Quick and Healthy Desserts
Everyone feels the need to indulge a bit after a hard day of work and one of our favorite ways of doing so is by satisfying our sweet tooth. Desserts can be delicious, but they can also be hard on the hips. By finding and even creating the right recipes, you can keep the satisfaction without sacrificing your waistline. The following are a few ideas to get you started.
First and foremost, baking should never be a tedious process. In fact, I have found baking to be a relaxing escape from reality as long as I allow myself the room to be inventive. One way I have done this is by purchasing boxed dessert mixes and then altering the additional ingredients to come up with something altogether different than what the box is meant to produce.
Here’s a fun cookie recipe to try that starts with a box of double chocolate cake mix. With a few minor adjustments you can easily create pancake cookies, and they will even be low fat too. All it takes is combining your mix with one half cup of soymilk, 2 caps of vegetable oil and a little water. Mix until the consistency is like cookie dough, then spoon on a pan and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. If the cookies become too puffy during baking, just take a spatula or fork and flatten them to look more like pancakes. Once they’re done, remove and cool on a cooling rack.
Once cooled, you can top them off with some fresh blueberries or chopped strawberries for a perfectly delicious treat. The texture of the cookie should be very soft which is a yummy combination with fresh fruit. Pour yourself a warm cocoa or a glass of milk and enjoy. This is a great treat for the whole family with much less fat than most cookies.
If you love granola then you’ll love this easy recipe. Take some of your favorite granola, maybe something like cranberry nut or French vanilla. Combine with a little vanilla soymilk and warm the granola in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Then heat some berries for a minute or two until they’re nice and warm. Pour the berries onto the your cup of granola and mix. This warm, fruity, tasty dessert tastes especially good with a warm herbal or Chai tea.
While these recipes are not complicated or overly artistic, they are simply delicious and will help you to stay on a healthy path even when you are indulging. The key to satisfaction in dessert isn’t in the richness, but in the taste. The more you train your taste buds to enjoy fresh and delicate flavors, the more you will appreciate the beauty of a healthy and time savvy dessert.
