Five Healthy Dessert Recipes to Start off Your New Near

Healthy dessert recipes are still not as healthy as not eating dessert at all, but sometimes all you need is a little something sweet to make you happy. We get it, and we love it. We also know that with all the New Year’s resolutions people have, there are more people looking to diet and get healthy now than ever before, which means we are all going to need a bit of a break before too long. The healthiest eaters and the best dieters know that you have to indulge every so often when you feel the need or else you risk going overboard and going crazy. So instead of indulging in something sweet that’s not good for you, why not let us give you five simple and amazing dessert recipes that can be whipped up in just a few minutes time and enjoyed without any of the guilt we usually feel when eating dessert? Are you convinced, now? Good; read on to figure out which one is your favorite.

Chocolate Covered Fruit

What is better than sweet, juicy fruit covered in hardened dark chocolate? Oh, that’s right; nothing. There is nothing better, healthier or more delicious than this dessert. In fact, this is what we usually have at our house. We don’t do dessert often, as we aren’t sweets people, but when we have friends over and we go all out with bacon-wrapped scallops, steak and my world-famous broccoli (that’s probably a stretch, but it is REALLY good broccoli) and roasted potatoes, we like to tone it down a bit for dessert for our guests. We dip fresh strawberries in chocolate, let them harden and then serve them. They’re gone in 5 seconds flat and people are always asking for more. It’s a low-calorie, healthy dessert that literally requires no more effort than rinsing strawberries (or your other favorite fruit) and melting chocolate. Dip the strawberries into the chocolate, lay them on parchment paper until they harden and then eat them right up.

Flourless Chocolate Cookies

These take all of 15 minutes to prep and cook, which makes them a wonderful last minute dessert option for just about anyone. Because they have no flour, they are healthier than the traditional chocolate cookie, too. What you’ll need for this is just four ingredients; a cup of nut butter, ¼ cup of maple syrup, 1 tablespoon of cacao powder and a teaspoon of baking powder. You can add chocolate chips if you want, but then you will lower the nutritional level of these cookies and defeat the entire purpose of eating them.

Bake these cookies in an oven heated to 350 degrees, so you’ll want to preheat that first. Then put all your ingredients into a processor, mix them, roll them into one-inch balls and place them on a cookie sheet that’s been sprayed lightly with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Once the sheet is full, you will pop it into the preheated oven and give these chocolate cookies about 10 minutes to cook. When you remove them from the oven, it is very important that you allow the cookies to cool completely before you remove them from the baking sheet.

Coffee Popsicles

You probably don’t want these until the weather warms up just a bit, but we figured we’d give you something delicious and cool to look forward to, even if you can’t imagine ever wanting to cool off again. This is going to satisfy your sweet tooth without ruining your diet, which is about all we can ask for. What you need is a can of coconut milk (do not use fat free) 3 tablespoons of maple syrup and a cup of your favorite coffee, brewed. Mix everything together and put them into popsicle shapes and stick them into the freezer. You’ll need to give this several hours to freeze, so it does not work well as a last minute dessert at all. Once frozen, however, you can enjoy the savory goodness of your favorite coffee beverage with the added sweetness of coconut milk and syrup all without having any lasting negative effects on your waistline.

Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Now we are talking. Chocolate chip cookies are the best food that ever existed. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, to be honest, but I do have an occasional craving for the delicious goodness that is a freshly baked, warm chocolate chip cookie. This is our most extensive dessert recipe to date, so go ahead and take note of what it is you need to make these happen in your house.

1.5 cups cashew butter

¼ cup maple syrup

2 tsp. vanilla

Sea salt to taste

¼ cup chocolate chips (dark chocolate is the healthiest option you have here)

You’ll want to grab that trusty food processor and preheat your oven to 350 degrees for this. Go ahead and start throwing your ingredients into the processor, with the exception of the chocolate chips which you will add once everything else has been mixed. Now that it’s all be chopped and mixed, add your chocolate chips. Choose tiny portions about an inch in size and put them on a cookie sheet. We like a light sheet that’s not been sprayed, as it will make the most golden brown cookies you’ve ever seen. Allow your cookies to bake for 10 minutes. You can let them cool completely or you can let them cool approximately 60 seconds before removing them from the pan and putting them down on parchment paper to prevent them from cooking just a little bit more on the hot pan. Now you can enjoy these delicious, healthy cookies. And eat them warm; that’s when they are the best.

Healthy Peanut Butter Cups

Move over Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, we have a healthy version in town. For this recipe, which is so simple, all you need is a bag of chocolate chips, ¾ cup of almond milk and ¾ cup peanut butter. Using a muffin tin, you will line each hole with paper. Melt your chips over a double boiler by mixing them frequently with the milk so that nothing cooks, but everything mixes and melts. Now pour a little bit into each muffin tin and put the pan in the freezer for half an hour. Take it out and put your peanut butter on top, add the rest of the chocolate and freeze your concoction again. Now you can eat.

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