25 Low Fat Desserts For Any Occasion
Many people think there’s simply no such thing as a healthy dessert; especially when you’re dieting. Thankfully though, with the right food choices overall, you can still enjoy sweet treats or healthy desserts without them ending up on your hips!
The trick is to be choosy about the ingredients and portion size. If you really need a sweet fix after dinner each night, I’d suggest sticking with fresh fruit, and save these yummy low fat desserts for once or twice a week.
If your sweet tooth is the downfall of your dieting efforts, then try these 25 delicious low fat healthy desserts…
Fruit desserts…
#1 Raspberry Mousse
Prep time: 10 mins
Serves: 12
Ingredients:
- 2 – 10 ounce packages frozen raspberries, thawed and divided
- 2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 – 14 ounce can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 – 8 ounce container frozen “lite” non-dairy whipped topping, thawed
Preparation:
- In saucepan, combine 1 package undrained raspberries with cornstarch; cook and stir until thickened and clear. Chill.
- In blender, combine remaining drained raspberries, sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice; blend until smooth. Place in bowl and fold in whipped topping.
- Spoon half the mousse mixture into dessert glasses; top with equal portions of raspberry sauce then remaining mousse mixture. Chill until ready to serve.
#2 Spiced Oranges
Prep time: 10 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 4 medium orange
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 400 g natural yoghurt
Preparation:
- Remove skins from oranges with a sharp knife, catching any juices on a plate. Slice oranges thickly and place in a shallow dish, with reserved juice.
- Add the vanilla essence and combine with oranges. Add ground cinnamon and sugar. Stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate for several hours for flavours to develop. Allow oranges to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
- Serve oranges drizzled with juice and topped with natural yoghurt.
#3 Chilled Berry Compote
Prep time: 10 mins
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
- 500g mixed frozen berries
- 310mls grape juice
- 500g natural yoghurt, to serve
- Mint sprigs, optional
Preparation:
- Place berries in a food processor. Add the grape juice and process until smooth.
- Pour the compote into serving glasses, and swirl with a scoop of natural yoghurt.
- Dress with a sprig of mint.
#4 Caramelised Apples with Roasted Pecans
Prep time: 20 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 40g pecan nuts, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4 large Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
- Natural yoghurt, to serve
Method:
- Roast pecans in a medium, heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden. Remove and set aside.
- Combine sugar, water and nutmeg in frying pan. Reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, until sugar dissolves and mixture bubbles.
- Add apples to pan. Stir to coat in sugar mixture. Cook, turning often, for 8-10 minutes or until apples are tender. Sprinkle apples with pecans. Spoon into serving bowls. Serve with natural yoghurt.
#5 Zesty Stewed Rhubarb
Prep time: 15 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 12 stalks rhubarb (or 600g any fruit), chopped into 2 cm pieces
- Juice and finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tsp group cinnamon
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- Natural yoghurt, to serve
Preparation:
- Place all ingredients in a deep stainless steel frying pan. Cook over low heat for 8 minutes, or until soft. Allow to cool until just warm.
- Refrigerate until needed. Serve with natural yoghurt.
Source: The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, by Dr Noakes, and Dr Clifton.
#6 Honey Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone
Prep time: 10 mins
Serves: 4-8
Ingredients:
- 1-2tbsp honey
- 4 peaches, halved and stoned
- Mascarpone, to serve
- Raspberries, to serve
- Mint leaves, to decorate
Preparation:
- Warm the honey, if necessary, to make it runny, then spread it over the cut sides of the peaches.
- Grill, cut-side down, for 2-3 minutes, then rotate 90° and cook for a further 2-3 minutes – to give a charred grid pattern on the fruits.
- Serve immediately with scoops of mascarpone in each centre with 2-3 raspberries on top. Decorate with sprigs of mint.
#7 Nutty Raspberry Fool
Prep time: 15 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 225g fresh raspberries
- 2 tbsp honey
- 500g pot of Greek yoghurt
- Zest of one lemon
- Chopped hazelnuts
Preparation:
- In a glass bowl, crush the raspberries with a fork. Add the honey and mix until well combined. Leave to stand for 10 mins to draw out the juices of the raspberries.
- Meanwhile, put the Greek yoghurt into another large bowl, add the zest of one lemon and beat until smooth.
- Spoon 2 tablespoons of the raspberry mixture into a glass and top with 2 tablespoons of the yoghurt mix. Continue to the top of the glass and sprinkle with hazelnuts. Chill for 15 minutes before serving.
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17 Comments
Fitness Guy
10.07.2008
This is an amazing list of great desert recipes. I especially like #17, the fruit sorbet and the healthy banana bread.
I really should start thinking about taking in more Soy and Tofu but i have never eaten them
Fitness Guy’s last blog post..Don’t live for today
Blake
10.08.2008
great list! I am for sure gonna try some of these. One thing my wife and I do sometimes is make a fruit salad on Sunday and have a little bit every night after dinner. that’s usually enough for us. we also like banana bread (I’m gonna try the one above)!
Blake’s last blog post..How to Prevent High Blood Pressure
The Swan
10.08.2008
Those watermelon and lime ice pops sound fantastic – and summer’s around the corner here in Australia – defn going on my ‘to make’ list
The Swan’s last blog post..Adam Hills’ prosthetic foot crowd surfing
Melanie
10.09.2008
Hi Fitness Guy,
I know what you mean about soy and tofu – I also need to try to use them more. I often use soy beans in curries etc, and we use soy milk also, but I think these desserts are a great healthy alternative.
Hi Blake,
Yes, that’s a great idea. I think you’re encouraged to eat more fruit simply by having it chopped and prepared in the fridge. Good tip!
The Swan,
Yes, the weather is getting nice here in Australia, isn’t it? I’m in Tassie though, so it can still be cold some days. I love the idea of healthy ice pops, and they’re so easy!
Thanks for all your comments guys, glad you enjoyed the post!
shelvia
10.14.2008
Heya Melanie,
Great recipes. All sound very tempting! Would love to get the calorie information for them though (if you already have them)…
Thanks!
shelvia’s last blog post..The Big Mystery: "Larger Than Life" by Adele Parks
Melanie
10.14.2008
Shelvia,
Sorry I don’t have a record of the calorie info. Do you have access to a calorie counter?
jh
10.17.2008
My all time favorite is frozen grapes. They are amazing and sweet, and really satisfy a sweet tooth. Second favorite–frozen bananas mixed with honey and put in the food processor–like a creamy sorbet. Amazing.
jh
bodaweightlosstips
Graham
10.17.2008
G’day Melanie,
Thankyou for the recipes.
For the Raspberry Mousse, what is the “non-dairy whipped topping”.
Can I use something else instead of.
Thankyou
Melanie
10.17.2008
JH,
Yes, I love frozen grapes too, and raspberries are also good frozen. I also like your banana and honey sorbet idea – delicious!
Hi Graham,
Glad you liked the recipes! It’s a non-dairy dessert topping, which is similar to whipped cream. So, I imagine whipped cream would do the same job.
Check out Craft they do a version, but don’t know if you can get it in Australia.
Jack
02.06.2009
I love the Healthy Banana Bread, yummy!
Melanie
02.07.2009
Hi Jack,
I’m very glad!!
Michael
02.13.2010
Nice post! I especially like #22 Chocolate Banana Tofu Pudding)) Feels like really Tasty))
I agree that it’s not really good to eat only low fat food or not eat at all in order to lose weight:it could be harmful for your health. It’s better to switch to some healhty food rather than any junk food (though sometimes you can’t just stay), and it’s also a good idea to work out a habit to do physical training at least in the morning….then (it may take some time) but you’ll be constantly losing weight.
Melanie
02.16.2010
Hi Michael,
If you give the tofu pudding a go let us know, I haven’t tried it yet myself!
donna
06.16.2011
Hi melanie,
looking for some help, husband is on prenisalone and is pre diabetic, after a menu plan that does not have yogurt, tofu,lentils and includes desserts and a plan that doesnt seem like a diet, he is very overweight,
hope you can help me
regardsdonna
h
07.14.2011
There’s no number 5. So only 24 recipes then. Some of them look quite good though!
Helen
02.04.2012
How do you click on the next page? The text that says to do this is not html…as it was for page 1.
Thanks
Melanie
02.04.2012
Hi Helen,
Thanks for letting me know about that problem. It’s fixed now, if you try to click again on the link
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