Recipes for a sweet tooth

I also have a HUGE sweet tooth. Here are my hacks:

I make smoothies at home ALL the time. They are super sweet, and a HUGE smoothie ( 2 cups) with frozen fruit some unsweetened Greek yogurt, Stevia sweetener, and coco powder tastes like chocolate and is less than 200ish calories.

Look up some recipes for avocado double chocolate chip cookies - SO GOOD! They are not necessarily low calorie, but definitely more healthy and really dark chocolaty and fudgy.

I buy Zevia soda, the fruit flavors are the best, and it is zero calorie without aspartame.

One trick I've found is to use the same recipes, but just trim the sugar down - it seems like this is especially applicable in American recipes. I don't bake a lot of desserts, but I have found that I can cut the sugar down quite substantially without a noticeable impact on flavor or texture. For icing I will make half the recommended amount because then I don't have to feel bad about not using it all (seriously, why am I making enough to frost *two* cakes rather generously when the stated recipe is just for one?)

There's also weighing the ingredients for more precision and eating smaller portions, too. Not always fun, but it's a way to still have your favorites without feeling like "oh gross this is just diet dessert."

For pies, crisps, and cobblers you can use a mix of sweeter and tart fruits so you're not relying just on the sauce for sweetness. Local fruit is often smaller but sweeter and less iffy on eating right when it's very ripe, because it didn't have to travel as far to get to you.

I like to make my own whipped cream (very easy if you have a stand mixer with whisk attachment). Heavy cream, a touch of powdered sugar, and vanilla. Cover the mixer with a kitchen towel to avoid splatter and gradually crank that baby up all the way. (You can also skip the sugar and vanilla and if you run it longer you can make your own butter! Did that as a history/science project with my kids this year.) It's less sweet than buying it. I like it to top fruit as an easy summer treat - it feels fancier than just having fruit (also an option), but it's lower calorie and less effort than actually cooking something.

Some sweet recipes I use:

Chia pudding - I use with vanilla & FlaxMilk. Sometimes I add in berries or dragonfruit.

Cottage cheese and berries

Dragonfruit custard - dragonfruit, coconut milk, sweetener

Baked pears or baked apples with ricotta topping

Any sorbet - fruit or vegetable of choice .. make purée, add fruit or sweetener and freeze or chill on ice cream setting in Vitamix. Spinach sorbet in vitamix is surprisingly good.

I've successfully made meringue for pavlova swapping out half the sugar by volume with Stevia. To cut down calories in a pavlova, swap out some or all of the whipped cream with no fat yoghurt. Top with fresh fruit.

Creme caramel and creme brulee (if you have a blow torch) also works with a sugar substitute in the pudding body. You will need to to use real sugar for the caramel.

Combine however you'd like, with whatever you'd like:
Lite 'cool whip' (whipped topping) - 10 cal/tbsp
Reduced calorie swiss miss (40 calories/packet)
Cocoa powder (unsweetened - 5 calories tbsp)
Graham crackers - 130 calories for two sheets
Mini tootsie pops - 60 calories per three - these are my favorite because they last a bit
Sugar free jello mix (I don't remember the calories but low and I never use a whole pack)
Sugar free jam/jelly (about 10 calories tbsp)
Sugar free hershey's syrup (5 cal per tbsp)
Outside (or other all fruit) frozen bars - 40-70ish calories each
Fudge bars (regular old fudgcicles) - 80 calories.

The cocoa powder or hot chocolate mix I regularly put in my coffee.
Whipped topping with strawberries dipped in is delicious.
Frozen whipped topping between graham crackers (2 sheets, each broken in half) and frozen and it's an 'ice cream sandwich' that's 210 calories for FOUR)
Jelly and cocoa powder and hot chocolate mix are great in oatmeal
Jello pudding mix in greek yogurt = pudding that's delicious and proteiny.

All of the above said, my go to at this point is a serving of kodiak cakes oatmeal + a tbsp of nutella. Comes out to about 300 calories between the two which isn't exactly *low* calorie, but it's a sweet meal and it's protein/fat/fiber and sticks with me a LONG time.

Well that and 'save 200 calories, eat a candybar'. That's my real go to. Today's was mocha kitkat

I have dessert every day as I have a massive sweet tooth. Saving some calories for a treat really helps my motivation. Some of my favourites:

Mini ice cream pots
Small chocolate bar
Baked apple, made by cutting out the core and replacing with raisins mixed with some brown sugar.
Merangue nest with fruit and low calorie whipped cream.