Sweets: Fitness-Conscious Dessert Recipes
For fitness fanatics, a healthy lifestyle and balanced diet are essential to meeting your goals. However, we all deserve a treat once in a while, especially when we’re craving sweets. For this reason, we’ve decided to show you some recipes for sweets that allow you to enjoy yourself guilt-free.
Why do sweets cause weight gain?
The danger of eating sweets isn’t just that they cause weight gain, but that they also hinder our cardiovascular health and sap our energy. These pre-made foods are fattening because they contain a lot of processed carbohydrates, such as flour, as well as saturated fats and sugar.
Whether sweets are processed or homemade, they contain the fat from the oil and butter (or yogurt), the carbohydrates from the flour, sugar, and many other possible ingredients. In order to ensure that dessert isn’t a completely unhealthy and fattening experience, we need to avoid using the kind of ingredients that can be harmful.
Olive or coconut oil are the preferred choices for adding a touch of healthy fats. Meanwhile, you can replace processed carbohydrates with cereals, such as oat bran and flax. Bananas make a great egg substitute, and agave syrup can replace sugar. There are people who prefer to use sweeteners, but we’d rather opt for the healthiest and most natural options possible.
Healthy recipes for sweets
The best options for an occasional sweet treat are ones that contain as much protein as possible. Here are some recipes:
Oatmeal and cocoa cookies
These cookies are a great between-meal snack. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Two bananas
- A cup of oat flakes or oat bran, or both
- Two tablespoons of agave syrup
- A tablespoon of pure powdered cocoa (sugar-free)
- An egg white
- Two tablespoons of coconut oil
Start by mashing the bananas. Then, add the oatmeal, the agave syrup, and the coconut oil. Stir everything well before adding the egg white, which will make the cookies crunchier. Mix well and add the powdered cocoa. If you want to add a personal touch, you can then add nuts, raisins, shredded coconut, or any other healthy ingredient that you choose.
Shape the cookies however you like, although we recommend not making them too thick. Put them in the oven at 356 degrees F, for about 20 minutes. Once they’re ready, remove them from the tray and let them cool on a grill so that they don’t soften.
Protein brownies
Now that protein ice cream is available in stores, why not accompany it with a protein brownie? You’ll need:
- A half-cup of lactose-free or oat milk, or any other variety you like
- Four egg whites
- Three tablespoons of coconut oil
- Three tablespoons of pure powdered cocoa
- A banana
- Three tablespoons of agave syrup
- A cup of oat flour or spelt flour
- Four tablespoons of protein powder; vanilla is best, but chocolate and unflavored also work
- A packet of yeast
- Nuts and dark chocolate sprinkles
Start by mashing the banana. Then, mix it with the milk, the oil, and the agave syrup. Beat the egg whites and beat until stiff. Put them to one side for a moment as you add the flour, the protein powder, and the yeast to the mix. Finally, add the egg whites slowly and create an even mixture. If there are too many lumps before you add the egg whites, you can use a whisk before adding the stiff whites.
Then, pour the batter into a mold and decorate it with chopped nuts and chocolate sprinkles. Put it in an oven preheated to 302 degrees F, for half an hour. You’ll love the result!
Custard
To make this, use of the yolks that were separated in making the brownie, mix them with two cups of milk (skim, lactose-free, oat, coconut, or other). Add half a packet of corn flour and two tablespoons of vanilla-flavored whey protein. Toss in a quill of cinnamon if you want. Let it boil for two minutes before removing it from the heat.
Pour the mixture into molds, let it cool, and put it in the freezer. You’ve just made a delicious light dessert with bonus protein.
Now that you’ve learned how to make these treats, you can indulge your sweet tooth healthily, without overdoing it in terms of calories. Sound good?
