A little planning goes a long way with these delicious recipes! You’ll have one less thing to worry about this holiday season, since these desserts are perfect for making in advance. These dishes will satisfy your sweet tooth while meeting our parameters for a diabetes-appropriate eating pattern, since they are lower in saturated fat, carbs, calories and sodium. You’ll want to try options like our Almond & Pear Rose Tarts or our Cranberry-Coconut Oatmeal Cookies for a delightful dessert that will make holiday hosting a breeze.
Dark Chocolate Almond Clusters
Photographer: Grant Webster, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Joseph Wanek
These bite-size dark chocolate almond clusters blend dark chocolate with nutty almonds for an easy snack or dessert. Stick to the three ingredients we list here, or add your own twist by including dried cherries or toasted coconut for a little variety.
Almond & Pear Rose Tarts
These pretty little two-bite almond and pear tarts are perfect for party buffets. Thinly slicing the pears lets you roll up the tarts more neatly, giving you a bakery-worthy presentation.
Ginger & Spice Crackles
These soft and moist cookies are spiked with ginger, cinnamon and a hint of cloves and they crackle on top when they bake. Rolling them in powdered sugar gives them a lightly sweet coating on the outside that looks like a dusting of fresh fallen snow.
Cranberry-Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
In this installment of Diaspora Dining, Jessica B. Harris’ series on foods of the African diaspora, the author and historian rings in some changes to the Christmas traditions of her own childhood.
Chocolate-Coconut Thumbprints
These double-chocolate thumbprints are filled with chocolate ganache and topped with toasted coconut. The ganache will set as it sits, but won’t harden completely, so if you’re going to pack the cookies up, layer them between pieces of wax paper to prevent them from sticking.
2-Bite Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop stylist: Gabriel Greco
These mini pumpkin cheesecakes are a festive dessert for any gathering. Feel free to sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top to amp up the warm, cozy flavors. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can make your own with a mix of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Use leftover pumpkin puree in muffins, soup and more.
Gingerbread Tea Cake
This low-calorie cake gets its festive flavor from molasses, cinnamon, ginger and ground cloves. Serve it for dessert during the holidays.
Chocolate Chip Almond Butter Cookies
Natural almond butter gives these gluten-free cookies a wonderfully rich flavor and tender, slightly chewy texture. Folding in chopped toasted almonds along with mini chocolate chips ensures plenty of chocolate and crunch in every bite.
Fudgy Flourless Pumpkin Brownies
Pumpkin spice meets chocolate: a match made in heaven. The hypnotizing smell that fills your kitchen when these brownies are done baking is unbeatable. If you don’t have canned pumpkin puree on hand, you can make it from scratch. If you don’t like pumpkin, butternut squash and sweet potato purees will work interchangeably, too. And feel free to store any extra brownies in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Almond Confetti Mandel Bread
Photographer: Brie Goldman, Food Stylist: Lauren McAnelly, Prop Stylist: Holly Raibikis
Not unlike biscotti, mandel bread (also called mandelbrot) are twice-baked, crunchy cookies that make a perfect coffee-dunking treat. This mandel bread recipe is packed with chopped almonds and rainbow sprinkles for a family-friendly cookie. The dough is endlessly customizable by using your favorite nuts, flavorings and sprinkles!
Lemon-Raspberry Blondies
These blondies, made with whole-wheat flour and the bright and refreshing combination of raspberries and lemon, provide an invigorating dessert for any time of day.
Cinnamon Icebox Cookies
Slice-and-bake icebox cookies are the ultimate make-ahead treat. You can make a batch and bake as many as you like, saving the rest of the dough in the freezer. These simple swirled cookies are rolled in finely chopped pecans. They’re mildly sweet—perfect for after dinner or paired with coffee.
Karidopita (Walnut Cake)
This syrup-soaked walnut cake—a traditional Greek dessert that’s often served for holidays—gets its structure from breadcrumbs instead of flour. It’s delicious unadorned, but feel free to top it with unsweetened whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or warm chocolate sauce for an extra layer of decadence.
Cranberry Crumble Bars
These cranberry-orange bars freeze well. Make a batch on a free afternoon and pop them in the freezer so you’ll always have a healthy dessert on hand when company calls.
Light and Luscious Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin pie is a must for the holidays, and you’ll love this lighter version that tastes just as delicious.
Cinnamon-Raisin Oatmeal Cookies
This recipe takes oatmeal cookies up a notch with its cinnamony, buttery, delicious take on a much-loved classic dessert.
No-Bake Vegan Date Brownies
Sweetened with dates, these whole-grain bars provide energy and protein, thanks to nut butter. With just 5 ingredients you probably already have in your pantry, you can make these delicious, chewy brownies with no added sugar. Whip up a batch as a healthy dessert or for grab-and-go energy bars for a healthy snack.
No-Sugar-Added Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
Soft, chewy and no added sugar! Sweeten these classic oatmeal cookies with ripe bananas and raisins or dates. Plus, a touch of nut butter adds lots of flavor and holds the cookies together while keeping them vegan and gluten-free.
Lemon Cheesecake Bites
These creamy and lemony cheesecake bites are diabetes-friendly and absolutely delicious!
Flourless Chocolate Cookies
These flourless cookies get their volume from whipped egg whites (like a meringue) instead of grains, making them gluten-free and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. A chocolate chip in each bite adds to the rich chocolate flavor.
No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
We gave no-bake cookies a healthy makeover, bumping up the peanut butter and cutting back on added sugar and butter. The result is a chewy, peanut buttery, oat-packed delicious cookie. It’s easy to whip up a batch of these—only a few simple ingredients are needed to make these chewy peanut butter cookies and there’s no baking required.
Mini Gingerbread House Cookies
Holiday cookies don’t get any cuter than these mini gingerbread houses that kids and adults alike will love.
Raspberry-Pistachio Greek Yogurt Bark
Mix Greek yogurt with sweet jam and crunchy pistachios and freeze so you can break into chunks just like chocolate bark (but healthier!). This colorful snack or healthy dessert is perfect for kids and adults alike. Use full-fat yogurt to ensure the creamiest bark possible.
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