healthy desserts?

I have been doing pretty good with my diet, but I still havn't lost my sweet tooth...I crave brownies, pie, chocolate chip cookies. I have been trying to fill the void with fruit...but sometimes I just need dessert...I tried to make some healthy "brownies' with splenda and a little whole wheat four, but that much splenda makes my tummy unhappy and it doesn't taste good to me. So does anyone have any ideas for low carb (as much as possible) desserts?

Thanks!

Hm, not all of these are low carb but are healthy:

*Greek or plain yogurt (2%) with 1/2 c berries or tbsp honey
*Thin whole grain french toast slices or whole grain Kashi waffles with berries/fruit
*Whole grain muffins with fruit and nuts (bake yourself d:)

(:

What about fruit-based desserts instead of just plain fruit?  My favourites include:

• fruit topped with yogurt and honey (or yogurt and jam) for a most dessert-y feel
• fruit crumbles (I think Americans call them fruit crisps?); top fruit with a mixure of oats, brown sugar and butter (mostly oats; just enough sugar to taste and just enough butter to hold some of the oats together) then bake; delicious! (crumble mix can be made in advance and stored in the freezer; just scoop out how much you need: http://caloriecount.about.com/crumble-topping -delia-smith-recipe-r134184)
• fruit with lightly sweetened whipped cream (the real stuff; I personally find cool whip to be gross) and meringues (they're dead easy to make if you have an electric beater: http://caloriecount.about.com/meringues-1-pie ce-recipe-r160546)
• stewed fruit with custard (custard recipe here: http://caloriecount.about.com/custard-recipe- r136385)
• apple turnovers made with phyllo pastry instead of the regular kind; these were delish!  (http://caloriecount.about.com/apple-turnovers -recipe-r224654)

For chocolate, just indulge in a small amount of the real thing - the darker the better, but if you're a milk chocolate fiend just be careful to watch the portions.  (Dark chocolate tends to signal fullness faster than milk chocolate.)

Another favourite of mine is creme caramel: http://caloriecount.about.com/creme-caramel-r ecipe-r197960  Not superhealthy, but really not that bad either.  Certainly not low-carb (no good dessert is ever going to be since the point of dessert is that it's sweet) but lots of goodness from the eggs and milk.

Try something like this? They have them at my regular grocery store in the natural/health food section.

I also think Splenda tastes bad! I can always tell if something has sucralose in it. Icky :[

I really like the fat-free yoplait yogurts. They come in a lot of dessert-y type flavors so its seems like you're eating something morel ikep udding but it's got good protein and calcium too.

They make a white chocolate raspberry one that is very yummy.

My first suggestion is Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches - definitely NOT low carb, but pretty low calorie (140 cal), and even has some fiber.

A winter favorite is apples or butternut squash mixed with some cinnamon and sugar and warmed - a sprinkle of granola (a recent find for me) would make it really yummy.

Um, if you don't like splenda, how do you feel about aspertame?  Even regular calorie pudding mixes made with skim milk or nonfat yogurt are fairly low calorie.

The other thing you can do is eat "real" dessert - just a small piece.  Or use half splenda and half sugar.

Black bean brownies!  Taste delicious because there's cocoa in it, but it also has the delicious earthy flavor of black beans! =]

Desserts aren't designed to be the last word in health and nutrition.  They exist solely to give pleasure....   If you go the route of low-carb, low-sugar, low-whatever desserts you're destroying their entire raison d'etre.  Like low-alcohol wine... what is the point?

So the way to manage it is to choose the dessert you really, really like and enjoy it infrequently and in very modest portions.   Maybe once a week treat yourself to some tiny portion of some richly delicious, high quality indulgence?  Much nicer than some awful aspartame-loaded chemistry set of thickeners masquerading as food.

Very good point gi-jane. Thank you. I was doing so good on my diet and now i'm craving sweets like crazy all of a sudden. =( 

Sweet cravings happen for a few main reasons... physical rather than 'all in the mind'.  Leaving 'habit' to one side for a second. 

1. You're not getting enough energy (calories) or nutrition in your diet. So look at your calorie targets and make sure they're adequate (deficit not more than 700).  And it can also help to have a day where you get your full energy needs.. tops up the batteries.
2. Your blood sugars are dropping too low.  This often happens if you eat too many 'High GI' foods (processed foods, sugars and refined starches), if you go too long between meals/snacks or if you're not getting enough energy in total (see point 1).
3. You may not be getting enough fat in your diet.  Very low-fat diets (less than 20% fat) are unsatisfying and can lead to a general desire to overeat.  Chocolates, cookies, pies and brownies all contain generous amount of fat.

Good luck

Original Post by danaecbj:

Very good point gi-jane. Thank you. I was doing so good on my diet and now i'm craving sweets like crazy all of a sudden. =( 

 When you say "lately" is that for a couple of days or a couple of weeks?  I crave carbs/sweets when I'm ovulating and again the couple of days before the monthlies hit.  I indulge a little because it makes me feel better and when I ignore the cravings I tend to lose it after a couple of days then end up binging on sweets.  Just another angle to think about.

I'd recomend chocolate covered strawberries for when you have a sweet craving or need some chocolate.  If you like dark chocolate i would say make them/get ones with that because its the healthiest you can get as far as chocolate goes.  Strawberries of course are some of the greatest fruit out there, and the two together make a delicious snack without actually needing much chocolate.  They also seem so fancy that you can have only a few and be pretty satisfied if you take it slow and enjoy them.

Original Post by lakemom:

Original Post by danaecbj:

Very good point gi-jane. Thank you. I was doing so good on my diet and now i'm craving sweets like crazy all of a sudden. =( 

 When you say "lately" is that for a couple of days or a couple of weeks?  I crave carbs/sweets when I'm ovulating and again the couple of days before the monthlies hit.  I indulge a little because it makes me feel better and when I ignore the cravings I tend to lose it after a couple of days then end up binging on sweets.  Just another angle to think about.

Ah, smart lady....my monthly started this morning. I guess before I was dieting I didn't really put two and two together that I craved chocolate, because I just ate whatever I felt like....hmmm

I have learned alot about myself since dieting...