Yummy Guilt-Free Desserts

If you’re like me, then you often find yourself craving something sweet. It’s a thing. Sharing some favorite sweet treats that are a much healthier options, a lot of these delicious guilt free desserts involve chocolate and they are still pretty good and healthy. Which is good enough for me! First off is this non-dairy chocolate pudding made with avocado (it’s amazing).

 

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Cashew Carrot Bread

This cashew carrot bread is a delicious desserts spin on zucchini bread and would be perfect paired with coffee in te morning!

Cashew Carrot Bread

1 cup grated carrots

1/2 cup cashews
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Greek yogurt

Wash, peel, and grate (or shred) your carrots. I got lazy and shredded mine in a food processor instead of grating them by hand.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar and softened butter, and cream together until the mixture becomes a pale yellow. Stir in the eggs and vanilla.

In another bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together.

Combine the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients along with the carrots, cashews, and Greek yogurt. Stir until just combined. Spoon the batter into a buttered baking dish. Bake at 325°F for 55-60 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

For the glaze (if using), whisk together 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 2-3 tablespoons milk. Pour over the still warm loaf just before serving.

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Dairy-Free Vanilla Ice Cream

Ice cream is our favorite summer treat! You’ll love this dairy-free vanilla version, and you can get creative with your toppings. Yum…

Dairy-Free Vanilla Ice Cream

I love ice cream. I especially love hot fudge sundaes. Trey can tell you, I pretty much try to con him into getting hot fudge sundaes every week. I’m shameless.

This is no ordinary sundae, as the base of this is something totally delicious but a little bit unexpected. This ice cream recipe is soy-based, so if you’re vegan or just dairy free for whatever reason, I highly recommend you give this a try. It’s a treat!

Dairy-Free Vanilla Ice Cream, makes one quart.

• two 8 oz. packages of dairy-free cream cheese (I used Tofutti brand)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 cups soy milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or the seeds from one vanilla bean

Allow the cream cheese to soften to room temperature. Whip the sugar and vanilla into the cream cheese. Then slowly add the milk so the mixture is well combined and free of lumps. Refrigerate the mixture until cold (at least 2 hours or overnight).Now pour the ice cream batter into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer instructions (all ice cream makers work a little bit differently).

The ice cream right out of the maker tends to be more of a soft serve consistency. If you like your consistency a little more solid, more scoop-able if you will, then freeze the ice cream again overnight.

Above, you see the consistency of this ice cream recipe if you freeze it the additional night after making it, it will be the perfect consistency, if you ask me. But, like I said, if you like soft serve then you’ll have less time to wait for your homemade ice cream. Top with hot fudge, sprinkles, cookie dough, or chopped up Oreo bits. Did you know Oreos are vegan-friendly?

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Gluten free PB & J Thumbprint

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are timeless, and it doesn’t matter how old you are; sometimes you just want to eat one for lunch. These PB & J thumbprint cookies are gluten-free, so you can eat as many as you want. Right?

Gluten Free PB & J Thumbprint Cookies

• 1/2 cup gluten-free oat flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg
• jelly of choice (I used blackberry)

In a food processor coarsely chop the peanuts. In a bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and peanuts. Now stir in the peanut butter and egg. If your batter doesn’t stick together well, feel free to add a few more tablespoons of peanut butter.

Form into 12 small balls and place on a prepared baking sheet. Press your thumb into the center of each cookie, leaving a small crater. Spoon in a dollop of jelly into each cookie. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes.

These should still be on the soft side (I left mine in for 12 minutes, and I wish I had taken them out at 10).I say these are accidentally gluten free because I had been planning to use all purpose flour but realized I was nearly out. I happened to have gluten free oat flour, so I used it instead, and the rest of the ingredients were already gluten free.

I am NOT a gluten free expert. But I will say that if you plan to make these for a gluten free friend, be sure to check your jelly label and take care not to cross contaminate while working in your kitchen to ensure it’s truly gluten free.

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Healthy Chocolate Banana Shake

Try this healthy chocolate banana shake is another great very delicious worry free dessert, the next time you are having a late-night sweets craving.

Healthy Chocolate Banana Shake

• 1 frozen, ripe banana
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cacao powder
• 1 tablespoon almond butter (crunchy or smooth)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

The sweetness in this shake is coming from the banana, so the riper your banana is, the sweeter your shake will be. To freeze your banana, peel the banana and cut it into inch-wide slices and put into a plastic freezer bag. (Cutting it into slices first will help the frozen banana blend easier.) Place the bag into the freezer for several hours until the banana slices are fully frozen. Add the frozen banana to the rest of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. If your blender needs more liquid to handle the frozen banana, you can add more of the almond milk or a dash of water. This is seriously the kind of chocolate shake that would shock someone who doesn’t know that it’s healthy. I like to keep the same freezer bag for my frozen bananas and keep adding new slices when it gets low.

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Greek yogurt Protein-Packed

Jump start your morning with some protein-packed Greek yogurt! We show you how to make our four favorite flavors, like lemon meringue and banana bread.

