We all know the best part of a meal is dessert. Those of us who have a sweet tooth may also worry that all those delicious desserts are affecting our weight and health. The good news is you don’t have to skip dessert entirely. Below are different ways to make your desserts healthier so you can indulge without feeling guilty.
Use whole-wheat flour
Use whole-wheat flour in place of regular white flour in your waffles, cakes and your favourite dessert recipes. The added fibre in the dessert will cut the calories as well as make your desserts healthier overall, since white flour is refined and processed. Though the texture may change slightly, you will hardly notice any difference in the taste.
Use fruit to sweeten your dessert
Try using no-sugar-added fruit juices instead of sugar to sweeten your dessert. Though fruit juices are naturally high in sugar, they are healthier alternatives to refined white sugar. You can even include diced fruits to your desserts and decrease the amount of sugar you add. For example, dice mangoes and pineapples and add them to your cakes or waffles for a sweet kick without the added sugar.
Use no-calorie sweeteners
Though many people may not be comfortable with no-calorie sweeteners, using sweeteners like Splenda to replace sugar is an easy way to instantly cut the calories in your desserts. Splenda, like many sweeteners, usually measures cup for cup with regular sugar, so a recipe doesn’t even need to change.
Use dark chocolate
Making chocolate cake or chocolate chip cookies with dark chocolate that is at least 70 per cent cocoa is a healthy way to enjoy chocolate. The higher the cocoa count is in the chocolate, the lower the sugar content, making dark chocolate a much healthier choice than white or milk chocolate. Dark chocolate offers many other health benefits too, so you can enjoy it without feeling guilty!
Try new recipes
Dessert doesn’t always have to be high in fat and sugar to taste good. There are so many different healthy recipes to try that you may not have considered before. Grilling and broiling mango or pineapple brings out the sweetness in these fruits, so serving them with some squeezed lime juice and dark chocolate or whipped cream is a healthy dessert alternative. Topping fat-free vanilla yogourt or delicious Greek yogourt with fruit and nuts is a healthy sweet treat you can enjoy and feel great about eating.
More on healthy eating
How to cut down on refined sugar
Healthy late-night snacking
Yummy treats: 5 surprising low-calorie snacks
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