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Best Anti-Inflammatory Desserts

Eating healthy feels great, but it’s not always easy finding replacements for comfort foods you may have once loved eating but would rather cut out now. Things get difficult when you adore dessert but are seriously impacted by foods that can cause inflammation in the body. These often include dairy, refined sugar, alcohol, and processed ingredients, which—surprise, surprise—are in most traditional desserts in some shape or form. This makes it seem as if the words “anti-inflammatory” and “dessert” could never be put in the same sentence. 

But just because you follow an anti-inflammatory diet, or prefer to eat in this style, doesn’t mean you have to avoid your favorite sweet treats altogether. There are still plenty of ways to enjoy dessert without missing out on taste. We rounded up several delicious recipes from health bloggers, influencers, coaches, and nutritionists who have ingeniously crafted plates that pack in all the flavor and none of the inflammation. Read on to boost your collection of recipes and gather more inspiration for whipping up goodies that won’t impact you negatively.

Peach Pie Bars

These yummy bars from holistic nutritionist Mindfully Miss Maria use juicy, perfect-for-baking peaches to create a dessert that’s plenty sweet but contains no refined white sugar, flour, or similar inflammatory ingredients. Though they’re a perfect after-dinner treat, if you manage to have any leftovers, it’s a great quick breakfast dish if you’re someone who prefers sweet over savory. 

What You Need

  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 1/2 cup almond butter
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Toppings:

  • Sliced peaches
  • Rolled oats (leave off to make it grain-free!)
  • Chopped pecans

What to Do

  1. Set your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix all your ingredients together in a bowl, then place on a baking sheet.
  3. Add Toppings
  4. Bake them for 30 minutes.
  5. Drizzle more almond butter on top. Slice, and eat!

Blackberry Cookies

When it comes to anti-inflammatory eating, fruit is a mainstay and a great way to cater to any cravings for something sweet while still keeping it nutritious. These tasty cookies from nutritionist Reiley Scheil bring out the best in one of the most flavorful berries out there: blackberries. After 12 minutes in the oven, these scrumptious little morsels will go fast—you won’t even notice that there’s no dairy, gluten, or refined sugar in them.

What You Need

Cookies

  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1/4 cup vanilla coconut sugar
  • 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
  • 1 egg or flax egg (Reiley says this can be made with 1 tbsp flax meal and 2 tbsp water)
  • 1 tbsp creamy almond butter
  • 1 tsp of honey

Blackberry chia jam

  • 1 cup blackberries
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 tsp honey

What to Do

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix all ingredients and mold into cookies.
  3. Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes.
  4. While the cookies are baking, heat over the stove your blackberries, chia seeds, and honey. Mash the berries. Let it heat until it becomes thick.
  5. Let the cookies cool then top them with some of the blackberry chia jam.

This makes about 7 cookies to munch on, according to Reiley.

“Snickers” Smoothie

What if we told you that you could have this classic candy bar in smoothie form and it would be fairly healthy? It’s true, thanks to this recipe from health coach Maddie of Madd.healthy, you can leisurely sip on the delicious peanutty, chocolatey drink without filling up on refined sugar.

What You Need

Smoothie

  • 3/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk of your choice
  • 1/2-1 frozen banana
  • 1 serving of vanilla protein 
  • 2 tbsp cacao powder
  • 2 tbsp of peanut (or any nut) butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup ice cubes ICE CUBES
  • Monk fruit or stevia to taste (or 1-2 dates)

Dark chocolate drizzle:

  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 1-2 tsp coconut oil

What to Do

  1. Pour everything into a blender. Maddie layers her ingredients from soft to hard.
  2. Blend and add more liquid or ice to get to your desired consistency. 
  3. Melt your chocolate and coconut oil together and drizzle on top. Enjoy!

Maddie notes that you can add other mix-ins, such as vanilla collagen, frozen zucchini, and even frozen cauliflower rice to the smoothie. She also has the recipes for a paleo caramel drizzle in her post for a treat that really resembles a Snickers bar.

Low Carb Cocoa Banana Guilt-Free Dessert Muffin

Who doesn’t love muffins? Especially ones that aren’t going to leave you feeling sluggish, bloated, or inflamed. This delicious recipe from Mallory of Bad Batch Baking will leave you with 12 muffins that are utterly delectable but don’t include any refined sugar. Though the recipe uses dairy (Greek yogurt), it’s worth noting that this particular ingredient has been proven to help fight against inflammation thanks to its probiotics, according to the Arthritis Foundation.

What You Need

  • 1 3/4 cup low carb baking mix (Mallory uses Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 1/3 cup Xylitol sugar crystals
  • 1/3 cup dark cocoa powder 
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 overly ripe bananas
  • 1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon stevia nectar
  • 4 tablespoons natural peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips for topping

What to Do

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mash your bananas in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add the Greek yogurt, eggs, extracts, and stevia nectar.
  3. In a separate small bowl, whisk all of the dry ingredients together.
  4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and mix until combined.
  5. Divide the batter among 12 lined muffin tin compartments and sprinkle the top of each with mini chocolate chips.
  6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake, and let them cool for an additional 15 on a rack. 

Next time you’re craving a sweet treat, you won’t be out of ideas. These ultra-tasty desserts prove that refined sugar and other inflammatory ingredients aren’t essential for making a delicious dish. With these, you’ll enjoy both the health benefits of going for a more nutritional option and the warm-fuzzy feeling of digging into a dessert.

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