Creating Healthier Christmas Desserts

By Brandi Swieter

Christmas sweets tend to overtake the holidays, with cookies, pies, chocolates, candy canes, and much more making their rounds at many holiday parties, family get-togethers, and decorating sessions with friends. While these foods may taste delicious, most are incredibly unhealthy and offer little to no nutritional value. Creating healthier Christmas desserts ensures children and adults alike can enjoy some of their favorites without overdoing it.

Skinny Eggnog Fudge

Fudge is a popular dessert choice around the holidays. While a triple chocolate fudge may sound incredibly sweet, a skinny eggnog fudge would be better suited for a healthy holiday. It still contains butter, sugar, and white chocolate, but the eggnog added in should be a low-fat or light version that helps to cut back some of the calories.

Cranberry Cookies

While red velvet, gingersnaps, and candy cane cookies may be some of the popular choices around Christmas time, cranberry cookies are a healthier alternative that also work well for the holidays. Cranberries are well-liked at the dinner table during this season, so why not add it to the dessert menu as well? Create a basic cookie recipe and add cranberries and walnuts for a healthy splash of ingredients.

Carrot Muffins

Packed with vitamins and beneficial for the eyes, carrots make a great addition for people looking for healthy food ideas. Carrot muffins are a great choice, mixing carrots and pineapple for a sweet flavor that will deter from the whole wheat taste. They work great for breakfast if they aren’t wanted for dessert.

White-Chocolate Holiday Bark

Many people know about bark, with sheets of chocolate filled with delicious morsels of other ingredients, like chocolate chips. For a healthier version, a white-chocolate holiday bark is a better choice. Toasted slices of almonds and coconut get mixed with cranberries and rice cereal to thicken up the candy concoction.

Lemon Bars

Lemon bars always seem to be a hit, but they aren’t always made in the healthiest way. Try a healthier version so more of the dessert can be enjoyed than just one tiny piece. Reduced fat butter and unsweetened applesauce work well as the substitutions to help lower the calorie count.

Nutrition is important to watch out for any time of year, but particularly the holiday months when care for it seems to go out the window completely. Creating healthier Christmas desserts means making better choices for the entire family.

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