Healthy sweets/treats to keep in the house?

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

After the Christmas treats run out, I'll be getting rid of all the junk food in the house, because 2 of the 4 of us cannot control ourselves, and it's a big problem (and getting bigger *sigh*). Youngest DD is also a budding chef, so when the current baking ingredients run out (there's not much left), I won't even be replacing those, because she can whip up a sweet treat with pretty much anything as long as there's sugar available.

 

I don't want to eliminate all fun things entirely, though, or the whole household will be very unhappy. So can anyone recommend some healthy treats to keep in the house in lieu of sugary and junky food? Does anyone have any yummy recipes for homemade, low-sugar desserts or snacks? I'll keep raw honey and molasses on hand, since those really haven't been an issue since they don't provide quite the same immediate payoff. For example, we make a fruit dip that someone her once recommended, with peanut butter, a little honey, a little coconut oil, and ground flax seeds. It's so good, and it makes apples and pears much more popular. I'm fine with that kind of thing. 

 

I'm even willing to consider treats made with dried figs or dates--I bet those will be looking pretty good after a few weeks without sugary treats in the house!

 

Thanks.

[Selkie]

Our family likes frozen berries for dessert. I mix up ziplocs of blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries and keep them in the freezer.

[OrganicJen]

This time of year we are loving the clementines and mandarins available everywhere we go.

[mmasc]

We like frozen grapes.

[solascriptura]

If you’re not opposed to a just a bit of sugar, frozen berries with slightly sweetened whipped cream.

[Tina]

Frozen bananas dipped in chocolate?

 

I enjoy date bars as they satisfy better than other sweets, and one doesn't leave me craving more.

 

[ealp2009]

I make spiced nuts with a little maple syrup and it is a filling snack without a bunch of sugar. I don't have a recipe because I sort of improvise but basically a little butter a bunch of different spices and maple syrup. Then toasted in the oven.

 

 

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[OrganicJen]

We also freeze bananas and it seems to make them sweeter. We peel them and then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. They taste like banana ice cream.

[AmandaVT]

I need to do the same after Christmas and get back on track with losing weight. 

 

Sliced bananas, laid out on a plate, top with slightly warmed peanut or almond butter and put in the freezer for 10 minutes. Delicious!

[Joyofsixreboot]

I bake fruits, apples or cherries or peaches, etc with a little sweetening g and corn starch and top with phyllo dough. Just enough to pretend it is pie/cobbler/crisp. Meringues are not bad. Frozen banana and peanut butter "ice cream".

 

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[gardenmom5]

mejool dates.   why do you have to put them in anything?

[whitestavern]

Haven't read through the thread, so these may be dupes. Banana ice cream (basically just frozen bananas in a Cuisinart and a bit of cream or pb), an almond stuffed date (dipped in pb is also good), sauteed apple slices in a bit of butter--cinnamon good on this too, plain yogurt with a drizzle of honey and walnuts. Tracey Anderson has a recipe for chocolate "pudding" with semisweet chips, unsweetened coconut, raisins/prunes, and chestnuts--really yummy. Avocado and/or tofu chocolate mousse, any fresh fruit, homemade applesauce (i don't use any added sugar and it's yummy--you can add some cinnamon), dark chocolate.

Edited December 18, 2017 by whitestavern

[KungFuPanda]

If you keep apples or frozen berries on hand, you can make a quick fruit crisp. I use a friend’s recipe, but less than half the sugar she uses. Cooked fruit doesn’t need much at all.

 

I’d get the young chef some mug cake recipes and supplies (maybe a book for Christmas?). If she’s making one serving nobody else will be tempted. Also, keep a pretty fruit bowl out.

 

Lemme see if I can find my date ball recipe . . .

 

Here you go. Three ingredients. No cooking.

https://planningwithkids.com/2014/07/13/raw-macadamia-balls/

Edited December 19, 2017 by KungFuPanda

[GailV]

I'm pretty obsessed with dried turkish apricots. 

 

I get the Whole Foods brand, which are fairly juicy -- I'm not a fan of the leathery ones.  I'm sure there are other good brands, though.  Since dried fruit is fairly sugary, I often eat some nuts along with the apricots.

 

Dh likes the dates rolls that are dusted with coconut.  We find them in the bulk bins.  

 

Dh also makes something like a pumpkin mousse out of coconut cream, canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie spices, and honey.

