Desserts

Dessert need not be decadent to be delicious. We've rounded up the best healthy dessert recipes guaranteed to please even picky eaters.

Healthy Desserts for Calorie Conscious Guests:
If your guests are watching their waistlines, you'll want to serve healthy desserts that look and taste light. My go-to recipes for diet desserts are:

• Sparking Sorbet Floats: Serve these sorbet floats in champagne flutes for an elegant end to your meal. While the combination of sorbet and champagne is lovely, make a healthier dessert by using carbonated fruit juice instead.


• Poached Pears with Prunes: Poached pears would be wonderful healthy desserts for your next dinner party. This poached pear recipe combines the natural sweetness of pears with light cinnamon and orange flavors. Dried plums (prunes) add a sweet touch to the dish.


• Quick Mixed Berry Topping: Whip up this healthy dessert in just five minutes using your microwave. Serve the berries over light angel food cake. While angel food cake has sugar, it is fat-free and relatively low-calorie compared to traditional yellow or chocolate cake. If you're in a rush, make angel food cake from a mix. If you have a little more time, try this recipe for homemade angel food cake.


• Balsamic Spiked Strawberries: While balsamic vinegar seems like a salad ingredient rather than the key element of a healthy dessert recipe, you'd be surprised at how delicious balsamic strawberries are.


• Grilled Pineapple: Pineapples caramelize when grilled for a sweet, delicious and healthy dessert. For an extra treat, serve the grilled pineapple with frozen yogurt.

Healthy Desserts for Kids:
Your children will enjoy these healthy dessert recipes which remind them of favorite treats like ice cream sundaes.

• Fun Day Sundae Parfaits: Kids (and adults) love ice cream, but these fun day sundaes are made with frozen yogurt. Instead of chocolate, nuts and sugary sprinkles, top your frozen yogurt with fresh fruit and crushed graham crackers.


• Healthier Brownies: Something as yummy as a brownie will never be low calorie. But brownies can be healthier desserts if you make a few substitutions to the classic recipe. This healthier brownie recipe uses applesauce and whole wheat flour instead of white flour and lots of butter.


• Healthier Banana Splits: Banana splits are a wonderful yet calorie-laden dessert. For a healthy dessert recipe, skip the ice cream and serve bananas with a topping of nonfat vanilla yogurt and a drizzle of freshly-melted chocolate chips.


• Healthier Chocolate Cake: My favorite healthy dessert recipes generally include chocolate. This chocolate cake adaptation is healthier as a result of the flaxseed, prune puree and rice bran oil ingredients.


• Healthier Cupcakes: Kids love cupcakes, but all that sugary frosting isn't good for them. This healthy carrot and raisin cupcake recipe substitutes an apple juice glaze for the high calorie frosting. Tomato soup, shredded carrots and raisins pack the goodness of veggies and fruit into this healthy dessert recipe.

High-quality ingredients, such as fresh fruit, are the key to better-tasting healthy desserts. These recipes rely on fresh fruit and frozen yogurt to reduce sugar and calories without sacrificing flavor.

Knowing how to whip up an easy dessert from scratch is an essential skill for the accomplished cook. Because while boxed cake mixes and the like will do in a pinch, there's nothing quite as impressive and appreciated as homemade desserts.

Every cook needs a few go-to easy dessert recipes that they can throw together for an impromptu gathering. But simple and quick need not mean boring and traditional. Here are some ideas for easy desserts from scratch that will impress your guests and have them begging for more.

While pineapple upside down cakes are a relatively new dessert (made possible by the invention and perfection of canned pineapple in 1903 by Dole), the idea of an inverted, fruit-topped dessert is not new. It began centuries ago when the most common cooking vessel for a cake was a cast-iron pot or skillet. Fruit layered across the bottom of the pan cooked under the cake and then created a sauce when flipped out. It's a cooking method that makes it easy to impress family and guests without really adding much work for the cook. If you can bake a regular cake, you can bake a pineapple upside down cake.

The basic elements of a pineapple upside down cake are a caramel topping, a dense cake, and of course, rings of pineapple. The basic technique is to coat the bottom of a cake pan with the caramel, artfully arrange the pineapple (and often maraschino cherries) across the pan, cover with the cake batter, and bake. Then when you invert the finished and mostly cooled cake, you get this lovely presentation of caramelized pineapple rings on top of the cake with a built-in glaze. Kitchen Daily presents a good basic Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe here.

However, as soon as you start with basic elements, you can be sure that someone out there has cooked up a recipe to put a twist on things. The elements that are easiest to tinker with are the caramel and the cake itself. You can try infusing the caramel with special spices like ginger or cinnamon to your taste, or perhaps even add a bit of a liqueur like Gran Marnier for an extra flavor kick. The cake can be adjusted to almost any kind of cake you like -- although do be careful when altering baked goods recipes as measurements and proportions do make a significant impact on the science of baking. This Carrot Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe provides a yummy alternative.

You can also try this lighter version inspired by the classic dessert -- Frozen Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Instead of baking a dense cake on top of pineapple rings, you make a light mousse/meringue, cover it with angel food cake, and freeze. Sounds appealing for a warm summer day, doesn't it? Of course, don't feel limited by the availability of pineapple in your store or pantry -- these recipes could just as easily be made with whatever fresh, dried, or canned fruit you have on hand. Try to keep the consistency of the caramel about the same so that you'll always get a nice moist topping, but otherwise, let your imagination run wild!

