Love sweets but want healthier options? We can help. Desserts don’t have to be all bad news. As healthy lifestyles become more commonplace, the food industry is meeting demand.
Fruit is naturally sweet and much better than sugar. Add healthy nuts and seeds to desserts for a nutritious crunch.
Vegan Substitutes
- White sugar substitute: Agave or unprocessed sugar (evaporated cane juice sugar)
- Egg substitute: Egg replacer or apple sauce
- Chocolate chips: Sunspire or Enjoy Life chocolate chips
- Marshmallows: Trader Joe’s or Dandies vegan marshmallows
- Cream cheese substitute: Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
- Butter substitute: Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
Healthy Dessert Recipes
Apple Crisp
Filling
- 6 cups thinly sliced Granny Smith or Fuji apples
- ¼ cup unbleached flour
- ¾ cup evaporated cane juice sugar
- 2 cups organic oats
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup dried blueberries
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Crumb Topping
- 1 cup unbleached flour
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 8 tablespoons butter substitute
Directions:
STEP 1: In a large bowl, mix flour, cane juice sugar, oats, cinnamon, vanilla and blueberries. Add apple slices and toss. Set aside.
STEP 2: For crumb topping, combine flour and brown sugar in a stand mixer on medium speed. Add the butter substitute by tablespoons. Mix until the mixture looks like crumbly sand.
STEP 3: Spoon the apples into a baking dish. Top with crumble. Cover the dish with foil and place on a cookie sheet for easy cleaning.
STEP 4: Bake covered for 40 minutes. Remove foil, turn oven to 350 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes until brown.
Fruit Pizza
Ingredients:
1 store-bought refrigerated pizza dough (Trader Joe’s has a good vegan pizza crust
Cream Cheese Filling
- 6 tablespoons of Earth Balance butter substitute
- 8 ounces tofu cream cheese
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
NOTE: You can also substitute the cream cheese topping with peanut or almond butter.
Fruit topping
- Peaches
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Kiwi
- Pears
- Apples
- Bananas
- Agave for drizzling
NOTE: Use fruits that are in season for a healthier, cheaper dish.
Directions:
STEP 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
STEP 2: On a floured surface, roll out pizza dough into desired shape to ¼ inch thick. Place on a baking sheet and cook until brown. Let cool.
STEP 3: In a mixer, beat butter substitute on medium-high speed until smooth. Add cream cheese and mix until combined. Slowly add powdered sugar, then vanilla extract. Spread evenly on pizza crust.
STEP 4: Cut all fruit to ¼ inch thick. Arrange fruit on top of cream cheese filling. Drizzle with agave.
Sweet and Salty Pretzel Rods
Ingredients:
- 24 pretzel rods
- 1 ½ pounds vegan chocolate chips
- 1 cup crumbled sandwich cookies
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1 cup chopped pistachios
- 1 cup crushed peppermint candy
Directions:
STEP 1: Line a cookie sheet with wax paper or nonstick foil.
STEP 2: Pour chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl, cover and heat until melted. Remove from microwave and set aside.
STEP 3: Place toppings in separate bowls for dipping.
STEP 4: Dip 2 pretzel rods together at the same time into the bowl of chocolate and spread the chocolate on the rods using a spatula. Be sure to leave an inch at the top of the pretzel for handling.
STEP 5: Cover the chocolate rods with the toppings of your choice.
STEP 6: Place dipped and coated pretzel rods on wax paper and let them set for a few hours before serving.
