Healthy Holiday Desserts

The holidays are a time to celebrate and enjoy family, food and festivities! When it comes to desserts- you can enjoy the traditional version or make small alterations to improve the nutritional value without compromising taste! See what you can add to your recipes to transform sweets into healthier treats.

• Incorporate fruit. Choose a fruit-based recipe like poached pears, baked cinnamon apples or fruit compote
• Make it mini. Make bite-sized versions of dessert to reduce portions without impacting the original recipe. Try mini cheesecakes or slice bars or fudge into bite-sized tastes.
• Replace white flour with mashed beans to create a high protein high fiber treat!
• Add nuts and dried fruit to spice cakes or cookies to add vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and healthy fats
• Reduce the amount of sugar by adding more vanilla or sweeten desserts with dried fruit or dates in place of sugar
• Use nut-butter based desserts to add protein and healthy fats. Make buckeyes with dark chocolate and reduce sugar by adding vanilla
• Serve up a healthy dose of vitamin A by using pumpkin as a base for cookies, cakes or puddings

Try these crowd-pleasing recipes. The apple pinto spice cake leaves guests guessing as to what the ‘secret’ ingredient might be.

Apple-Pinto Spice Cake

Pumpkin Chia Pudding

This holiday season, make tiny shifts to create guilt-free desserts and feel good that you are serving up tasty healthy treats!