Healthy sweets

Krystenp88

Looking for ideas or recipes on anyones favorite go to sweets. My biggest weakness is muffins. Would love to find healthier versions or premade ones that arent heavy on sugar or calories. What are your go to desserts or sweet treats, homemade or store bought?

quiksylver296

I honestly just make the things I want fit within my daily calories. If I want chocolate, and I try to substitute other things, they just don't do the trick. I end up eating the substitute, and then maybe another substitute, and then finally the chocolate. So, I end up eating MORE calories than I would have if I didn't have the substitutes in the first place.

I plan for my treat every evening. I have chocolate, candy or ice cream pretty much every night. It fits within my calories and I enjoy every bite.

kommodevaran

If that concept had worked, then the recipes that came with the idea, would have been in your favorite folder already. Healthy eating simply does not work that way, for the reasons mentioned in PP.

janejellyroll

I've never had a low-calorie muffin substitute that was able to replicate what I love about muffins. Unfortunately, the combination of the sweetness and the flour (for me) is the *point* of the muffin and you can't really do those things low calorie (in the versions I've tried).

I just make muffins fit sometimes. It's better (for me) than eating something muffin-like and feeling resentful.

Styggian

quiksylver296 wrote: »

I honestly just make the things I want fit within my daily calories. If I want chocolate, and I try to substitute other things, they just don't do the trick. I end up eating the substitute, and then maybe another substitute, and then finally the chocolate. So, I end up eating MORE calories than I would have if I didn't have the substitutes in the first place.

I plan for my treat every evening. I have chocolate, candy or ice cream pretty much every night. It fits within my calories and I enjoy every bite.

I so agree, substitutes are never satisfying, plan so you can eat the real thing

TenderBlender667

Chocolate avocado pudding! It tastes just like store-bought chocolate pudding and it's very satisfying. I also like to have a few squares of dark chocolate with a handful of almonds everyday.

Krystenp88

Appreciate the feedback, thanks everyone! Will definitely keep in mind that if i crave that muffin i just need to make it fit into my daily trackingand enjoy it ☺

Getfit4Jess

I personally would just make the muffin fit in my calories even if having and enjoying that muffin made me go over every once in a while. Another thing you can do is eat mini muffins instead

lemurcat12

Fruit. Or sweets I am happy to consume in moderation, which for me includes dark chocolate (I like the Chocolove 88% currently) or ice creams (or the vegan alternative). I don't find that most lower cal alternatives are satisfying and would rather have smaller portions of something or, with something I like larger portions of (like good pie), just have it less frequently.

There are muffins that don't have lots of sugar, but they are generally all going to be high cal, because of the flour and added fat (and nuts if you use them). The main way to make them lower cal is to make them small.

cee134

Fruit and everything in moderation.

vingogly

Here are some tips for reducing the calories in a muffin recipe from my collection of cookbooks: use egg whites instead of whole eggs; replace butter and oil with applesauce, mashed bananas, or prune baby food (the latter especially good with chocolate and other robust flavors); use cocoa powder to replace some of the chocolate chips; use fat free versions of dairy products; reduce the amount of high-calorie ingredients like nuts and coconut.

It won't taste exactly the same, but it can be close enough to satisfy your need for something sweet.

Try reducing the amount of sugar in the recipe by a quarter - you may not notice the difference. If you're not against them, use a stevia, monkfruit, and/or sucralose baking blend. There's even a lower calorie brown sugar.

Also, if you use your search engine to look for "healthy desserts" there are a lot of recipes out there. Frankly, I'd rather have a really good high-calorie treat once in a while rather than a low-calorie substitute more often - I'll have a dish of full fat ice cream or frozen custard every couple of weeks, but I'll go out for it and won't keep containers in my house - I don't trust myself. Or I'll get a single slice of cake or pie from the bakery. I find things like ice milk vile and not worth the calories.

DancingMoosie

You can also add a can of pumpkin to a cake mix in place of the eggs and oil. I make homemade muffins with a banana bread recipe, but use egg whites, Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, half the butter and sugar.

dmegk5

What is your recipe for chocolate avocado pudding? In the past, I have made frozen cookie dough balls and just pulled out one or two at a time. Not really healthy but helped with moderation!

Purplebunnysarah

I've been eating dates. Yum!

MelanieCN77

Dates are too calorie intense for my preferences and satiety. My go-to sweets are plain graham crackers (130 cals for two), sweetened cream cheese on rice cakes (add fruit if you want, prob 150 cals all in), small squares of dark chocolate (50-70 each). There's no magical low cal dessert that satisfies like something with a nice amount of fat and sugar. Just gotta figure how to build it in.

Veganvibesss

An apple cut up into slices with chocolate pb2 and oats! Soo good

pathofresistance81

Date balls.

ktekc

if i really want a muffin i have one or better yet one of the muffin tops the bakery in my grocery store sells. none of the unwanted dry bottom bit to waste calories on. . that said i do enjoy the muffin recipe on the back of the protein kodiak flapjack mix box.

rheddmobile

As a diabetic with pretty low tolerance for carbs I'm stuck with either small portions or "healthier" variations. My experience has been that cutting out added sugar completely for two weeks sort of resets my taste buds and then fruit and other natural sugars taste much sweeter, while sweetened foods taste really too sweet. Try eating fruit more often, and smaller muffins less often.

I sometimes make lower glycemic baked goods using bananas, canned pumpkin, or other fruits replacing part of the sugar. Grinding oats, seeds, or nuts into flour and replacing part of the flour also helps (although if your concern is calories, not carbs, it can be even higher calorie.) A smaller amount of honey or maple syrup gives more flavor than an equivalent amount of white sugar, and spices such as cinnamon or ginger can also make baked goods more flavorful with less sweetener. Low calorie add ins such as cranberries and dark chocolate also help. Some people use stevia, but unfortunately I don't like the taste or the way it reacts when baking as well.

On an everyday basis, my most common desserts are almond milk latte with cinnamon and dark chocolate (50 cal), Greek yogurt with berries, dark chocolate squares, or fresh fruit.

estherdragonbat

You could just make them smaller... http://www.milkfreemom.com/cinnamon-sugar-mini-donut-muffins/

These come in at 75 calories apiece (I subtracted the leftover topping ingredients that didn't actually make it onto the muffin.) Soooooo good!

I don't really look at "healthy" desserts, per se. I set a limit of 200 calories/serving on them. Which allows me a number of fruit-based desserts, sorbets, cookies, unfrosted cakes and squares, and even chocolate truffles.

OhMsDiva

I actually have made many healthier versions of muffins that were pretty good. I am not a muffin fanatic, but they served a purpose for me. My sister loved them also. I just google healthy whatever I am looking for. Some were hits and some were not. Also if I want a cookie I will have a cookie. I just know I cannot have a whole sleeve like I used to eat, but normally a few cookies satiates my craving if that is what I want.

ashley52601

For the most part, I agree with the others on not liking lightened versions. These however, are fairly low calorie (150ish?) and I LOVE them. I usually make a half batch and add a few chocolate chips and a couple chopped pecans but they are very yummy without those additions. https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/peanut-butter-banana-and-honey-muffins/