By using some of these healthy dessert recipes and ideas, you can turn dessert from an occasional splurge to an everyday treat, without harming your health or your waistline. If you are anything like me…denying a sweet tooth can be difficult if you are trying to eat a healthy diet. The problem is that denying that sweet tooth for too long can lead to a binge later. A better option is to find healthier ways that you can enjoy sweets by making desserts with healthy recipes. Even if you have some favorite recipes on hand, it’s easy to make a few changes to make the dessert a bit better for you. By eliminating ingredients that are high calorie and high fat, you can enjoy healthy desserts that won’t sabotage your healthy diet.

Here are some tips for making your recipes a little healthier.

Tip #1 – Cut Back on Sugar

One of the best ways to make dessert recipes healthier is to cut back on the sugar within the recipes. You can quickly reduce carbs and calories when you reduce the sugar in your recipe. You can usually reduce the sugar by ¼ to 1/2 without hurting the taste of the recipe. You can even replace the remaining sugar with honey or maple syrup. You might even like the new taste it creates more than the original recipe.

Tip #2 – Replace Unhealthy Fats

Many desserts contain lots of unhealthy fats. If you replace about half of the oil, butter, or shortening with a better option, you can really make the recipe healthier. Applesauce or mashed banana make great substitutions. Your finished result will still be nice and moist, but you’ll significantly lower the fat and calories in the dessert. Try this in everything from cakes to cookies.

Tip #3 – Eliminate Extra Ingredients

Sometimes there are ingredients that are extraneous, which means you can eliminate them without a problem. For example, if you’re making a cake, do you really need all that icing on the cake? You can eliminate icing on some cakes and still have a great taste without all the calories that come along with the icing. Simply replacing the sugary icing with some fresh fruit may be just the trick to make it look great without the extra calories or sugar.

Tip #4 – Look for Lower Fat Milk Substitutes

Many recipes call for the use of whole milk, which adds quite a bit of fat and calories to the finished dessert. You can lower the calories and fat significantly by simply going with a lower fat milk option, such as 1% milk or skim milk. You may be able to use low fat non-dairy milks like soy milk or rice milk as well.

Tip #5 – Cut Back on Ingredients High in Calories

It’s also a great idea to cut back on the ingredients that are high in calories to make your desserts a lot healthier. For example, if you have a recipe that calls for ½ cup of chopped pecans, cut that back to 1/3 cup. It won’t hurt the recipe and you’ll shave off a lot of calories without affecting the taste.

These are just a few of the substitutions you can make if you want to start enjoying healthier desserts. Of course, there are other substitutions you can learn about as well. Take the time to do some research to find out more hints that will help you enjoy sweets without ruining your healthy diet.