13 Healthier Dessert Recipes for Fall

You shouldn't have to choose between gaining inches to your waistline and enjoying fall's best desserts. That's why we took some of your favorite recipes and slashed sugar, fat, and calories, giving some of the sweetest, most decadent desserts a healthy makeover. Along with a few smart swaps, we got deliciously creative by adding beets to dark chocolate brownies, millet to vanilla pudding, and whole grains to pear galette. From spiced pumpkin whoopie pies to stuffed baked apples with maple yogurt cream, try these fresh takes on dessert.

Try this recipe: Apricot-Pine Nut Granola Bars

Pine nuts are loaded with minerals, especially iron, magnesium, zinc, copper, and manganese.

Ingredients: Olive oil cooking spray, tart dried apricots, runny wild honey, extra-virgin olive oil, light brown sugar, old-fashioned rolled oats, pine nuts, ground cardamom, salt, ground golden flaxseed

Calories: 176

Adapted from Better Baking (C) 2016 by Genevieve Ko. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Rux Martin Books. All rights reserved.

Try this recipe: Chocolate-Almond Tassies

You can make the shells up to 3 days in advance. Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature.

Ingredients: Olive oil or coconut cooking spray, finely shredded unsweetened coconut, egg whites, coconut palm sugar, semisweet chocolate, Almond butter, roasted salted almonds, preferably Marcona

Calories: 139

Adapted from Better Baking (C) 2016 by Genevieve Ko. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Rux Martin Books. All rights reserved.

Try this recipe: Black Rice Pudding with Coconut and Persimmons

Black rice, rich in immune-boosting vitamin E, has more anthocyanin antioxidants than blueberries.

Ingredients: Thai black or purple rice, salt, full-fat coconut milk, raw sugar or coconut palm, sugar, persimmons, preferably Hachiya

Calories: 250

Adapted from Better Baking (C) 2016 by Genevieve Ko. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Rux Martin Books. All rights reserved.

Try this recipe: Cranberry Magic Bars

Compounds in cranberries may help prevent tooth decay, research shows.

Ingredients: Olive oil cooking spray, graham crackers, pecans, sugar, unsalted butter, fresh cranberries, fresh orange juice, unsweetened coconut flakes, bittersweet chocolate

Calories: 166

Adapted from Better Baking (C) 2016 by Genevieve Ko. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Rux Martin Books. All rights reserved.

Ingredients:

Canned pineapple, whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, nutmeg, large eggs, canola oil, buttermilk, honey, brown sugar, vanilla extract, grated carrots, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar

Calories: 204

Try this recipe: Pineapple-Glazed Carrot Cupcakes

Coconut palm sugar: Unlike white sugar, it boasts vitamin C, potassium, iron and zinc.

Ingredients:

Cooked beets, unsalted butter, bittersweet chocolate chips, dark brown sugar, large eggs, vanilla extract, salt, whole-wheat flour, dried cherries

Calories: 234

Try this recipe: Dark Chocolate Cherry Brownies

Surprise! Beets, loaded with fiber, folate and potassium.

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, coconut oil, light brown sugar, pumpkin puree, large eggs, cinnamon, allspice, ground ginger, nutmeg, cream cheese, coconut cream, confectioners' sugar, crystallized ginger

Calories: 207

Try this recipe: Spiced Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Friendlier fat: Coconut oil's main type of saturated fat, lauric acid, may help boost healthy HDL cholesterol levels.

Ingredients:

Whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, unsalted butter, coconut palm sugar, light brown sugar, large eggs, vanilla extract, dark chocolate chips, old-fashioned rolled oats, chopped pecans, unsweetened coconut flakes

Calories: 73

Try this recipe: Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

Chopped pitted dates, strong hot coffee, whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, unsalted butter, dark brown sugar, unsweetened applesauce, large eggs, vanilla extract, chopped walnuts

Calories: 327

Try this recipe: Date Nut Bread

Ingredients:

Whole-wheat flour, salt, cream cheese, butter, maple syrup, pears, lemon juice, cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, dried cranberries, large egg, coarse sugar

Calories: 249

Try this recipe: Pear Galette

No guilt: It's whole-grain and sweetened with pure maple syrup.

Ingredients:

Pomegranate juice, frozen blueberries, millet, unsweetened almond milk, whole vanilla bean, honey, cinnamon stick, salt, pistachios

Calories: 148

Try this recipe: Vanilla Millet Pudding with Blueberry Compote

Great grain: Millet is a good source of magnesium, which supports a healthy immune system.

Ingredients:

Large apples, old fashioned oats, chopped prunes or dates, chopped dried apricots, maple syrup, cinnamon, ground cloves, unsalted butter, whole-milk yogurt

Calories: 266

Try this recipe: Stuffed Baked Apples with Maple Yogurt Cream

Three quick, sweet ways to savor autumn flavors.

In a smoothie: Toss a peeled, cored and chopped pear in a blender with spinach or kale, lemon juice, chopped fresh ginger and coconut water. Add flax or chia seeds to thicken it, if you like.

As a topping: Melt a little butter in a skillet and sauté thinly sliced apples just until tender. While cooking, drizzle in a bit of honey or maple syrup and add a pinch of salt. Use to top plain yogurt, oatmeal or pancakes.

In a spread: Stir canned or pureed cooked pumpkin into cream cheese with a little honey or maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. Smear on whole-wheat toast.