[BarbecueMom]

If you can do nuts, I toasted some almonds, tossed them with a bit of honey, then dusted with good cocoa.  Not overly sweet, but the cocoa gives you that chocolate satisfaction without much sugar.  They are meant to be savored a bit and not devoured by the handful.

 

Honey roasted cashews are another common treat here, but those are far sweeter/saltier and easier to go overboard on.

[itsheresomewhere]

As a treat- DH he’s this protein ice cream bars by enlightened. The frozen hot cocoa, mint chocolate chip and chocolate peanut butter is great. We get the bars instead of the pints as DH needs to limit his temptation.

[Miss Peregrine]

Pears cooked in butter until browned and sprinkled with cinnamon.So good.

 

[Annie G]

If you can do nuts, I toasted some almonds, tossed them with a bit of honey, then dusted with good cocoa.  Not overly sweet, but the cocoa gives you that chocolate satisfaction without much sugar.  They are meant to be savored a bit and not devoured by the handful.

 

Honey roasted cashews are another common treat here, but those are far sweeter/saltier and easier to go overboard on.

 

Thanks so much for this idea! Dh really doesn't enjoy fruit and I'd like to make something for a sweet treat for him on occasion. 

[MBM]

I make a lemon cake and chocolate brownies that are both very low sugar, low carb and use almond and coconut flour. They are fantastic. I’ve posted them on the chat board in another post.

 

Pinterest also has some good low sugar, low carb recipes.

 

ETA the lemon cake recipe is by Melissa Sevigny if you want to do a Google search. I use a mixer, not a blender; no erythritol, just a bit of sugar to taste; no muffins or toppings, just an 8x8 or 9x9 pan. Can’t find the brownie recipe.

Edited December 19, 2017 by MBM

[TechWife]

An occasional date might be a fabulous treat. They are very rich and decadent (at least to me). I can only eat about one a week. 

[eternalsummer]

For me, after a week or two of no cookies (I sometimes go on a no-cookies binge on account of the fact that I also sometimes go on a cookies binge), an apple tastes super sweet, or even a clementine.

 

Other than that, when I was a kid and eating dairy, I looooved oranges with cream or whipped cream (real cream); you could get a similar non-dairy effect with a good plain coconut milk yogurt, that Coyo stuff maybe, and clementines.  

[Liz CA]

Almonds in little ziploc baggies to quickly grab. 

 

A dessert / granola that satisfies our sweet tooth but does not contain a bunch of preservatives or super bad stuff:

 

2 cups of oats

3/4 cup of honey

3/4 cup of almond butter or sunflower seed butter or peanut butter

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (could be omitted if you don't want it)

1/4 cup shredded coconut 

 

Melt honey and whatever nut butter you choose until it stirs together. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine oats, salt, choc chips and coconut flakes. Pour the melted honey / nut butter mixture over it and work it together until it is all evenly distributed.

Press into a 8 by 8 inch pan. Cover and refrigerate (no baking involved). Can be cut into squares or bars.

Edited December 19, 2017 by Liz CA

[SparklyUnicorn]

I make a tasty sugar free granola type mixture.  All kinds of recipes out there. 

 

 

[catz]

Adding fat/protein to a sweet thing can be much more satisfying and filling.  Things like nuts, unsweetened yogurt to mix or blend with fruit.  Unprocessed cheese.  Avocados. 

[Laurie4b]

Fresh and frozen fruit and dark chocolate are the sweets we keep in stock here. Dark chocolate is so rich that I can eat less than a "serving" and be satisfied, unlike milk chocolate which I keep eating and eating. Dark chocolate can have as few as 7 g of sugar for a whole serving (which is, as I said, too much for me to eat at once.) Dark chocolate also has healthy flavonoids. 

 

The kind of fruit varies with the season, but we always have frozen blueberries and usually raspberries. I eat them stirred into plain yogurt and they satisfy an ice-cream-like craving. It's good topped with Grape Nuts or Grape Nuts Flakes, too.

