Christmas 2021 recipes: Low-calorie desserts to enjoy with friends and family

Christmas 2021 recipes: Christmas time is all about spreading cheer and spending time with your family and friends. As you give finishing touches to your festival decor and adorn your Christmas tree with beautiful lights, ribbons, baubles and other decorations, it’s also the time to finalise your dessert menu.

While the festival is incomplete without sugary treats like cakes, cookies and puddings, the overload of these high-calorie sweets can make one gain oodles of weight. However, if you have resolved to maintain a healthy weight even during holiday season, you must be looking for low-calorie dessert options to make your Christmas celebrations as special as ever.

Here are some low-calorie dessert recipes for you that you may be tempted to try at home.

Maple Dates Bar

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups finely chopped pitted dates

¾ cup water

⅓ cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

⅔ cup sugar free

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup regular oats

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

Oil for greasing

Method:

* Combine dates, water, and maple syrup in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil; cook for 12 minutes or until most liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently. (Mixture will look like jam.) Stir in the rind; cool completely.

* Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

* Beat sugar free and butter with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.

* Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture (mixture will be crumbly). Press two cups of flour mixture into the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking pan grease with cooking oil.

* Spread date mixture over flour mixture. Sprinkle it with remaining flour mixture. Bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Benefits of the recipe

Dates are an excellent substitute for sugar and help reduce heart attack risk besides being good for bones. They can energize you in winters and keep you warm. Storehouse of essential vitamins, minerals, fibre, calcium, potassium, phosphorous, copper and magnesium, dates also have both soluble and insoluble fibres to keep the digestive system smooth.

Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:

170 g pitted date

¾ cup rolled oats (60 g)

½ cup almond (70 g)

1 pinch salt

1 tablespoon water

1 ½ cups cashews (195 g)

445 ml coconut cream chilled

¼ cup coconut oil

½ cup maple syrup, plus 2 tablespoons

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon ginger

Method:

* Line square baking dish with parchment paper.

* Add the dates, oats, almonds, and salt to a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Add the water and pulse again until the mixture is sticky enough to hold together.

* Transfer the crust to the prepared baking dish and spread in an even layer.

* Freeze while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

* Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Add the cashews and boil for 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a food processor.

Process until smooth.

* In a medium bowl, spoon out the coconut cream from the top of the can of coconut milk (making sure to take only the cream and not the liquid). Beat with an electric hand mixer until soft peaks form. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup, and the vanilla and beat until well combined.

* Add the cashew paste and stir with a spatula until well combined, using a whisk, if necessary, to smooth out any stubborn lumps. Set aside.

* In a separate, medium bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, remaining 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger and mix until well combined.

* Remove the crust from the freezer and pour in the cashew mixture. Smooth evenly.

* Add small dollops of the pumpkin mixture on top of the cashew mixture.

* Freeze for at least 2 two hours, or overnight.

* Remove from the freezer and slice into 9 even bars.

Benefits of the recipe

A dessert made of pumpkin is always a good choice as besides being packed with vitamins and minerals, pumpkin is also relatively low in calories, as it’s 94% water. The high antioxidant level in pumpkin can keep many chronic diseases at bay. Cinnamon and ginger used in this recipe will keep your body warm too in the bitter cold.

(Recipes by Executive Chef Amit Kocharekar, The Resort, Mumbai)

Chocolate Banana Pudding

Ingredients:

2 medium / 1 big banana

1 tbsp almond butter

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp oats flour

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

Method:

* Mash the Banana and mix it with the other ingredients.

*Bake it in ramekins or skillet at 180 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until done.

Benefits

This warm gooey decadent pudding is perfect during the Christmas festive time. Also it’s vegan, gluten free and refined sugar free. Bananas are rich in potassium, fibre and many antioxidants and contain Vitamin B6 that is essential for the body. Banana also helps in regulating digestion. Almond butter is good for your heart as it has monounsaturated fats as well as packed with vitamins and minerals.

(Recipe by Guntas Sethi Bhasin, Founder & Head Chef)

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