Healthy Dessert Recipe

Awareness about mounting calories and unhealthy weight is making people further conscious and cautious about what they eat. Little wonder that most people are counting calories whenever they eat! It’s not often that one can say no to a sinfully tasty dessert but it leaves you with a feeling of guilt once you have partaken of it. Too much of sugar, carbohydrates and saturated fat in the desserts can cause harm to your body if consumed a lot.

People having a sweet tooth tend to desert their diet plans for the sake of tempting desserts. Eating healthy does not mean quitting eating your favorite desserts. Eat what you want but choose a healthier option is the criteria behind eating right. You can always eat desserts if you prepare them in a healthy manner. There are scores of dessert recipes that are low in fat but rich in taste. Go in for healthy dessert recipes.

Cheesecake in a jiffy

Wheat graham crackers 4
Part-skim ricotta cheese 4 tbsp
Jam 8tsp

Spread each of the crackers with 1tbsp part-skim ricotta cheese and 2tsp jam. Ready to serve as a nutritious dessert option.

Nutritional information per serving: Calories – 239, Fat – 6g, Cholesterol – 10mg, Carbohydrate – 42g, Protein – 7g, Fiber – 2g, Sodium – 259mg, Potassium – 39mg

Choosing a healthy dessert

• Opt for fresh fruits; they have plenty of fiber that is good for your daily diet schedule. Fruits are loaded with vitamins and essential minerals. Few fruits have special properties; they can protect your body from heart diseases, kidney diseases, type II diabetes and cancer.
  
• Opt for soy ice cream varieties over regular ice creams. Soy reduces bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol in the blood.
  
• Choose whole grain flour over refined flour for baking your desserts.
  
• Use sucralose as an alternate for regular sugar. Sucralose is a low-calorie sweetener that provides the same sweetness to the dish as regular sugar does.
  
• Honey is a natural sweetener and is safe to use when compared to artificial sweeteners.
  
• Use apple sauce instead of butter, margarine or vegetable oil. This is the best way to moisten your dessert as well as reduce on saturated fat in your dessert.
  
• Use flavored yoghurt to make ice creams.
  

Crispy apple and walnut

Apples 6 cups
Unbleached flour 2/3 cup
Nutmeg 1 tsp
Brown sugar ½ cup
Walnuts 3 tbsp, chopped
Cinnamon 2 tsp
Light margarine 4 tbsp

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Ready an 8” square pan with cooking spray and flour. Arrange the apples in this pan, keep aside. Mix nutmeg, flour, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Crush the margarine using a pastry blender. Add the walnuts and stir. Spread this mixture evenly over the apples. Bake for 30 minutes until the apples are done and the top layer gets crispy.

Nutritional information per serving: Calories - 141 kcal, Fat – 4g, Sodium – 35mg, Protein – 1g, Carbohydrate – 27g, Fiber – 2 g, Cholesterol – 0 mg

Almond and yoghurt ice-cream (Low sodium)

Fat-free plain yogurt 2 cups (choose yoghurt without gum additives or stabilizers)
Honey 1/3 cup
Low-fat vanilla soy milk 1 cup, chilled
Almonds ¼ cup, coarsely chopped
Canola oil 1 tbsp

Keep a bowl in the freezer to chill. In a mixing bowl, add soy milk, yoghurt, honey and canola oil and whisk well. Pour this mixture into an ice cream maker and prepare the ice cream. Once the ice cream is firm, transfer it to the already chilled bowl and top with nuts. Serve immediately or store in freezer until you serve. This is an easy to prepare dessert. You can make ice cream using vanilla soy milk and chilled yoghurt.

Nutritional information per serving: Calories – 173, Cholesterol – 2mg, Protein – 7g, Sodium – 75mg, Carbohydrate – 26g, Fiber – 1g, Total fat – 5g, Potassium – 286mg, Saturated fat – 0g, Monosaturated fat- 3g, Calcium – 227mg

Pineapple Delight

Ripe pineapple 1
Dark rum 1 tbsp
Lime zest 1tbsp, grated

For marinade:

Olive oil 1 tbsp
Dark honey 2 tbsp
Fresh lime juice 1 tbsp
Ground cinnamon 1 tsp
Ground cloves ¼ tsp

Heat a broiler pan or a gas grill and coat it with cooking spray. For the marinade, in a small mixing bowl, mix olive oil, honey, lime juice, cinnamon and cloves. Blend them well. Keep aside. Chop off the crown and the base of the pineapple. Pare off the skin of the pineapple using a knife; leave alone the small brown eyes. Remove all the eyes of the pineapple.

Cut the pineapple into four lengthwise pieces. Cut off the core of the pineapple. Cut each lengthwise piece into three pieces. Thread the pineapple pieces into the skewer; brush the marinade on the pineapple. Broil/grill the pineapple until tender and allow it to turn to a light brown color. Place the pineapple on a serving plate and brush it with rum and sprinkle the lime zest. Serve warm.

Nutritional information per serving: Calories – 79, protein - 1g, Monosaturated fat – 1g, Total fat – 2g, Saturated fat - 1g, Carbohydrate – 15g, Cholesterol – 0 mg, Sodium – 1mg, Fiber – 1g

Chocolate mousse

Unsweetened cocoa powder ¾ cup
Brewed strong coffee 2tablespoons
Knox unflavored gelatin envelope (2 1/2 tsp)
Large egg 1
low fat milk 1% - 1 1/2 cups
Corn syrup 1/2 cup
Sugar 1 cup
Semi sweet chocolate 3 ounces, chopped
Egg whites 5
Salt a pinch
Vanilla extract 1tsp
Water 1/2 cup

Pour the coffee into a bowl and add the gelatin; let it stand for few minutes so that it softens. In a medium sized mixing bowl, blend cocoa, corn syrup, whole egg, and ½ cup milk into a smooth paste. In a heavy saucepan, add the remaining milk and allow it to steam. Slowly and steadily whip the hot milk into the egg mixture. Cook this over low heat until the mixture thickens slightly, for about five minutes. Remove the pan from heat and add the gelatin, let the gelatin dissolve. Add chocolate and stir until it melts and blends well. Add the vanilla and stir thoroughly. Transfer to a big bowl and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Warm up the egg whites in a mixing bowl on a large pan of hot water. Mix ½ cup sugar and water and bring it to a boil. Over medium heat, heat the sugar syrup until it reaches 240 degrees. (The sugar syrup should form pliable balls when dropped into ice water.) Set this aside. Beat the egg white until soft peaks form, heat the syrup and beat it into the egg white until the egg white becomes cool and stiff. Beat ¼ of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and fold the remaining egg whites. Set is a serving bowl, cover and refrigerate until it sets well.

Nutritional information per serving: Calories – 294 (53 from fat) , Fat – 6g, Saturated fat – 3g, Total carbohydrate – 53g, Cholesterol – 28mg, Fiber – 1g, Sodium – 187mg, Protein – 7g, Calcium – 0, Iron – 2 units, Vitamin C – 0, Vitamin A – 137units