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12 Less Sweet Desserts to Try

To satisfy your craving for something sweet, nothing tastes better than a homemade dessert. And for you to enjoy it with zero guilt, we’ve assembled our best recipes that contain a reduced amount of sugar. Be sure to take care of these less sweet, but just as delicious, suggestions!

Cakes

1. Vanilla Cupcakes

For a kids’ party, cupcakes are always very popular. Opt for a reduced sugar version with these vanilla cupcakes. These moist cupcakes made with Greek yogurt are just as satisfying with their perfect icing that combines cream cheese, yogurt and a smaller amount of icing sugar.

Tip: Replace part of the sugar in a recipe with plain yogurt for cakes or icing.

2. Chocolate Cake

The classic of classics for any celebration: chocolate cake. Our recipe is a less sugary variation on our best-best chocolate cake, but it keeps its promise of satisfying everyone with a sweet tooth.

Tip: Choose 70% dark chocolate for recipes that use chocolate as an ingredient.

3. Maple Pudding Cake

If there’s a dessert that screams of sugar, it’s got to be maple pudding cake. To experience the same pleasure from that moist cake oozing with sauce, we used puréed ripe pears to make a sauce that is rich, but less sweet.

Tip: Swap part of the sugar for ripe fruit that has natural sweetening properties.

Fruity Desserts

4. Apple Crisp

Apple crisp is reinvented in a version that includes very little sugar, but maximum flavour. With its caramelized apples in maple syrup and crunchy oats, coconut and almond crumble, gourmet delights are on the menu.

Tip: Replace part of the sugar in our dessert recipes with store-bought or homemade unsweetened applesauce.

5. Fruit, Almond and Chocolate Verrines

Verrines always make a good impression at dinner with their alternating layers of textures, colours and flavours. Combining plain Greek yogurt, cocoa powder, amaretti cookies and red fruit, this version has everything going for it.

Tip: Serving smaller individual portions is a simple way of controlling the amount of sugar.

6. Braised Pears in Red Wine

What a wonderfully simple dessert these pears make, poached in a mixture of red wine, cinnamon, vanilla and only two tablespoons of sugar. The natural sugar of the pears is sufficient to end dinner on a beautiful note that’s just sweet enough.

Tip: Think of roasting, grilling, poaching or flambéing fruits in a light syrup with spices to get a healthy dessert with reduced refined sugar. You can serve them with yogurt or drizzled with a fruit coulis.

Cookies

7. Double Chocolate Date Cookies

What could be better than tender, moist cookies with no sugar added? The key ingredient in these double chocolate date cookies: date purée. In addition to being naturally sweet, it gives moistness to the dough. Generous pieces of dark chocolate are added to the mixture, for pure happiness with each bite.

Tip: Replace sugar in muffin or cookie recipes with date purée. Not only will it make the cookies super tender, but it also has natural sweetening properties.

8. Florentine Cookies

Try this lovely treat from Italy with our simplified version that’s sweetened just enough. Thin and crispy, these cookies are made with almonds and bound together with a mixture of egg whites, honey, butter and icing sugar. Boost the flavours with orange zest. Light and oh so tasty!

Tip: Reduce sugar with flavour boosters, like citrus zest, or spices, like cinnamon, vanilla and ginger.

9. Homemade Graham Crackers

Everyone knows graham crackers. Used to make the famous s’more cookies or pie crusts, these cookies form the basis of several of our favourite desserts. Here’s a recipe to make them yourself for a decidedly less sweet version than store-bought.

Tip: Baking homemade versions of store-bought cookies is a good way of reducing and controlling the amount of sugar in your desserts.

Mousses

10. 3-Ingredient Dark Chocolate Mousse

Eggs, 70% dark chocolate and a little bit of sugar are all you need to make this marvellous mousse. Super light, ultra chocolatey, this is the perfect dessert for all occasions.

Tip: Chocolate mousse made with dark chocolate is one of those desserts that requires very little sugar in the preparation, but that satisfies your sweet cravings every time.

11. Ricotta Cheese Mousse and Raspberry

Ricotta is one of the key ingredients of Italian cuisine, in both salty and sweet recipes. For desserts, just think of cannoli or all kinds of ricotta-based cakes. In this recipe, it’s used as a base for this mousse that offers perfect texture and a delicate lemon flavour.

Tip: Replace cream in mousse recipes with ricotta or plain yogurt. Mixed into stiffly beaten egg whites, it yields a result that’s just as creamy, but lighter.

12. Light Yogurt Mousse with Fruit Salad

This mousse recipe is the ideal dessert to end a meal on a fresh, refined note. Use 10% plain yogurt to obtain a lovely creaminess and garnish the mousse with fruit salad and a touch of maple syrup and fresh mint. Get ready to be blown away by these flavours.

Tip: Cut into small pieces, fresh fruit is a healthy, delicious option for mousse toppings.

For more inspired ideas for healthy and balanced recipes, check out our Healthy search category: