Heart-healthy desserts are a delicious way to get nutritional benefits from your favorite sweet treats. Whether you're hoping to prevent heart disease or looking for delicious ways to manage your health with a heart issue, dessert can still be part of the equation.
"Everything can fit into a healthy diet," Theresa Gentile, a registered dietitian in New York City and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, tells TODAY.com. In fact, Gentile eats dessert pretty much every day, usually in the form of chocolate, she says.
Along with other lifestyle strategies, such as getting good quality sleep and staying physically active, choosing the right dessert foods can help you hit your heart-health goals.
“Incorporating desserts you love, either occasionally or regularly, is possible with a bit of thoughtful planning,” Emma Laing, Ph.D., clinical professor and director of the didactic program in dietetics at the University of Georgia and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, tells TODAY.com.
Part of that planning includes choosing satisfying desserts, as well as “being sensible with portion sizes and eating slowly and mindfully without a lot of distractions,” Laing adds.
Even if you don't have a cardiac issue, like high blood pressure or cholesterol, it's not a bad idea to eat with heart health in mind, Gentile says. Heart disease is common — and the leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So heart health "should be a concern for most Americans," she says.
What to look for in a heart-healthy dessert
In general, the experts suggest making desserts yourself whenever possible.
"The more you can make your dessert at home, the more you can minimize the unhealthy oils and hydrogenated fats that might be in a commercially prepared product," Gentile says. You could also get your dessert from a local bakery, she says, which will likely be using healthier ingredients than you'd find in a pre-packaged treat.
In particular, she recommends looking for ways to incorporate fiber into your desserts because it's such an important nutrient for heart health.
For example, try swapping in whole-wheat flour when making quickbreads, like pumpkin bread, or incorporating oats into cookie recipes or fruit crumble and crisp toppings. Also, look for fruit-forward desserts because "fruit carries lots of fiber, both soluble and insoluble," Gentile says.
In general, the experts recommend looking for desserts that incorporate these heart-healthy ingredients:
- Fruits high in antioxidants, such as berries, citrus, apples and grapes.
- Whole grains, which provide fiber.
- Olive oil, canola oil, flaxseed oil and walnut oil.
- Nuts and seeds containing healthy fats and fiber, such as peanuts, tree nuts and flaxseeds.
- Avocado and avocado oil.
Ingredients to limit in heart-healthy desserts
If you're trying to be conscious of your heart health, there are a few ingredients that the experts recommend avoiding or limiting.
Those include:
- Tropical oils, such as palm oil and coconut oil.
- Alcohol (think: frozen watermelon margarita pops, sparkling rosé floats or a wine-based granita, Laing says).
Dietitian-approved dessert ideas for heart health
Baked, grilled or poached fruit
Both experts suggest using fruit as the main ingredient in a dessert.
Especially in the fall and wintertime, Gentile likes to make grilled pears topped with warm spices like cinnamon or she'll poach pears in apple cider. In fact, for Thanksgiving this year, her family made grilled apples for dessert stuffed with brown sugar, pecans and a bit of butter.
"It was a great dessert with a little vanilla ice cream on top," she says. "I felt like I got in some fiber and sweetness."
Yogurt bark
A consistent favorite among dietitians, this frozen treat offers tons of possibilities for customization. It’s made by spreading Greek yogurt on a baking sheet and topping it with whatever combination of ingredients speaks to you. After a few hours in the freezer, you can break the bark off in pieces.
Try sprinkling a section with chocolate chips, chopped nuts and berries. Or, take Gentile’s suggestion and use pomegranate seeds or dried fruit.
Black bean brownies
Brownies made with black beans get a big boost in healthy fiber and protein from the beans. The concept may seem a little odd at first, but “it’s better than it sounds,” Gentile says. “And anyone who has made them can verify.”
Oatmeal raisin cookies
"I love integrating oats into dessert," Gentile says, and a classic oatmeal raisin cookie offers the perfect opportunity to do just that.
You'll get heart-healthy fiber from both the rolled oats and raisins, and the raisins offer a bonus dose of antioxidants.
Oat and banana cookies
Another way Gentile uses oats in dessert is with a quick cookie recipe incorporating bananas, oats and walnuts or chocolate chips.
The recipe contains "nice soluble fiber from both the oats and the banana," she explains. And they're so nutritious that she'll give them to her kids for breakfast or put them in their lunchboxes.
Other variations might add peanut butter for more healthy fats and protein or form the mixture into convenient ball shapes.
Mini matcha cakes
Regularly consuming matcha tea has been linked to reduced risks of cardiovascular disease because it has particularly high levels of antioxidants and amino acids, Laing explains.
“Matcha powder can be added to smoothies, ice cream and baked goods to enhance the flavor and increase the content of antioxidants in these products,” she says.
She points to this recipe for mini matcha cakes, served with fresh strawberries on the side, from the American Heart Association. Or you can try this matcha take on a classic Chinese bakery sponge cake filled with tea-infused whipped cream.
Chocolate clusters with fruit and quinoa
If you're craving something sweet and crunchy, some chocolate nut clusters should do the trick, Gentile says.
They're made by covering a selection of your favorite nuts and dried fruit — plus cooked or toasted quinoa — with melted chocolate. Of course, the chocolate, nuts and dried fruit make a tasty, nutritious snack on their own. But the quinoa adds a crispy bite and "ups the fiber and protein content," Gentile says.
Matcha popsicles
Another easy matcha dessert option is to make popsicles. In particular, Laing suggests this AHA-approved recipe, which starts with a smoothie-like mixture of avocado, banana, fat-free Greek yogurt and matcha powder sweetened with honey.
Beetroot brownies
Beets are a powerhouse of heart-healthy nutrients, Laing says, including fiber, folate and potassium. "A fun fact about beets is that the leaves are also edible and the entire beet can be blended, juiced or added as a powder to desserts like cakes, cheesecakes and brownies," she says.
In beet brownies, the root veggie adds a subtle hit of earthy sweetness and extra moisture for an even fudgier consistency.
Fruit crisps made with apples, bananas or berries
A fruit crisp or crumble with a simple oatmeal topping is another great way to get the benefits of fruit and fiber in a dessert, Gentile says.
Desserts like these also offer the opportunity to eat with the seasons by using whatever fruit happens to be in season at the moment, such as peaches, apples, pears, plums or berries.
Fruit and yogurt parfaits
A humble yet delicious parfait is a simple way to pack in a bunch of heart-healthy ingredients without the need to prepare anything. Just sprinkle your favorite selection of fresh fruit and chopped nuts over plain yogurt. You can throw in some chocolate chips or make an easy chocolate drizzle with confectioner's sugar, hot water and cocoa powder, the AHA says.