Greek yogurt Protein-Packed

Banana Bread Greek Yogurt:

You’ll need one ripe banana, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, 7 oz. greek yogurt (one small container), and a few walnuts or banana chips. Mash up the banana and stir into the yogurt. Stir in the extract, and top with nuts or banana chips. This one is awesome for breakfast.

Chocolate Pudding Greek Yogurt:

You’ll need 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons instant chocolate pudding and 7 oz. greek yogurt. Stir together. Stir well; you don’t want any clumps of powder. This one is probably my favorite because as you stir, the yogurt will begin to thicken—like chocolate mousse. Top with fresh fruit. I personally think this makes a better afternoon snack or light dessert than a breakfast because it feels so decadent, even though it’s pretty healthy. You could also freeze this and have a really great frozen yogurt treat!

 Cookie Dough Greek Yogurt:

This one is another almost dessert. I first saw cookie dough greek yogurt here. To make this, you’ll need 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter, 1 tablespoon honey, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, and a few mini chocolate chips. Mix together and enjoy this treat!

Lemon Meringue Greek Yogurt:

I discovered this combination last week while making Citrus Tarts. To make lemon meringue greek yogurt, you’ll need 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon curd (homemade or store bought is fine) and 7 oz. greek yogurt. Stir together and top with granola. I love this for breakfast because the citrus really wakes you up. Yum!

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Homemade Nutella

Nutella is insanely good and addictive. Instead of eating it from the jar (we have all done it!), make this dairy-free and no added sugar version.

Homemade Nutella (no dairy or added sugar)

• 2 cups raw hazelnuts
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/3 cup raw, unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons date syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 8-10 drops of liquid stevia

First

You’ll want to turn your hazelnuts into hazelnut butter (of course if you can find it already made, you can skip this step and just use about a cup of hazelnut butter). Preheat your oven to 400°F and lay your hazelnuts out on a dry baking sheet. Roast hazelnuts in the oven for ten minutes (give them a stir halfway through). The skins will darken and split, and the exposed hazelnut should look lightly toasted and golden brown. Keep an eye on them after eight minutes of roasting, you don’t want to burn them. These smell so good when you pull them out of the oven.

Allow the nuts to cool for five minutes, then transfer them to a thin dish or hand towel to remove the outer shell. It’s possible that this process will stain the towel a bit, so don’t use your favorite one.

Wrap the warm hazelnuts in the middle of the towel, and while you hold the top closed with one hand, roll the nuts around on the countertop. The motion of the hazelnuts grinding against each other will cause the toasted skins to flake off easily, and you should be left with naked (gasp!) hazelnuts. There will be a few stubborn ones in the batch that refuse to lose their shells, so you can either peel those by hand or just leave them in anyway (a little bit of shell won’t affect the taste).

Transfer your de-shelled hazelnuts to a food processor and blend together until they become smooth and creamy. Our food processor isn’t anything fancy, and it only took about two minutes for the hazelnuts to turn into butter, but you may have to blend longer depending on your machine.Once your hazelnut butter is prepared, add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. You can also experiment with other types of non-dairy milks (like coconut milk!). Keep your spread in an airtight container in the fridge. My favorite guilt free yummy desserts way to eat Nutella is on bread with strawberries sliced on top.

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Melon Sorbet

Use fresh cantaloupe and honeydew melons to make this super easy guilt-free desserts melon sorbet without an ice cream machine.

Melon Sorbet, makes 3-4 servings

Instead of melons, you could easily use any kind of berries, peaches, or plums (skins removed). I would not, however, recommend making this with apples or grapes, I think the texture would change substantially, just FYI.  I lightly flavored mine with mint, but you can leave that out if you don’t much care for mint.

Melons delicious guilt-free desserts

4-5 cups melon cut into small cubes (outer skin removed)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 sprig of fresh mint
2 teaspoons meringue powder
2 tablespoons water

Cut up the melon and place in a big ziplock bag. Freeze overnight.

In a pot, whisk together the sugar and water over medium/high heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, add the mint, and allow to steep for 30 minutes. Remove the mint and reserve the syrup until you need it.

In a small bowl, whisk together the meringue powder and water. Whisk until you create a lot of foam. This is an egg white substitute. You could use egg whites if you prefer, but since we aren’t cooking them I feel it’s safer to simply use the substitute. This adds a nice creamy texture to the sorbet.

In a food processor, combine the frozen fruit, syrup, and egg whites (a.k.a. the meringue powder + water mixture). Blend just until smooth.

Your sorbet is ready to serve right out of the food processor. If you don’t plan to consume it all right away, be sure to store it in the freezer or it will not retain its sorbet consistency.

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Chocolate Oranges

Remember those chocolate oranges wrapped in foil? These guilt-free desserts healthy brownies have the same taste, but they are made with date syrup, avocado, and other goodies.