While you can make a pineapple upside down cake in nearly any cake pan you already have, there are also specialized pans available to make sure your pineapple rings come out perfectly placed every time. For super special occasions, think about making individual cakes too!

Buttercream frosting is a simple, delicious way to finish off any cake. Learn the basics of making buttercream frosting so that you can truly have your cake and eat it too! Whether you are a kitchen veteran or just dipping your toes in the pool of baking, you can enjoy the benefits of buttercream frosting made the old fashioned way.

Though there are slight variations, buttercream frosting generally consists of butter, confectioner's sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. The recipes tend to vary on the fifth ingredient; some call for shortening, while others call for egg whites or cream. Choosing the frosting that is right for you is based on how you will use it – are you planning to decorate with it or just have it as a delectable topping to your cake? Do you have enough time to stand over the stove and cook it or do you need a faster solution?

If you are planning to decorate your cake or cupcakes, consider using a recipe formulated for decorating, such as Wilton's Buttercream Icing recipe or Kitchen Daily's Buttercream Icing for Decorating. Both of these recipes use shortening and do not require cooking. The consistency of the recipes can be adjusted as needed by adding more milk or sugar. If you need some help on ideas for decorating or a quick primer on how to get started, visit Wilton's Cake and Dessert Decorating 101. Here you can find information on how to best use buttercream frosting for decorating projects, how to mix colors and color icing, and how to get the right icing consistency.

Some bakers have found that recipes that call for shortening end up being a bit greasy. Savory Sweet Life suggests a recipe that calls for heavy cream. Their Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting doesn't require any cooking either, and can be used for simple spreading or decorating. Kitchen Daily also has a Buttercream Vanilla Frosting that uses an unorthodox ingredient. The use of marshmallow cream makes a light fluffy buttercream frosting, and only takes a few minutes of mixing to create. Similar to the recipe calling for marshmallow cream, this recipe for Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting uses whipping cream and promises fluffy, tasty results. Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Buttercream recipe doesn't use shortening either, and mixes quickly with a small list of ingredients.

A few buttercream frosting recipes require more time over the stove. Sometimes called French Buttercream, they call for egg whites, which necessitates a few minutes of cooking. If you'd like to try this variation, try the Buttercream Icing Recipe from Sweet Celebrations by Sylvia Weinstock with Kate Manchester or the Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe from Taste of Home.

Perhaps your cake needs a flavored buttercream frosting, and vanilla just won't do! From Chocolate Buttercream to Key Lime Buttercream, Wilton offers many variations on the classic vanilla recipe – sure to be the true "icing on the cake"!

As you begin your sweet, cake-making journey, use buttercream frosting for the final, perfect finishing touch.

Chocolate chip cookies are the king of the kitchen, but sometimes you want something different -- maybe even a little bit salty. Like, say, a peanut butter cookie. Recipe ideas for this homemade treat vary from the very basic to the elaborate, but they all have one thing in common -- they are delicious!

The peanut butter cookie recipe was born in the 1920s. The first mention of peanut butter as an ingredient for cookies appears to be the 1923 edition of Pillsbury's "Balanced Recipes," by Mary Ellis Ames. That book includes a recipe called Peanut Butter Balls, and instructs the baker to flatten the cookies with the tines of a fork, which is now the hallmark of the peanut butter cookie recipe.

If you're looking for a plain, old-fashioned peanut butter cookie recipe, look no further than "Classic Peanut Butter Cookies" from AllRecipes.com. It calls for sugar, flour, brown sugar and, of course, peanut butter, either crunchy or plain. This simple recipe will be enjoyed by every cookie lover in your home. If you're looking for an even simpler version, try "Mom Mom Fritch's Peanut Butter Cookies." This peanut butter cookie recipe has only four ingredients and doesn't call for flour.

Of course, peanut butter cookie recipes do not begin and end with the basics. You can go as crazy as you want with additional ingredients and various flavor combinations -- after all, who doesn't love the one-two punch of peanut butter and chocolate? Or even peanut butter and banana? If you're looking for creative peanut butter cookie recipe ideas, try KitchenDaily, which has a host of recipes from which to choose. Looking for a no-bake solution? Try Fudgy Peanut Butter Bites, which use refrigerated cookie dough as the base. Or how about Peanut Butter Cranberry Drops, which are also based on pre-made dough?

The peanut butter cookie recipe often gets pulled out at the holidays, and for many bakers the Peanut Butter Blossom is a holiday classic. The base of this cookie is, of course, a basic peanut butter cookie dough. What makes it so special? A chocolate kiss added just as the cookies come out of the oven. A heavenly combination sure to evoke memories of family gatherings gone by for everyone who tastes one.

Another peanut butter cookie recipe that tends to make an appearance at holiday time is the peanut butter ball. In Ohio these confections are known as Buckeye Balls, named for the nut of the Buckeye tree, which is the state tree of Ohio. This is a no-bake recipe that takes a peanut butter ball and dips it into melted chocolate. To make a classic Buckeye Ball, leave a small circle of peanut butter showing at the top.

No matter what kind of peanut butter cookie recipe you choose, you won't be disappointed in the results -- and be sure to make a double batch, because they won't last very long.