“Healthy desserts” doesn’t have to be a contradiction in terms. “Quick easy simple healthy desserts” are possible, they don’t have to be unhealthy or complex! But we might need to readjust our mental framework a bit, since we are probably more used to thinking of “rich, decadent desserts” as true desserts, rather than simple and healthy desserts.
This is not going to be a post full of quick easy simple healthy dessert recipes. I know that could be nice – but let’s talk about what ingredients can be used to create a healthy dessert, what potentially makes a dessert unhealthy, and then plan/create desserts accordingly!
The Foundation Stones for Healthy Desserts
There are numerous healthy ingredients that can be used in a creative way to make many different desserts. As mentioned above, if we’re used to thinking of a dessert as something super-sweet and rich, that just melts in your mouth with pure sweet “goodness,” we may need to rethink – but hey, life is all about rethinking things and coming to new conclusions that lead to better results, right?
Here is a list of amazing healthy ingredients that can be combined in simple ways to come up with delightfully healthy desserts! Try these out, you can be as creative as you want to be with any foods on this list!
- Frozen fruit – blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, cherries.
- Fresh fruit – apples, oranges, bananas, berries, pineapples, peaches, pears, etc.
- Canned fruit – with either very low or no sugar
- Stevia
- Chia
- Any unsweetened yogurt (unless sweetened with something other than sugar)
- Juice or juice drink with no or very low sugar
- Unsweetened applesauce.
- Honey or maple syrup (in moderation)
- Monk fruit sweetener
- Oatmeal
- Peanut butter or other nut butters
- Almond milk or any non-dairy milk
A Few Simple “Recipes”
I don’t know if you call these true recipes, but here are some possible simple dessert ideas.
How about frozen yogurt, made in a blender with frozen fruit, Greek yogurt, and a healthier sweetener like stevia, monk fruit sweetener, or honey? This can be blended, then put it in some type of container in the freezer for several hours.
What about simple baked apples with cinnamon and honey? They can either be baked in the oven for 25 minutes – or microwaved very quickly (as long as you don’t object to using a microwave).
Make desserts with chia seeds! They have this unique property, that they tend to gell the liquid they are in. Mix chia with almond or coconut milk and honey or other sweeteners, and leave in the refrigerator to chill for several hours until thick. Other ingredients like fruit or nuts can be added.
Greek yogurt is an excellent protein-rich base for adding pretty much any kind of fruit – berries, peaches, cherries. You can use your imagination here, for sure.
A Dessert That I Like
As a truck driver, I need to keep it very simple on the road, there is little time to prepare food, including desserts. As I described in my post on “Healthy Meals For Truck Drivers,” one of my very favorite desserts is:
- 1 cup frozen or partially thawed blueberries
- 1/2 cup instant oatmeal
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- Juice or low-sugar juice drink (such as Diet Cran-Cherry Juice by Ocean Spray) – enough to moisten
- Greek yogurt (optional)
- 3 packets of stevia sweetener
I eat some variation of this virtually every day!
“Healthy” Depends on What’s Left Out
If you want that richer “melt-in-your-mouth” type dessert, that raises this question: what makes a dessert potentially unhealthy? It’s not the fruit, obviously. It’s not oatmeal. It’s not baking soda or baking powder. It’s not the eggs. It’s not cinnamon. It’s not vanilla. It’s not necessarily even chocolate chips.
What could (and, in my opinion, does) make a dessert unhealthy is if it contains a significant amount of one of the following ingredients:
- Sugar
- Butter or margarine
- White flour
If you can make a recipe without any of those three, it’s automatically considerably healthier than a recipe that contains them. So let’s look at some possible substitutes for sugar, butter, and white flour that might work in recipes you may already have, to make a richer dessert.
Healthier White Sugar Substitutes
Sugar is simply that: a simple sugar. It’s very quickly digested and causes unhealthy spikes and drops in blood sugar. It’s totally empty calories, with no redeeming nutrient value.
There are a number of substitutes that you can use instead of white sugar that have actual value. Some of them may require adjustment to fit the recipe, and some of them might not be able to be used in a particular recipe I don’t have space to go into all the details for each sweetener, you may need to research them yourself. A couple of them can be used directly 1:1 as a replacement for sugar, and others not. I suggest looking up the particular sweetener you may wish to use, and its properties before you use it.
- Monk fruit sweetener.
- Xylitol and erythritol.
- Honey
- Coconut sugar
- Stevia
- Maple syrup
These all have either no effect on the glycemic index or a lower effect on the glycemic index than white sugar – thus they can be considered healthier alternatives.
Healthier Butter and Margarine Substitutes
Butter and most kinds of margarine have large amounts of saturated fat. They increase the risk of heart disease. Here are a few possible substitutes that are at the least less unhealthy. But watch the quantities, there are lots of calories in any type of fat!
- Ghee (clarified butter)
- Non-hydrogenated margarine
Healthier White Flour Substitutes
White flour is in some ways like sugar; it is a refined carbohydrate. It can cause an insulin spike. One can only imagine what it does when combined with white sugar, which is how it is normally used in cakes, cookies, and other pastries. In addition, white flour has no fiber and very little nutrient value. It’s also “empty calories,” unfortunately. Here are some viable substitutes:
- Whole wheat flour
- Spelt flour
- Almond flour
- Brown Rice flour
- Buckwheat flour
- Chickpea flour
Budget-Friendly?
Unfortunately, virtually none of these substitutes for white sugar, butter/margarine, and white flour are less expensive. That’s just “the way the cookie crumbles” – sorry to throw in the cookie comparison…
But why would you pay anything at all for something that harms your health? Many of the alternatives cost a little more to be sure, but in many cases they not only are less harmful than their unhealthy counterparts, they have positive health value!
So my best suggestion would be: If you are trying to save money, use the cheapest products that actually add health value to your body. If it has no intrinsic value, even if it’s cheap, it’s not a bargain.
Conclusion
Even though this post is not a set of “quick easy simple healthy dessert” recipes, hopefully, it can be helpful in pointing in that direction! It does require some creativity, to be sure. I do not have a recipe-testing kitchen, I’m not a cook or a baker who has years of experience creating new recipes! So I just share ideas from my perspective. Feel free to share yours in the provided space below! Thanks.
Very Simple and Healthy Recommended Product of the Day:
