Chocolate dessert substitutes

dpeiffer85
dpeiffer85 Posts: 7 Member
Help! Sorry men...it's almost my time of the month, and all I want to eat is brownies, ice cream, or cake! What can I do to curve these cravings? Each month, I end up killing my daily goals because I give in to the desserts. Please respond with helpful recipes or substitutions.
«1

Replies

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Single servings are great for me. Ghiradelli dark chocolate comes in individually wrapped squares.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Cocoa powder has a fraction of the fat of regular chocolate.

    http://dailyburn.com/life/recipes/healthy-mug-cake-recipes/

    http://www.skinnytaste.com/pb2-flourless-chocolate-brownies/

    Egg whites or flavourless gelatine whip up in to a nice mousse which adds volume to your dessert. Both also add protein.

    http://www.scottishslimmers.com/recipes/215-skinny-chocolate-mousse

    https://www.healthyfood.co.nz/articles/2011/september/ask-niki-fromage-frais-substitute
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    edited October 2017
    Lindt truffles. Limit yourself to 1 or 2. Works for me, anyway.

    eta: I'm a guy, so I don't have to deal with TOM. YMMV
  • H_Ock12
    H_Ock12 Posts: 1,152 Member
    A protein shake with chocolate milk and chocolate protein powder.
  • anniee1
    anniee1 Posts: 17 Member
    edited October 2017
    Try a few squares of dark chocolate. Or melt the chocolate and dip fruit in it, banana, strawberries, makes it go further. Or sometimes something sweet like a ‘light’ hot chocolate which are around 40 calories with just hot water. They normally curve my cravings. Or distract yourself by reading or having a bath or going for a walk :)
  • vegmebuff
    vegmebuff Posts: 31,389 Member
    Cocoa powder is wonderful. 1 tbsp. is generally around 10-15 calories. Mix into oatmeal, yogurt, etc., Sprinkle some Stevia on top - maybe some sort of extract (vanilla/caramel/maple, etc.,) and yummy.

    Try out Chocolate Covered Katie's blog. She offers lots of lower calorie desserts.

    A community member just gave me his Chocolate Cupcake recipe that I will be trying too:

    4 scoops chocolate protein powder for me thats (1.3 cups)
    ½ cup zero calo sweetened (erythritol)
    ¼ cup coconut flour
    ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    4 teaspoons baking powder
    1 teaspoon salt
    1.25 cup unsweetened almond milk
    10 squares 99% dark Lindt dark chocolate, chopped
    4 egg whites
    4 teaspoons vanilla extract

    Make:
    Preheat oven to 350°F.
    Spray your muffin tins (I use silicone trays)
    In a bowl mix up all the dry stuff (protein powder, erythritol, coconut flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt).
    Place 1 cup of the almond milk with half of the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe cup.
    Microwave for 1 minute and stir until smooth.
    Do this until completely melted.
    Add remaining ¼ cup almond milk, egg whites, and vanilla extract to the melted chocolate and stir well.
    Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until completely combined.
    Scoop half the batter into the prepared muffin tin (so the cups are half full).
    Sprinkle some of the remaining chopped chocolate onto the batter.
    Cover each of the cups with the remaining batter.
    Bake in the oven at 350°F for 20 minutes, for me, or until done.
    Let cool and devour.

    Each muffin is around 80cal.
  • vegmebuff
    vegmebuff Posts: 31,389 Member
    crazyravr wrote: »
    vegmebuff wrote: »
    Cocoa powder is wonderful. 1 tbsp. is generally around 10-15 calories. Mix into oatmeal, yogurt, etc., Sprinkle some Stevia on top - maybe some sort of extract (vanilla/caramel/maple, etc.,) and yummy.

    Try out Chocolate Covered Katie's blog. She offers lots of lower calorie desserts.

    A community member just gave me his Chocolate Cupcake recipe that I will be trying too:

    4 scoops chocolate protein powder for me thats (1.3 cups)
    ½ cup zero calo sweetened (erythritol)
    ¼ cup coconut flour
    ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    4 teaspoons baking powder
    1 teaspoon salt
    1.25 cup unsweetened almond milk
    10 squares 99% dark Lindt dark chocolate, chopped
    4 egg whites
    4 teaspoons vanilla extract

    Make:
    Preheat oven to 350°F.
    Spray your muffin tins (I use silicone trays)
    In a bowl mix up all the dry stuff (protein powder, erythritol, coconut flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt).
    Place 1 cup of the almond milk with half of the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe cup.
    Microwave for 1 minute and stir until smooth.
    Do this until completely melted.
    Add remaining ¼ cup almond milk, egg whites, and vanilla extract to the melted chocolate and stir well.
    Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until completely combined.
    Scoop half the batter into the prepared muffin tin (so the cups are half full).
    Sprinkle some of the remaining chopped chocolate onto the batter.
    Cover each of the cups with the remaining batter.
    Bake in the oven at 350°F for 20 minutes, for me, or until done.
    Let cool and devour.

    Each muffin is around 80cal.

    Ohhhhhhhhhhh man I would so have one those right now... ohhh wait ;)

    :D
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    Dark chocolate. You can break a few squares off a bar if you won't feel tempted to eat the whole bar, or if you need single servings, I like Ghirardelli 72% squares. Dark chocolate squares tend to run about 50-75 calories each depending on the brand.
  • Kalex1975
    Kalex1975 Posts: 427 Member
    edited October 2017
    I've been on a peanut butter powder and Greek yogurt crusade lately but it also works with cocoa...

