Quick and Healthy Desserts

By Kristen Thorpe

Let's face it, when you've had a busy day, you want to be able to come home and unwind. Maybe enjoy some white wine and cheese, or maybe a delicious chocolate dessert. While we certainly deserve our treats, some of these can add unwanted pounds. For dessert-lovers, the trick to keeping trim is to create your own unique recipes. Here a just a couple of simple ideas that you might enjoy.

It's important to first remember that baking is not meant to be a chore, but an enjoyable and satisfying creative escape. One simple way to make an easy dessert is to buy a favorite pre-mixed package and adjust the required ingredients to make it less fattening. You can even add additional ingredients to come up with a very different dessert than the original.

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.

You can eat these cookies plain or you can even top them with some fresh fruit like chopped strawberries or raspberries. The cookie will be soft, not crunchy and it tastes wonderful with the fruit on top. You can enjoy these with some fresh roasted coffee, chocolate milk or hot chocolate. It's a great treat for kids and grownups alike.

You can also take a batch of your favorite granola and combine them with some of you favorite mixed berries. You'll want to first heat the berries in an oven for a few minutes so they are soft and warm. Meanwhile, combine the granola with a small amount of soymilk and microwave the mixture for a minute or so. Take your warm fruit and place it on top of the granola, stir and enjoy. This is a nice special dessert to enjoy with a warm soothing tea.

So now you have some fun, easy recipes to try. Remember that you can take any of your favorite dessert recipes and make them a little healthier. There are also wonderful recipes online that can be adapted to your own special tastes. And be creative because you never know what cool new desserts you may come up with. And you can even name them after yourself, wouldn't that be fun? - 17274

About the Author:

Enjoy making a big breakfast? Then you'll love owning the best frying pan to cook it in. Every kitchen should have a good selection of stainless pots and pans so you can cook any of your family favorites.