20 Mouthwatering (And Guilt-Free) Desserts
Skip the guilt, but don’t skip dessert with these mouthwatering recipes. Featuring portion-controlled, vegan, paleo and naturally sweetened variations of your favourite treats, these sweets are super easy to make and won’t derail your diet.
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Try one tonight – and another one tomorrow.
Microwave Mug Cakes
Craving cake? Baking a cake can not only be time consuming, but having a whole cake lying around can make it very tempting to overindulge. The mug cake is the perfect solution, as it’s quick and single-serving. Try these healthier mug cake recipes the next time you’ve got a hankering for a soft, moist slice of heaven.
Chocolate Covered Katie’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake in a Mug is vegan and sugar-free.
Also try her Chocolate Mug Cake with Banana Molten Lava Filling.
The Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake recipe for two from the blog Desserts For Two is a rich, chocolatey treat that also happens to be egg-free.
Gluten-free baking blog Free Range Cookies has the perfect recipe for Instant Carrot Cake, which can be microwaved in mini Bundt cake pans.
Get an extra dose of vitamin A by indulging in Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake from Kirbie’s Cravings. Pumpkin is a good source of beta-carotene, a compound that your body metabolizes as vitamin A.
Homemade Ice Cream
Is there anything better than ice cream? Well, yes: homemade ice cream! Store-brand ice cream often contains high amounts of refined sugar, along with other less-than-nutritious additives. Making ice cream at home allows you to control the ingredients in your dessert, and it’s surprisingly easy to make.
Consider investing in a small ice cream maker to whip up your treats. They don’t cost much and they make cleanup a breeze. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you’ll just need a freezer and some elbow grease.
Chocolate ice cream without milk and refined sugar does exist, and it can be totally delicious. The Detoxinista has an amazing recipe for Chocolate Coconut-Milk Ice Cream.
Or use almond milk to make Dairy Free Chocolate Ice Cream by the Minimalist Baker.
This Spumoni Ice Cream Terrine from the Brown Eyed Baker is the perfect end to a meal of Italian food. Lighten up this recipe by replacing half the sugar with an equivalent amount of stevia. (Check the stevia package to get the correct conversion, since stevia is much sweeter than sugar.)
If you prefer a tart dessert, this recipe for Pinkberry-Style Frozen Yogurt should fit the bill nicely.
Love coffee and ice cream? Running to the Kitchen’s Coconut Coffee Ice Cream is the treat you’ve been searching for. This homemade concoction is chock full of coconut flavour with a punch of coffee.
Paleo Desserts
Paleo dieters avoid grain and dairy – two dessert staples! Fortunately, clever paleo gourmets have created desserts that stay true to the diet’s tenants.
The taste of an Almond Joy no longer has to be a guilty pleasure. Thanks to Rawmazing.com’s Raw Almond Joy Bars.
The salty-sweet combination of Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind’s Paleo Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bites will have you wondering why the whole world hasn’t gone paleo.
A gooey classic has been reinvented as a paleo-friendly indulgence: Paleo Chocolate Molten Lava Cake.
You may not want to dunk them in a cold glass of milk but still these Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies are good enough to eat on their own.
Dessert or breakfast? Why not dessert for breakfast! Enjoy a Paleo Cinnamon Roll any time of day.
Fruits
Fruit is sweet, loaded with vitamins, minerals and fibre, and it’s low in calories. It’s pretty much the perfect dessert.
You’ll never look at bananas the same after eating Rachel Schultz’s easy recipe for “Fried” Honey Bananas.
Cocoa-nut Apples from food blog PaleoPorn are easy to make and an ideal passed dessert at parties.
Finish off your next barbecue with something truly sweet: Grilled Pineapple. This sweet treat is nutritious and easy to make for any outdoor festivity.
Grilled peaches with honey and yogurt are a crowd pleaser, too.
Skip cocktails and opt for a mojito-inspired dessert with Iowa Girl Eats’ Mojito Fruit Salad. It will satisfy your cravings for a fresh cocktail and for dessert in one delicious, alcohol-free recipe!