    1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
    2 tablespoons Hershey natural cocoa
    2-3 squeezes Splenda Zero (or sweetener of your choice)
    1 spoonful of water (adjust to the consistency you prefer)

    85 calories, 11 carbs, 1 fat, 14 protein
  • morganmachek403
    morganmachek403 Posts: 2 Member
    Mini chocolate chip or Oreo cookies. They come in little packs of just over 100 calories. Might curve the craving!
  • morganmachek403
    morganmachek403 Posts: 2 Member
    I've also given in and had a chocolate dipped brownie, as long as it fit in my calories.
  • jbbjbb2017
    jbbjbb2017 Posts: 10 Member
    I eat a couple of squares of Lindt 85% almost every night. In the winter I make my own hot cocoa mix so I can limit the sugar. It has cinnamon in it which is sweet and a beverage mix called Postum.
  • Sunnybrooke99
    Sunnybrooke99 Posts: 369 Member
    The only thing that helps chocolate cravings for me is not getting started. Otherwise, I do hot coco made from cocoa powder and hot water in my French press, with some almost milk (that’s just what I have) and a little sugar.

    I also occasionally make brownies from mix, adding just a can of pumpkin. They are really fudgey and thick, kinda like those little Debbie brownies. I think 90 cal each by the box’s serving size. I spread them on a piece of foil in the pan, so that they don’t stick.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    edited October 2017
    Eat at maintenance for a day or two, and work some nice chocolate treats into your day.

    Accept no substitutes :tongue:
  • Mithridites
    Mithridites Posts: 600 Member
    Rocky Road Quest bar today curbed it nicely
  • Alendralouise
    Alendralouise Posts: 116 Member
    I just made this and you could replace the protein powders with whatever you have:

    - 300ml cold pre-made filter coffee (left over from breakfast!)
    - 15g soy protein isolate powder
    - 18g Vivo raw plant protein powder in Madagascan vanilla
    - 8g cocoa powder (add more if you want it stronger - raw cacao powder is better nutritionally but I had cocoa to hand and wanted the really rich chocolatey taste)
    - 300ml almond milk, unsweetened
    - 100g frozen berries (I used mainly blackberries and strawberries)

    I drank it from a champagne glass and it was DIVINE. I've added it to my diary just now which is open if you want to add me and see the calories etc.
  • ck2d
    ck2d Posts: 372 Member
    I'm on keto. My fave is to make chocolate whipped cream and freeze it. Divine.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    good quality dark chocolate, weight it, log it....and enjoy s l o w l y :smiley:
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    dpeiffer85 wrote: »
    Help! Sorry men...it's almost my time of the month, and all I want to eat is brownies, ice cream, or cake! What can I do to curve these cravings? Each month, I end up killing my daily goals because I give in to the desserts. Please respond with helpful recipes or substitutions.

    how about chocolate? (1/2 a typical commercial chocolate bar is only ~100-120 calories). (won't have all the extra starch calories of the brownies or cake, or the extra fat calories of the ice cream).

    If adding cocoa powder to something else (like yogurt or coffee or something) satisfies the cravings, then try that...that stuff is only a handful of calories per spoonful.
  • Hecka_Rebecca
    Hecka_Rebecca Posts: 50 Member
    I make these https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/pumpkin-brownies-nutrition/ and reduce the maple syrup to 1 tbsp and add some liquid stevia instead. They're really chocolately and freeze well so you can just pack away the rest before you get tempted to eat the whole pan.

    Chocolate nice cream is pretty good too: 1 banana (frozen) blended with 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 0.5 cup almond milk, and 2-3 tbsp of cocoa powder. The cocoa powder is really key to get it to taste rich and decadent.
  • jesspen91
    jesspen91 Posts: 1,383 Member
    Buy really good quality chocolate. I'm talking stuff like this https://cocoarunners.com/ it's on the pricier side but I can make these bars last ages because one square completely satisfies my chocolate cravings. Cheap milk chocolate is designed so that you overeat it as the flavour dissipates quickly, these ones keep the flavour around and it evolves and is just delicious. I used to settle for any chocolate but since trying these my eyes have been opened.

    However, if I'm still not satisfied, I go for low calorie hot chocolate made with water. It's only 40 calories and hot enough that I have to drink it slowly.
  • tami139
    tami139 Posts: 14 Member
    A blended chocolate protein shake is my dessert of choice. Cuts off the night time cravings also
  • x96bara
    x96bara Posts: 1 Member
    Skinny cow salted pretzel ice cream bars. Yummy!!!!
  • Speziface
    Speziface Posts: 1,687 Member
    I have two go-to options:

    1) a regular tub of Greek vanilla yogurt into which I stir 2 tablespoons of Ovaltine and 1/2 tablespoon of cocoa powder

    2) a serving of steel cut oats flavored with 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and sweetener of choice to taste. Occasionally I'll stir in an egg for a more brownie-like texture.
  • rundgrenrocks
    rundgrenrocks Posts: 85 Member
    I keep small chocolate bars in the freezer. When they are frozen they remind me to eat them a little more slowly!