It’s Fruit Season! 11 Tasty Dessert Recipes Featuring Fruit
Article posted in: Diet & NutritionThe best way to get your daily servings of fruit? In dessert, of course. From warm cobblers to cool ice cream, these sweet and satisfying treats put healthy fruits front and center. The best time to enjoy these fruity classics? Fruit season, of course!
Check out 11 of our favorite dessert recipes perfect to whip up during fruit season:
1. Banana Nice Cream
Four ingredients: That’s all you need to make this scrumptiously sweet, super creamy treat. Freeze ripe bananas, then toss them into a food processor (or high-powered blender) with unsweetened almond milk, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Blend until creamy, then get yourself a spoon. Or, if you prefer your ice cream a little firmer, put it into the freezer for about an hour. One batch makes two servings; each serving contains 110 calories. On your Nutrisystem meal plan, one serving counts as one SmartCarb.
Get the Banana Nice Cream recipe.
2. Lightened-Up Lemon Bars
The bottom half is a flaky golden crust made from butter, applesauce, lemon zest, flour and sugar. The top layer: More lemon zest, more butter, lemon juice, and other baking staples. Together, the combination offers the perfect blend of sweet and tart in every bite. These bars take a little work, but your sweet tooth will thank you for the effort.
Get the Lightened-Up Lemon Bars recipe.
3. Black Forest Milkshake
You can most certainly have your shake and drink it, too—with this healthy version, anyway. It’s got chocolate, it’s got cherries, it’s sweet enough to rival ice-cream shop shakes, but it won’t completely derail your diet. And the secret ingredient: Spinach. That’s right—nutrient-rich, leafy greens give this decadent treat a boost of vitamins and minerals. To make it, just add spinach to a blender with frozen cherries, vanilla almond milk, and a protein-packed Chocolate Nutrisystem Shake. One serving contains 257 calories.
Get the Black Forest Milkshake recipe.
4. Gluten Free Banana Bread
It’s true that sometimes healthier banana bread can get a little dry, kind of like you’re biting into a piece of corrugated cardboard. But not this one. All you’ll taste is sweet bananas and cinnamon when you sink your teeth into a hearty slice. Unsweetened applesauce helps keep this bread soft and moist, and it’s made with gluten free flour for people who have wheat allergies, or other sensitivities. Each serving counts as one SmartCarb and one Extra on Nutrisystem.
Get the Gluten Free Banana Bread recipe.
5. Strawberry Ice Box Cake
Strawberries are one of our favorite fruits to incorporate into recipes during fruit season. An homage to the classic, this icebox cake replaces the traditional chocolate wafers with tasty graham crackers. And instead of whipped cream between the layers, create a healthier filling with Greek yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, Stevia and vanilla extract. Slices of strawberries complete the cake, with each piece weighing in at just 152 calories.
Get the Strawberry Ice Box Cake recipe.
6. Summer Fruit Salad with Honey Lemon Dressing
Perfect for a family barbecue, this fresh salad combines lots of seasonal fruit that’s sure to please your crowd. Toss strawberries, peaches, blueberries, blackberries and cubes of watermelon into a bowl, stir in some lemon juice and honey, and let it sit for 15 minutes for the fruit juices to come out. For super-sweetness, prep the salad the night before and keep it in the fridge overnight. Sprinkle with chopped basil or mint before serving.
Get the Summer Fruit Salad recipe.
7. 2-Ingredient Fresh Fruit Popsicles
Fruit season means it’s time to cool down with fresh, homemade popsicle. Pair peaches and raspberries, mix blueberries and strawberries, or combine kiwi and watermelon. Or for the popsicle purist, stick to a single fruit. Just pick your favorites, put them in a popsicle mold with any flavored water, stick in some sticks and freeze. So simple, so refreshing and so perfect for a warm summer day. Enjoy two popsicles for 85 calories; on Nutrisystem, they count as just one SmartCarb.
Get the Fresh Fruit Popsicles recipe.
8. Skinny Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
Reminiscent of the strawberry pie you ate as a kid, but so (so) much healthier. Slices of sweet strawberries balance out the tart rhubarb to make up the gooey filling—while oats, maple syrup and cinnamon help create a sweet and crunchy top. When it’s baked, it’s beautiful—and each piece is only 170 calories.
Get the Skinny Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble recipe.
9. Mango Sorbet
Transport your taste buds to the tropics with this vibrant sorbet. But you don’t have to travel far for the ingredients. You just need three, and you can find them at your local grocery store: Mango (frozen and cubed), pineapple juice and almond milk. Puree them in a food processor until a soft-serve consistency and enjoy each blissful spoonful. On the Nutrisystem plan, each serving counts as just one SmartCarb.
Get the Mango Sorbet recipe.
10. Cannoli Stuffed Strawberries
This one might take the win for best presentation: A hollowed-out strawberry serves as the cup for a spoonful of cannoli cream sprinkled with chocolate chips. So pretty, and the cannoli filling is so easy to make with ricotta cheese, Truvia and vanilla extract. You get to eat six strawberries—six!—in one serving for 165 calories.
Get the Cannoli Stuffed Strawberries recipe.
11. Skinny Peach Cobbler
This cobbler is one of our favorite desserts to whip up during fruit season. One bite of this and you’ll swear you’re cheating. The soft, juicy peaches are sprinkled with nutmeg and brown sugar; the cinnamon-hinted homemade crust is baked to golden crisp; the cobbler combination—sinfully delicious. But get this: Each serving is only 135 calories. High on the yumminess scale, zero on the guilt.
Get the Skinny Peach Cobbler recipe.