 

Be careful about dried fruit if there are people who tend to not be able to switch it off. (BTDT and had no idea how much sugar I was eating) It is very nutritious on the one hand,  but because it is dried, the sugar is concentrated and you get more sugar per volume so you won't feel as full as when eating fresh fruit and you can pack in a lot of sugar and calories fast. The fact that your brain thinks of it as "healthy" makes you more likely to eat it mindlessly. .Think about how many grapes you could eat at once and visualize how many raisins you could pop down at once, for instance.  Dried fruit also sticks to teeth so can cause dental issues 

 

Here are some values:

1/4 c raisins 21 g of sugar 

4 pitted medjool dates (1 serving)  66 g sugar, 277 calories 

6 pieces of dried apricots have 12 g sugar and 100 calories

Be careful of dried cherries or cranberries as they usually have added sugar: 1/4 cup dried cranberries has 29 g sugar, for instance. 

 

I would suggest eating dried fruit only with other food: a T of raisins sprinkled in oatmeal, or 1 T dried apricots sliced and served on salad, or mixed with nuts. 

 

I keep any dried fruit in our house out of sight because it's a food I will keep grabbing. We have it mostly because we have a Type 1 diabetic in our household who needs it available for times when his blood sugar gets dangerously low. 

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I agree on dried fruit.  People think it's some sort of health food, but really you might as well eat a candy bar in terms of the sugar content. 

 

 

[Spryte]

We are on keto here, so I don’t know if this will work for you. I make a cream cheese and egg muffin fairly often. It’s just cream cheese, eggs, vanilla, and a tiny bit of sweetener. It hits the spot when we need a baked treat. It’s a bit like cheesecake.

[ScoutTN]

I make baked apples all winter. Only a bit of sugar needed if you use sweet (not tart) apples.

 

Maybe your budding chef can focus on main dish or soup or something that is not dessert?

[desertstrawberry5]

Our favorites are popcorn, and trail mixes-both sweet and savory, especially with extra nuts thrown in. 

[Guest]

I have a very yummy date and quinoa krispies energy ball. I can try to put up the recipe tomorrow if I have any time, but you basically take medjol dates (pitted), toasted quinoa “krispiesâ€, almond butter, maple syrup; grind that up in a food processor, shape into 1â€balls, dip in dark chocolate, melted, sprinkle a dash of coarse sea salt on the chocolate, and chill on waxed-paper-covered baking sheets. I love them. They give me a “treat†fix without causing carb binging. Packed with nutrients, too.

[Tap]

Acai bowls are fun.

 

We like the Acai packs from Trader Joes.  We put one in the blender with bananas,strawberries and just enough coconut milk to blend.

 

We then top them with fresh banana slices, Strawberry slices, nuts and granola

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Thank you all! So many great ideas here. I'm going to make a go-to list to trigger my memory when we're getting desperate. I haven't had frozen berries in the house for awhile since we've had pretty reliable access to good fresh ones, but now's the time to buy some again, and bananas to freeze too. The bananaberry "ice cream" alone will go a long way toward making certain people happy :D 

 

We don't actually like dates or figs and haven't liked things made with them in the past. But again, when we're off sugar for awhile and those are our options for sweet "treats," things may look a little different, so I'm willing to at least try again. 

 

I appreciate all the help. If anyone has anymore ideas, feel free to keep them coming! 

 

 

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

I have a very yummy date and quinoa krispies energy ball. I can try to put up the recipe tomorrow if I have any time, but you basically take medjol dates (pitted), toasted quinoa “krispiesâ€, almond butter, maple syrup; grind that up in a food processor, shape into 1â€balls, dip in dark chocolate, melted, sprinkle a dash of coarse sea salt on the chocolate, and chill on waxed-paper-covered baking sheets. I love them. They give me a “treat†fix without causing carb binging. Packed with nutrients, too.

 

Quill, I think I found it (or something similar):

 

https://www.simplyquinoa.com/sea-salt-dark-chocolate-quinoa-energy-balls/

 

Does that look right? I love the idea of the quinoa "krispies." That will appeal to my sensory snacker. 

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

I make spiced nuts with a little maple syrup and it is a filling snack without a bunch of sugar. I don't have a recipe because I sort of improvise but basically a little butter a bunch of different spices and maple syrup. Then toasted in the oven.

 

 

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I make candied spiced pecans on the stovetop, and it never occurred to me to use just a little bit of maple syrup *sigh* Great reminder, and I suspect we'll be making lots of these!

[Guest]

Quill, I think I found it (or something similar):

 

https://www.simplyquinoa.com/sea-salt-dark-chocolate-quinoa-energy-balls/

 

Does that look right? I love the idea of the quinoa "krispies." That will appeal to my sensory snacker.

Yes, that is exactly it! Very yummy, especially if you like mellow (i.e., not super-sweet) treats.