20+ Healthy Desserts to Make This Spring
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The fresh flavors of spring are embraced in these dessert recipes. Featuring seasonal produce like bananas, strawberries and rhubarb, these spring sweets are equally delicious and healthy choices to end your day on a high note. Once you try recipes like our Crackle-Topped Rhubarb Coffee Cake and Pineapple-Chipotle Pops, you’ll start making them every time you want something sweet.
Crackle-Topped Rhubarb Coffee Cake
Chunks of rhubarb accent this moist, tender cake. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the batter before baking to create a crisp top. Enjoy a slice of rhubarb cake for breakfast or dessert.
Banana Pudding Parfaits
These individual banana puddings contain all of those delicious traditional banana pudding flavors in a healthy little parfait package. This recipe is part of our Juneteenth Family Cookout Menu.
Strawberry Poke Cake
What makes this poke cake so special? After this lightened-up cake is baked and cooled, it’s poked with holes (hence the name!) that are filled with fresh pureed strawberries thickened with gelatin to prevent the cake from getting soggy. The end result? Sweet strawberry flavor inside and out!
Pineapple-Chipotle Pops
Discover your inner child with these very grown-up ice pops! Pineapple and coconut milk are blended together with a hint of chipotle powder to give just the slightest bit of heat. You need six 4-ounce pop molds or eight 3-ounce paper cups and eight wooden craft sticks.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Icebox Cake
Ginger cookies absorb moisture from a rhubarb-laced whipped cream, turning them into cake-like layers while this icebox cake chills in the fridge. We also layered in fresh strawberries for gorgeous color and a little extra sweetness. Pre-chilling a metal mixing bowl in the freezer cools the compote down in a snap.
Apricot Rugelach
These rugelach get their sweetness from a filling of dried apricots and apricot preserves accented with a touch of ginger. We added some whole-wheat flour to the dough, but it’s still extra flaky.
Rhubarb-Strawberry Galette
Strawberries and rhubarb are a classic springtime combo, but you could use cherries or apricots if you prefer. Baking this pretty galette on a heated surface like a baking stone creates a crisp, sturdy bottom.
Cherry-Pineapple Dump Cake
This fruity cherry-pineapple dump cake has a delightful balance between tart and sweet flavors. Frozen cherries are the star here and add sweetness without going overboard. Pineapple adds tropical notes.
All-American Apple Pies
Little apple pies are baked in hollowed out shells of apples, topped with a pie crust lattice, and baked until golden brown and filling is bubbly.
Strawberry Shortcake
These light and fresh strawberry shortcakes lean on nonfat Greek-style yogurt instead of butter or cream in the shortcakes. Just a small amount of sugar and a pinch of lemon zest is all you need to bring out the flavor of fresh strawberries in this easy diabetes-friendly dessert.
Peanut Butter-Banana Frozen Yogurt Cake
This grown-up version of ice cream cake is a little sweet and a little salty. The yogurt cake gets its distinct flavor from freeze-dried banana slices–they can be pulverized into a powder (unlike regular dried bananas, which have a chewy texture). Read more about Kristen Hartke’s love of baking.
Chocolate-Pistachio Kiwi
Drizzle melted dark chocolate onto sliced kiwis and sprinkle with pistachio nuts for a fast healthy dessert or snack that satisfies your sweet, salty cravings.
Vegan Chocolate-Dipped Frozen Banana Bites
These bite-size frosty morsels of frozen banana, peanut butter and vegan chocolate make a perfect low-calorie snack or easy dessert. These banana bites store well in the freezer, so make some ahead and keep them on hand for those moments you crave a taste of something sweet.
Apple Crisp
Keeping the peel on the apple gives a bit of texture and color to this apple crisp recipe. A topping made from oats and pecans adds nuttiness. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake with Yogurt
We chose the classic combination of strawberries and rhubarb for this easy cake, but you can substitute 3 cups of any ripe fruit you’d like. Yogurt adds a creaminess that pulls the whole cake together.
Apricot Cobbler
This pretty apricot cobbler features tender biscuits that top sweet, jammy apricots sweetened with honey and flavored with ginger. It’s a great dessert that makes the most of the early-summer stone fruit season.
Strawberry Crumble Bars
After you haul all your fruit home from the orchard or farm, bake a batch of these bars. Change up the fruit with the seasons—peaches come summertime or apples in the fall.
Pineapple-Ginger Upside-Down Cake
Caramelized pineapple chunks are balanced by fresh ginger for a sweet, but not overly sweet, cake. Serve this light and fluffy dessert at a brunch or potluck.
Banana-Bread Brownies
We took two classic desserts—banana bread and brownies—and combined them into one sweet treat. Be sure to use very ripe bananas, which will be easier to mash and also add natural sweetness.
Rhubarb Crisp
Ginger and rhubarb team up in this easy rhubarb crisp recipe. Almond flour and chopped pistachios add some nuttiness to the topping and also make this crisp gluten-free.
Brown Sugar Glazed Apple Cake
This healthier apple cake recipe relies on yogurt and canola oil instead of butter to make it moist. Grated apple and warm spices give it the flavor of fall. To finish off the cake, drizzle on a quick brown sugar glaze before serving.
Roasted Banana Souffles with Caramel Sauce
A silence fell over the table when my friends first tasted this dessert, interrupted only by the sound of spoons being licked or dipped back into the ramekins for a second, then third mouthful. A silencing dessert is always a winning dessert in my book.