Chocolate Oranges

• 1/4 cup barely ripe avocado
• 1 cup date syrup (I LOVE this stuff, so great!)
• 1/4 teaspoon stevia powder or 1/2 teaspoon stevia liquid
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup light tasting oil (like safflower, sunflower, or olive oil)
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
• 1/3 cup unsweetened plain or vanilla almond milk
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee
• 3/4 cup gluten-free flour (use a brand that is a 1:1 ratio for regular flour)
• 1/2 cup gluten-free oat flour
• 3/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 1 tablespoon psyllium husks
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened carob chips

Note:

If your grocery store doesn’t carry them, check your local health food store for the date syrup, stevia powder/liquid, psyllium husks, and unsweetened carob chips (or check the links if you don’t have a health food store nearby). These are all items that I use a lot in healthy baking, so they are great products to have on hand.Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil an 8″ x 8″ baking pan, or line pan with parchment paper.

In a food processor, add the avocado, date syrup, stevia, vanilla, oil, flax, almond milk, and instant coffee. Blend until smooth. Add in the flour, oat flour, cacao, psyllium husks, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and carob chips. Blend until all the ingredients are incorporated (the batter should be pretty thick).
Add the orange zest and orange extract, and blend to combine. The amount of orange listed will result in a light orange flavor, so you can add a bit more extract to taste at this point if you want a stronger flavor. Stir in the carob chips by hand.

Scrape the batter into the pan and spread flat with the back of a spoon (the batter will be really sticky, but do your best to spread it flat). Bake for 25-30 minutes, but check frequently after the 25-minute point. I take the brownies out when all but the bottom 1/2″ of the toothpick comes out clean—this gives the brownies a fudgy consistency once they cool, but you can leave them in longer for more of a cake-like result. Allow the brownies to cool for 15 minutes (if you can!) and then dig in!

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No Bake Cheesecakes

These individual strawberry cheesecakes are the perfect treat to serve guests at a party, and they don’t require an oven (added bonus!).

No Bake Cheesecake guiltly free desserts

The filling:
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups raw unsalted cashews
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons virgin coconut oil
2 tablespoons Lakanto (you can also substitute another sugar replacement of your choice or maple syrup to taste)
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups quartered strawberries

The crust:
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup pecans (you can also just double the almonds if you don’t like pecans, but I like the two combined)
1/2 cups pitted dates
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

First

you’ll need to soak your cashews in a bowl of water overnight. Drain the water the next day, rinse, and thoroughly dry cashews on a paper towel. Set aside 1/2 cup of the cashews, and put the remaining 1 1/2 cups into a food processor with the applesauce, vanilla extract, coconut oil, Lakanto (or other substitute), cinnamon, salt, and lemon juice.

Blend the ingredients together until smooth, and scoop out 1/2 of the blended mixture and put in a small bowl. Add the strawberries and the reserved 1/2 cup cashews to the remaining mixture in the food processor, and blend until smooth. Pour this mixture into a separate bowl, and rinse out the food processor.

To make the crust, add all the crust ingredients into the food processor and blend until the mixture sticks together. Lightly oil the inside of four ring molds. Evenly scoop the crust mixture into four ring molds and use a spatula to press the crusts into the bottom of the molds.

Spoon your plain filling evenly on top of each crust, and repeat with your strawberry filling. Chill overnight. Once set, slide a metal knife or spatula under the crust, and transfer to your serving plate. Pull the ring mold upwards, and your cheesecake should slide right out. Serve immediately. You can also use a regular pie pan and make one big dessert if you don’t have ring molds, or little short mason jars—whatever you want!

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Chocolate-covered cherry shake

Instead of ordering a large shake after indulging in a burger and fries, try this healthy delicious guilt-free desserts homemade chocolate-covered cherry shake.

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Shake (Non-Dairy!)

1/2-3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze Almond Milk
1 1/2 cups frozen pitted cherries
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 frozen ripe banana

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Baked Fruit

If you haven’t tried baked fruit yet, you are missing out on some of the best guilt-free desserts! They are like mini pies. So good!

Baked Fruit

Here are a few of my favorites.

Baked Peach Parfait, makes 4 servings.

Needed: 2 peaches, 1/2 cup oats, 1/8 cup olive oil, 1/8 cup maple syrup or honey, a few pinches of cinnamon, and a handful of chopped pecans.

In a small bowl, combine the oats, oil, sweetener, cinnamon and pecans. Stir, making sure every oat is coated in oil and sweetener. Slice peaches in half and remove pits. Fill with oat filling and bake at 400 F for 15-18 minutes, until softened and the skin begins to pull away from the fruit. Garnish with whipped cream.Baked Grapefruit, makes 4 servings. This is great for breakfast or a light dessert!

Grapefruits and a conservative handful of brown sugar.

Slice grapefruits in half and remove as many seeds as you can. Begin to segment the grapefruit—this will allow the sugar to soak in even more. Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 400 F for 16-18 minutes.Baked Apples (or “Opposite Apple Pie” if you’re feeling clever, and I AM), makes 4 servings.

Apples (I like Granny Smith), 1/4 cup brown sugar, a few pinches of cinnamon and 1/2 sheet of puff pastry.

Core apples and slice in half. Coat the inside with brown sugar. Slice up the puff pastry into thin strips and create a lattice design over the apples. Sprinkle with a little more sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 400 F for 16-18 minutes until puff pastry is golden brown, and apple has softened. Serve with vanilla ice cream!As you can see these are super easy to make but also really cute and delicious guilt-free desserts.

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Have a great day! 🙂

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