5 healthy dessert alternatives to satisfy those sweet tooth cravings
|Published
Some people have a bigger sweet tooth than others but most of us can relate to having some kind of sugar craving from time to time.
Whether your weakness is chocolate, sweets or cake, it can be tough to turn sweet treats down despite the overload of sugar, calories, fat and carbohydrates, they contain.
Thankfully, there are healthier alternatives. Below are some alternatives for those with a sweet tooth.
Guilt-free chocolate truffles
You can still enjoy chocolate truffles, but cleaner. While chocolate truffles are originally made from chocolate ganache, which is hot cream poured onto chopped chocolate, you can use healthier ingredients.
Melt dark chocolate chips and add them to almond or peanut butter along with Greek yoghurt.
Mix them together well into a thick consistency. Then, roll the mixture into mouth-sized bites and cover with unsweetened cocoa powder.
Baked spiced apple
Simply slice an apple and lay it on a baking sheet (before spraying it) with some coconut oil and sprinkling on lots of cinnamon. Then, bake it in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 25 minutes.
It tastes like the inside of an apple pie, minus all the calories and fat. Missing the crust? Top it with one tablespoon of low-sugar granola or some dark chocolate chips for additional crunch.
Dark chocolate
Just a square or two of dark chocolate is as simple as it gets for a healthy dessert. Dark chocolate provides iron, copper, zinc, magnesium and flavonols.
The latter are antioxidants that protect the heart, relax blood vessels, improve blood flow, and lower blood pressure.
For the most benefits from flavonols, choose 70% or higher dark chocolate. You can eat it plain or use it in recipes. Melt dark chocolate to dip fresh or dried fruit in for a special dessert.
2-ingredient cookies
Skip the usual chocolate chip cookie. An alternate simple treat is a two-ingredient cookie that uses bananas. Mash two ripe bananas with a cup of quick oats. Drop onto a baking sheet as you would with any kind of cookie dough.
Bake at 120 degrees Celsius for 12 to 15 minutes.
You can add mix-ins for variety and extra flavour such as dark chocolate chips, walnuts, raisins and other dried fruit, coconut or even pretzel chunks.
Fruit ice lollies
Fruit ice lollies are a healthier alternative to ice cream and are lower in sugar. Pick your favourite fruit or mix more than one fruit according to your preference and mix in a blender until you get a smooth purée.
Pour the purée into an ice lolly mould, add the sticks in the slot, and leave them to freeze for about five hours or overnight until fully hardened.