Nine Healthy Dessert Recipes

Fruit tart photo via Shutterstock

Having an active sweet tooth is a hard habit to break. Luckily, baking with fresh fruit is a great way to stay on track and indulge in the best that summer has to offer. Stone fruits like peaches, apricots, and plums, are generally the best to bake with because they’re meaty enough to withstand cooking and they deliver a natural sweetness. When selecting fruit, choose pieces that smell ripe and are firm but forgiving. Gently squeeze the fruit; anything rock hard is not going to taste sweet. Be sure to taste the fruit before adding any extra sweetener, and that way you may be able to cut down on some calories.

1. Apricot Financiers
via Confessions of a Bright Eyed Baker

Financiers are a small French almond cake. Traditionally the cakes are rectangular, however baking in them in muffin tins works just as well. Stay close when browning the butter; once the foaming subsides it’s just a quick couple of seconds that separates browned butter from burnt butter.

2. Cherry Ricotta Tart
via Pink Patisserie

By using low fat ricotta and reduced fat milk, you can cut a lot of unnecessary calories from the filling. If you don’t want to make your own crust, there are low fat premade pie crusts that will work just fine. If you plan to work with cherries regularly, it would be a good idea to invest in a cherry pitter. Otherwise slice the cherries in half and pop the pit out with a small paring knife.

3. Cherry Crisp
via Cooking Light

Crisps are terrific for a low calorie dessert. When using fresh, in season fruit you won’t need to use as much sugar. Plus, the topping uses healthy rolled oats and almonds. This recipe uses cherries, but you could use a mixture of berries like raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries.

4. Blackberry-Peach Crisp
via Self magazine

Here’s another crisp, but this one uses whole wheat flour and vegetable oil in the topping. And instead of sugar it asks for orange juice in the filling. By taking out the butter and sugar, all the deliciousness of the dessert is still there but without any of the guilt.

5. Honey-Glazed Grilled Plums
via The Daily Green 

Grilling fruit, whether it’s indoor or outdoor, is a simple and quick method for making a dessert special (or for topping a pork tenderloin or a steak salad). Make sure to oil the grill pan or grates, because the high sugar content of fruit will make it prone to sticking.

6. Strawberry Yogurt Tartelettes
via Honest Cooking

With a no-butter dough and a creamy Greek yogurt center, these tarts are a delicious and healthy alternative. Toasting the flour before baking it will release an entirely new flavor, so don’t skip that important step. You’ll know it’s done when you can smell the nutty aroma and the flour is light brown.

7. Deep Dish Raspberry Peach Pie
via Honest Cooking

This recipe is the best of summer in a deep dish pie. If you don’t have a spring form pan, there’s no need to fret, you can use a deep pie dish instead. When making pie dough keep the ingredients as cold as possible. Tip: Keep the cubed butter and water in the freezer until needed to ensure the crust bakes as flaky as possible.

8. White Peach Floats
via Real Simple

Peaches and vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt) are a classic combo. But adding the ginger will give this float a delicious summer spice that will have everyone asking for more.

9. Mint-Melon Pops
via Real Simple

Simple frozen treats are great for the kids. For the adult parties, lose the popsicle sticks, add a splash of vodka or rum and freeze in individual bowls or a shallow dish for an icy party treat.