHY DESSERTS

Flour didn't use to be all that unhealthy. You have a fresh whole grain, rich with fiber, healthy fat, and protein.. you grind it up and make a hearty bread. Not bad at all. However, someone decided they wanted to make more money and have a longer shelf life so they took all the nutrients out of wheat and made a what flour that is nothing but pure calories.

If you can grind your own wheat to make muffins, breads, and baked cakes by all means you have hit the jackpot and should use that! But, if you're like me and buy your flour at the store, even the wheat flour is probably not the the most nutritious flour out there.

So what do we use instead of all purpose flour in healthy dessert recipes? Here's my favorite healthy flours from my most favorite, to the one I use least frequently.

1. Almond flour (rich in fat, protein, and fiber it is literally just ground up almonds)
2. Coconut flour (rich in fat and fiber it is just ground up dried coconut pulp)
3. Oat flour (rich in fiber, you can make it at home by simply blending rolled oats to a powder)
4. Gluten free flour (store bought, but comes in handy when you need a quick all purpose flour replacement at a 1:1 ratio)

TIPS TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY DESSERTS AT HOME

USE RAW UNSALTED CASHEWS. You will get the best smooth cheese cake like texture in healthy dessert recipes. Cashews can be a cream cheese or heavy cream replacement, plus gives you a healthy dose of healthy fats!

SOAK CASHEWS OVERNIGHT. This will soften hard cashews and help to blend them evenly into your recipes like cashew cheesecake and homemade heavy cream.

SOAK DATES 15-30 MINUTES IN HOT WATER BEFORE BLENDING. Date skin is a little bit tough, and soaking them before blending helps to soften the skin a lot. Then, you can pulverize them in your blender and add them right to your healthy dessert recipes.

USE NATURAL UNSALTED PEANUT BUTTER, CASHEW BUTTER, ALMOND BUTTER. The only ingredient on your jar should be "peanuts," "cashews," or "almonds."

USE 85%+ DARK CHOCOLATE. The darker your chocolate (the higher the percentage), the more health benefits you get! Interestingly, pure cacao or 100% dark chocolate is one of the highest fiber foods you can eat! Better than cholesterol medications I'd say as a registered dietitian.

HEALTHY DESSERTS TO BUY

Now sometimes we all don't feel like making anything. Even if the healthy dessert recipe only takes 5 minutes, we just want to open a box and enjoy! Here are some of my tips as a registered dietitian as what to look for when you are shopping for a healthy dessert.

Turn the dessert over and read the ingredient label:

• Look for at least 5 grams of fiber, which will help with blood sugar balance
• Look for at least 5-10 grams of protein, which will also help balance blood sugars
• Look at added sugar (not total sugar) and pick one with less than 5 grams of added sugar
• Make sure there are no nasty preservatives like sodium benzoate. You should be able to know exactly what each ingredient is on the label and if you can't, put it back.

Some of my favorite quick healthy desserts to pick up at the store is pure dark chocolate bars and fresh strawberries. I also love the brand unreal they have a lot of great options for candy bars that are healthy.

HEALTHY EASY DESSERTS RECIPES FOR BEGINNERS

Here are 6 popular reader favorite healthy dessert recipes, the 6 most popular healthy desserts on my website! The first one, my healthy no bake cookie dough bars has the recipe right in this post.

• My super easy healthy cookie dough bars (recipe right below!)
• Healthy Brownies with Sweet Potato
• Healthy Cookies and Cream Milkshake
• Homemade Healthy Twix Bars
• Healthy Apple Crisp
• Healthy Cake Pops

More ultra healthy Easy Dessert Recipes that are No-Bake! (30 recipes!)

Healthy Baked Desserts (25 recipes!)

Healthy Cookie Recipes (15 recipes!)

Popsicles and Ice Cream Recipes (16 Healthy Recipes!)

HEALTHY COOKIE DOUGH BARS INGREDIENTS

For the healthy no bake cookie dough:

• Raw cashews
• Dates
• Peanut butter
• Vanilla bean (or pure vanilla extract)
• Dark chocolate chips (or cacao nibs)
• Pink sea salt

For the dark chocolate topping:

• 85-90% dark chocolate chips or chunks
• Coconut oil

HOW TO MAKE EASY HEALTHY COOKIE DOUGH BARS WITH DATES

Healthy no bake chocolate chip cookie dough crack bars are SO easy to make and one of my all time favorite healthy dessert recipes. Plan about a day ahead, because you will get the best texture when you soak your raw cashews overnight to soften them.

Step 1: Soak the raw cashews

Add raw cashews to a medium sized bowl and cover completely with cool filtered water. Cover your bowl and place in the fridge to soak overnight.

Step 2: Make the no bake healthy chocolate chip cookie dough

Add dates to a small dish and cover with hot water. Allow dates to soak for about 15-30 minutes to soften before blending.

Next, line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

In a blender or food processor add: soaked and drained cashews and dates, peanut butter, vanilla bean (or extract), and sea salt.

Blend until totally pureed and smooth. If you like some cashew chunks, blend for less time!

Stir in ¼ cup dark mini chocolate chips if using.

Spread the smooth chocolate chip cookie dough batter into the bottom of your parchment prepared loaf pan.

Step 3: Make the chocolate topping

In a bowl, add the dark chocolate chips and coconut oil.

Place in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.

• Stop the microwave every 30 seconds and stir your mixture to prevent it from burning to the bottom of your bowl.

Pour the melted chocolate mixture on top of the chocolate chip cookie dough.

Place chocolate covered no bake cookie dough in the freezer to harden up for at least 2 hours! It is safe to eat now, but the texture is soo good when you freeze it.

Step 4: Thaw, cut, and eat!

I would recommend thawing these for about 15 minutes at room temperature before cutting them to get a nice creamy dough-like texture!

Remove the no bake chocolate chip cookie dough from the pan and remove the parchment paper from the bottom.

Then, cut into even squares. Healthy easy dessert recipe that tastes just like cookie dough!

You can store these easy cookie dough squares for about 1 month in an airtight container in the freezer.

FAQ'S

WHAT IS THE HEALTHIEST DESSERT TO HAVE?

The healthiest dessert you can have is one that is the lowest in added sugar, while being high in protein and fiber. Protein and fiber will help your blood sugars to not spike.

Make sure to browse in my healthy baked dessert recipe categories, healthy cookies, healthy no-bake desserts, and healthy frozen desserts.

WHAT IS THE BEST DESSERT FOR DIETERS?

The best dessert when you are on a diet is one that is super low in sugar, which would be less than 5 grams. Also make sure it has at least 5 grams of fiber and 10 grams of protein.

WHAT IS A HEALTHY DESSERT AFTER DINNER?

The best healthy dessert after dinner is the one you love! As a registered dietitian, I love dessert and I will never tell anyone not to eat dessert. Pick the dessert you love. If you ate a dinner high in fiber and protein, those nutrients will help lower the blood sugar spike in the dessert you choose to eat.

Try to eat your dessert within an hour of eating dinner for the best result. And try not to eat dessert long after dinner right before going to sleep.

WHAT IS A HEALTHY DESSERT AT NIGHT?

Pick a healthy dessert like my cookie dough bars below, which are rich in fat, fiber, and protein which will do so much more than spike your blood sugars.

If you try any of my Healthy Easy Dessert Recipes, please let me know your thoughts by leaving a rating and comment below! Ready for more? Subscribe to my newsletter or follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube!