Your sweet tooth doesn’t have to derail a balanced nutrition strategy. These easy, healthy dessert recipes allow you to enjoy cake, ice cream, cookies, and more while sticking to your healthy eating plan. With 200 calories or fewer, our best healthy desserts are something you can incorporate into your diet daily.
Dessert Pizza with Banana Ice Cream
How do we like our ’za? All the ways! From breakfast and dinner pizzas (of course) to dessert pizzas, we’re always up for pizza. This healthy dessert recipe starts with a chocolate rice cereal “crust” and is topped with a dairy-free banana ice cream made simply with fruit, unsweetened coconut milk, and a splash of vanilla. Top to your heart’s content with fresh, seasonal fruit for a slice that would make any delivery driver jealous.
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
A frosting whipped up with light cream cheese makes these lush pumpkin cupcakes taste just as rich as their bakery counterparts. With the frosting layered atop a moist pumpkin cake, this will immediately rise to the top of the party treat power rankings. Bonus: These healthy dessert recipes are baked with flaxseed—an outstanding source of fiber and protein.
Dark Chocolate-Mint Bites
Mint and chocolate aren’t just teammates in ice cream or Girl Scout cookies. Try them together in these no-bake bars that sure don’t taste like they have just 105 calories each. The crumbly crust that forms the base of these squares contrasts with the smooth layers of chocolate and mint for a better-than-boxed healthy dessert.
Tiramisu Bites
What’s better than the combination of coffee and chocolate? A 63-calorie healthy dessert recipe loaded with java and cocoa goodness! Pipe the topping through a star tip to give these one-bite delights a beautiful look.
Almond-Chocolate-Cherry Cookies
Trail mix meets cookie dough in this fan-favorite big-batch chocolate treat. Cherry, cocoa, and almond flavors unite in each bite to satisfy any dessert craving. A generous drizzle of sweet glaze takes this baked healthy dessert recipe to higher chocolate heights.
Lemon Crepes
Like pancakes for breakfast? Then you’ll love thin French crepes any time of day! These citrus and berry crepes are so deliciously sweet and delicate that we categorized them as a healthy dessert recipe. Still, they make a fantastic breakfast recipe when you’re in the mood for something on the sweeter side. Stuff with lightly sweetened mascarpone cheese or Greek yogurt filling and top with berries for a treat that will have everyone remarking, “Ooh-la-la!”
Red Velvet Cake Roll
Get on a roll with this healthy velvet cake dessert recipe that looks complicated but is actually totally doable at home. Each 144-calorie slice of this impressive cake roll is swirled with a fluffy filling made of vanilla-scented whipped topping and sour cream. For a more intense chocolate flavor, dust the finished roll with cocoa powder instead of (or in addition to) the powdered sugar.
Sourdough Discard Oatmeal Cookies
Put your sourdough discard to good use in this healthy cookie recipe. Good-for-you ingredients like rolled oats, dried fruit, and cinnamon add flavor and texture to these chewy cookies. Bake a batch and stash them in the freezer for any time you need a sweet treat.
Roasted Stone Fruit
When stone fruit is at its peak, generally from May to September, it’s sweet and juicy. Enhance that natural sweetness by roasting the fruit with butter and maple syrup. This healthy dessert recipe is great all on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or yogurt.
Rainbow Pops
Each layer of this healthy dessert recipe stars a different fresh fruit. Our Test Kitchen perfected the combination of kiwi, raspberry, peach, and blackberry. Keep them stashed in the freezer for a quick treat anytime.
Date Caramel Sauce
Swap this luscious date caramel for your standard dip on your next dessert snack platter. Made with dates, coconut milk, and vanilla, it’s rich, creamy, and indulgent without added sugar. We love it slathered on apple slices, pretzels, crackers, or baguette slices.
Huckleberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies
This healthy dessert recipe clocks in at just 82 calories per treat. If you can’t find huckleberry jam for the filling, swap in blueberry or blackberry preserves instead. A sprinkle of crushed freeze-dried raspberries adds a hint of sweetness and color to the finished cookies.
Fudgy Stout Brownies
These brownies are fudgy, rich, and loaded with flavor, made with unsweetened cocoa powder, semisweet chocolate, and stout beer. Cut the pan of brownies into 24 servings and wrap them into portions for an easy grab-and-go dessert.
More Recipes for Eating Healthy
If healthy eating is your goal, you can find plenty of recipes to make it easy to prepare meals that keep calories down but taste high. We have healthy breakfast recipes to get your day off to a good, nutritious start and lunch ideas to keep your day on track. If you're in a rush for dinner, these 30-minute chicken dishes are perfect for quickly getting a meal on the table. Keep dishes to a minimum with good-for-you one-pan meals, or indulge your craving for Italian with some of our favorite low-cal options.
