5 Healthy Dessert Recipes for a Guilt-Free Diwali

Introduction

Diwali is incomplete without gorging on Indian sweets. While nothing adds to the festivities in the form of gulab jamuns, chocolates, and laddoos, these desserts fail our diet plan and lead to undesired weight gain. At the same time, Diwali desserts are decadent, tasty, and too tempting to let go of when your family, friends, and relatives are enjoying them right in front of you.

What if we tell you that this Diwali, you can indulge in your favorite desserts without compromising on your diet and maintaining your fitness goals? Don’t you believe us? All you need to do is explore some new, healthy, and low-calorie Diwali recipes.

Below are five easy-to-make sweets and desserts to satisfy your Diwali cravings and help you celebrate a guilt-free Diwali this year.

  • 3-ingredient Peanut Ladoos

This dessert gets ready with just three ingredients: Ghee, jaggery, and peanuts. While these ladoos make a perfect Diwali sweet, it is ideal to be used as ‘prasad.’ This low-calorie ladoo satisfies your sweet cravings and is perfect even to consume during vrat or fasting days.

Ingredients

  • Melted ghee (2 tablespoons)
  • Raw peanuts (2 cups)
  • Grated or powdered jaggery (0.5 cups)

Method

  • Roast the raw peanuts in a pan. Make sure they don’t burn. 
  • When roasted, transfer peanuts into another bowl and leave it to cool down.
  • Once the peanuts come to room temperature, peel them. You can do that by rubbing the peanuts between your palms. 
  • Transfer the peeled peanuts to a mixer jar. Grind until they form a coarse powder.
  • Now, add jaggery and ghee in the mixer jar itself and grind again. This will give your ladoos a smooth texture.
  • Pour out the ready mixture on a plate and make round laddoos. You can easily make 12 ladoos with them. Store them in an air-tight jar.
  • Baked Shakkarpare
  • Shakkarpare is one of the favorite and widely consumed snacks in North India. While the traditional Shakkarpare recipe uses refined flour and lots of ghee to fry them, we bring you a healthier alternative to this ‘sweet and crispy’ dessert snack. Here is the baked version of shakkarpara, made with whole wheat flour.

    Ingredients

    • Wheat flour (3/4th cup)
    • Ghee (1 tablespoon)
    • Sugar(2 tablespoons)
    • Milk(5 tablespoons)
    • Salt(1 pinch)

    Method

    • Take a deep pan; pour milk, sugar, and ghee in it. Cook this mixture (on a low flame) for 2 to 3 minutes. You can also let it cook till the sugar dissolves.
    • In another bowl, put the whole wheat flour and add salt to it.
    • Add the ready mixture (of sugar-ghee-milk) to the wheat flour and knead to make a soft dough.
    • Roll out a small portion of the dough with a rolling pin and cut it into diamond shapes.
    • Now transfer them to a well-greased baking tray.
    • Bake them for 8-10 minutes in a preheated oven.
    • Voila! Baked shakkarpare is ready. Let them cool and settle before you start munching them.

  • Date and apple kheer
  • Kheer is India’s desi version of the English pudding. Easy to make, it is amongst the most common milk-based desserts. Follow this delectable recipe to give a healthy spin to your regular bowl of kheer this Diwali.

    Ingredients

    • Milk (1500 ml)
    • Grated apple (3, of medium size)
    • Sugar (3 tablespoons)
    • Ghee (3 teaspoons)
    • Chopped dates (1 cup)
    • Chopped almonds (a handful)
    • Chopped cashews (a handful)

    Method

    • Boil milk in a deep non-stick pan.
    • Add chopped dates once the milk is boiled and leave it on low flame for about 7-8 minutes. Once the milk simmers well with dates, add almonds and cashews and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. When done, let it cool down.
    • Heat ghee in a different pan. Then add sugar and grated apples and cook it for 10 minutes or till the water evaporates (on a low flame). When done, let it cool down to room temperature.
    • Once both the mixtures come at room temperature, mix them. (Try to make sure that neither of the mixtures is hot; otherwise, the milk will curdle, and the kheer will spoil!)
    • Your kheer is now ready. Refrigerate it for 2 hours before serving.
    • Serve chilled. You can even add raisins and walnuts or other dry fruits as per your choice.

