Healthy desserts: easy ideas with less sugar

What makes a dessert healthy?

An everyday dessert can be whole fruit. The WHO lists fruit, vegetables, pulses and whole grains among the main sources of carbohydrates [3]. You can have fruit after a meal or at another time; the timing does not change its properties.

Home baking has a different place. Making it at home lets you choose the ingredients and portion size, but it is still an occasional sweet treat. Having a muffin at a celebration does not mean you need to compensate the next day. When looking at the week as a whole, we consider variety: the WHO recommends basing the diet on minimally processed foods and limiting free sugars [1] [2].

Fruit can be an everyday dessert; homemade sweets can be enjoyed without turning them into a test of how you eat.

Fruit dessert ideas you can prepare in minutes

An approximate serving for these ideas is one medium piece of fruit or about 150 g of chopped fruit [9] . AESAN defines a serving of fresh fruit as 120 to 200 g [9] ; these figures are general guidance for the population, not age-specific guidance or an individual prescription. Adjust the amount to your appetite and the rest of your meal.

• Roast an apple or pear with cinnamon and serve it warm.
• Mix 150 g of chopped seasonal fruit to make a fruit salad [9] .
• Have a piece of fruit with 125 g of plain yoghurt .
• Try 150 g of fruit with 80 g of whipped fresh cheese .
• Cook a chopped apple with a little water and blend it without adding sugar.

For compote, leave in a few pieces if you like to chew. If you choose tinned fruit, check whether it comes in juice or syrup.

Three homemade desserts with clear ingredients and serving sizes

These recipes are designed for sharing. The quantities are approximate for these recipes; they are not a nutrient calculation. Wash the fruit and adapt the texture if cooking with children. If there is a food allergy, check all ingredients and possible traces.

Oat crêpes with ricotta and strawberries

For four servings, use 120 g rolled oats, two eggs, one ripe banana and 160 ml milk. Add 160 g ricotta and 200 g strawberries.

One serving is one large crêpe or two small ones, 40 g ricotta and 50 g strawberries. Allergens: egg and milk; if you need to avoid gluten, use oats only if they are certified gluten-free and you tolerate them.

Blend the oats, eggs, banana and milk. Cook the batter in a lightly oiled pan. Mix the ricotta with the chopped strawberries and fill the crêpes just before serving. The ripe banana adds sweetness without adding syrup.

Wholemeal sweet potato and chocolate muffins

For ten muffins, prepare 300 g roasted sweet potato, 200 g wholemeal flour, two eggs and 125 g plain yoghurt. Add 80 ml milk, 40 ml mild extra virgin olive oil, 10 g baking powder and 50 g chocolate.

One serving is one muffin. Allergens: egg, milk and gluten if you use wheat flour; also check the chocolate and baking powder.

Mash the sweet potato and mix it with the egg, yoghurt, milk and oil. Add the flour and baking powder, then fold in the chopped chocolate. Fill ten muffin cases and bake at 180 °C for about 20 minutes, until cooked through in the centre. The cocoa percentage does not make chocolate sugar-free. You can read more about dark chocolate.

Yoghurt, pear and toasted oat pots

For four pots, prepare 500 g plain yoghurt, two medium pears, 40 g rolled oats and cinnamon. Each serving contains about 125 g yoghurt, half a pear and 10 g oats.

Allergens: milk; if you need to avoid gluten, use oats only if they are certified gluten-free and you tolerate them.

Toast the oats in a clean pan and leave them to cool. Dice the pears and place them on top of the yoghurt. Add the oats just before serving so they stay crunchy. You can also roast the pear if you prefer a warm dessert.

How to reduce sugar in home baking

To reduce added sugar, start by using less than you usually do in your recipe and see how it turns out. Gradual change is a practical suggestion, not a universal amount. The WHO’s main recommendation is to reduce free sugars throughout life [2].

Very ripe fruit adds sweetness and moisture. Cinnamon or vanilla changes the aroma, although neither adds sugar. Cooked sweet potato, pumpkin and carrot also add texture and a sweet flavour. Adjust the liquids when you change ingredients: the batter should be easy to mix and cook through.

The WHO recommends reducing free sugars [2]; its definition includes honey and syrups. If you are interested in using dates, our date guide explains what changes between eating them whole and adding them blended to a recipe. We do not use date paste in these three recipes.

Which flour and fat to use

Try wholemeal or wholegrain flour in doughs you already make. The carbohydrate guidance gives priority to whole grains as a regular source of carbohydrates [3]. If you replace all the flour at once, you may need to adjust the liquid; try changing just some of it first and note the result.

For a dough that works with oil, choose mild-flavoured extra virgin olive oil. The WHO recommends replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats [4]; in this recipe, that means using oil instead of butter. Changing the fat does not mean you need to add more: measure the amount used in the recipe.

If you have coeliac disease or a wheat allergy, wholemeal wheat flour is still unsuitable. Look for a recipe designed for your needs and check for traces and ingredients.

Sweeteners are not a necessary shortcut for reducing the usual level of sweetness either: the WHO advises against using them for long-term weight control in people without diabetes [5]. The specific guide to stevia will explain how to use it in baking when it becomes available.

What we see in consultations

We often hear three questions about shop-bought desserts. The first is the assumption that “sugar-free” means “calorie-free”. European regulations define the conditions for using nutrition claims, including “sugar-free” [6]; that claim does not mean the product contains no energy. To compare products, use our food labelling guide.

The second is the belief that fruit causes weight gain if you eat it after a meal. The same fruit does not gain calories when served at the end of a meal. The third is treating honey and syrup as though they were not free sugars: the WHO recommends reducing these sugars [2] and includes both in its definition.

When there are children at home, we prefer to offer dessert without using it as a reward or punishment. Cooking together gives children the chance to explore foods and tasks suited to their age. Find more ideas in cooking with children.

If you live with diabetes, choose dessert with your individual plan and the medicines you use in mind. You can find more context in our guide to eating with diabetes; we do not provide adjustments to carbohydrate intake or treatment here.