    A quick tip: To make an even healthier version of kheer, simply avoid sugar. Due to the sweetness of apples and dates, the kheer will have a mild sweet taste. Furthermore, you can substitute honey or jaggery in place of sugar.

  • Anjeer (fig) barfi
  • Anjeer, or fig, comes with a host of health benefits, and it makes an excellent sweet ingredient for multiple delicious desserts. You can try this decadent anjeer barfi by substituting the sugar with the goodness of cashews.

    Ingredients

    • Anjeer (1 cup)
    • Khus khus (2 tablespoons)
    • Cashew nuts (a handful)
    • Ghee (1 teaspoon)
    • Condensed milk (1/2 cup)
    • Cardamom powder (½ teaspoon)

    Method

    • Soak anjeer in a bowl for 2 hours. After it is well-soaked, grind it to make a fine paste.
    • Take a pan and dry roast khus khus until it turns light golden. Once done, empty roasted khus khus in a plate or tray.
    • In the same pan, dry roast Cashew nuts. Once they are done, let them cool down. Then grind it to make a powder out of it.
    • To prepare barfis, melt ghee in a pan and transfer the anjeer paste into it.
    • Now, add cardamom powder and condensed milk to the paste. Stir them well and let them cook on low heat or flame.
    • Gradually add cashew nut powder to the mixture and mix it well using a spatula. Keep mixing until the mixture turns into a sticky paste.
    • Once done, spread the mixture evenly on butter paper.
    • Sprinkle the roasted khus khus over the mixture and roll the butter paper.
    • Put the roll in the refrigerator for 30 - 40 minutes.
    • Once the refrigeration process is complete, open the roll and slice it into barfi shapes.
    • Enjoy these barfis on Diwali, and you can even pack and gift them to your loved ones.
  • Sugar-free chocolate sandesh
  • Sandesh, or sondesh, is always a highlight on the sweet platter. Why not give a twist to traditional Sandesh?  This recipe doesn’t use any sugar but tastes mildly sweet, thanks to choco chips

    Ingredients

    • Milk (1000 ml/1 l)
    • Cocoa powder (2 teaspoons)
    • Lemon juice (2 to 3 tablespoons)
    • Chocolate chips (semi-sweet) (2 tablespoons)
    • Chocolate chips (to garnish)

    Method

    • Boil milk in a thick-bottomed pan. When it starts to boil, add lemon juice to it, this will make the milk curdle.
    • When the whey (the watery part of milk) is separated, remove the pan from the gas stove.
    • Cover a colander or a sieve with a muslin cloth and place it over a large container or vessel. Now, transfer the curdled milk (which is paneer) to the muslin cloth.
    • Rinse it well under a tap and tie the muslin cloth tightly by folding it from all ends. Keep squeezing the tied cloth until the excess water is drained out. Hang the fabric and leave it for 15 to 20 minutes.
    • After 20 minutes, transfer the paneer to a plate. Add cocoa powder to it, and knead it well for 3 to 4 minutes.
    • Take a non-stick pan and put the kneaded paneer mixture into it. Keep stirring on a low flame until your paneer gets a smooth texture.
    • Once done, remove the mixture from the flame and add choco chips. Keep stirring until all the chocolate melts in the mix.
    • Scoop out the mixture from the pan onto a big plate and let it cool down. You can easily make around ten small Sandesh balls from the given mixture.
    • Once all the Sandesh is ready, place some choco chips in the center of each one of them.
    • Sandesh tastes best when it’s served chilled!

    This Diwali, don’t give up on tasty desserts. Prepare them at home and in the healthiest way possible.

    Wish you all a safe and guilt-free Diwali!

    Before you go, visit our website and explore healthy and delicious ingredients to make your favorite desserts at home.