Looking for healthy chocolate dessert recipes? I love chocolate, but have done my best to avoid it. As it seems, I just look at it and my weight does a pre-chocolate jump…not to mention my cholesterol and sugar! But, there is a way to enjoy the pleasure of chocolate without the guilt…healthy chocolate dessert recipes are now a reality!

Healthy Chocolate Dessert Recipes

Do you love chocolate but limit your indulgences because of the calories and fat? Would you prepare more recipes with chocolate if you could find healthy chocolate dessert recipes that are delicious, too? Jennifer Iserloh, The Skinny Chef, can help you with that…

Two years ago I received a healthy diet cookbook, Secrets of a Skinny Chef by Jennifer Iserloh, to review. It seems oxymoronic when you hear “skinny chef” together, but Jennifer Iserloh is because she not only shares great advice (and healthy recipes), she follows it herself.

I’ve used her cookbook often since receiving it. The many family-friendly recipes in her 196-page book are easy to make with ingredients easily found in your local market. I’m going to skip to the healthy chocolate dessert recipes for this occasion! Yesterday was National Milk Chocolate Day.  The following healthy chocolate recipes are guaranteed to take the guilt out of celebrating National Milk Chocolate Day with chocolate…or just treating you and your family to a delicious chocolate dessert whenever you get the craving…

Healthy Chocolate Dessert Recipes

Let’s start off with a healthy chocolate dessert recipe that can be enjoyed for breakfast, too. The Skinny Chef’s creamy chocolate shake is lower in fat and rich in calcium and cultures from Greek yogurt, plus the potassium from the banana (I for one wouldn’t limit this one to just breakfast!):

Chocolate Breakfast Shake, page 22

serves 4:  10-ounce servings

1 cup plain, fat-free Greek yogurt
1-1/2 cups fat-free milk
1 medium banana (about 7 ounces)
2 cups ice
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons honey or granulated sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Cover and blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Distribute the shake among four glasses and serve immediately.
Per serving (1-1/4 cups): 126 calories, 9 g protein, 24 g carbohydrates, 0.6 g fat (0.3 g saturated) 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 62 mg sodium

That will certainly get me up and going in the mornings!

Now, because this post is about yummy healthier chocolate recipes, we’ll (as Emily, my chocolate loving grandchild asks to do) have our meal later and enjoy our chocolate desserts now!

More Healthy Chocolate Dessert Recipes from Secrets of a Skinny Chef

Sinful Chocolate Cake Made with Raisins and Bittersweet Morsels, page 142

If you like sink yourself into a moist, dense, yet soft chocolate cake, then this cake is the one! You save on calories and fat because it is so rich it doesn’t need icing. The raisings add a bit of chewy sweetness…it’s like a devil’s food cake without all the devilish fat. 

Serves 12 slices

Nonstick cooking spray
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup raisins
1 cup boiling water
½ cup fat-free sour cream
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup bittersweet chocolate morsels
¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

  1. Preheat the over to 350°F. Coat a 9 x 12-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
  2. Place the cocoa and raisins in a small bowl with the boiling water. Set aside.
  3. Place the sour cream and baking powder in a coffee mug. Stir and set aside.
  4. Place the brown sugar, chocolate morsels, oil, egg whites, and vanilla in a large bowl.
  5. Using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until smooth.
  6. Add the cocoa raisin mixture. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the sugar mixture.
  7. Add the flour, alternating with the sour cream mixture in two additions.
  8. Transfer the batter to the casserole dish and bake 20-25 minutes, until the center of the cake springs back to the touch or a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.

Per serving (1 slice): 198 calories, 3 g protein, 33 g carbohydrates, 7.3 g fat (2 g saturated), 1 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 210 mg sodium. 

Tiramisu Parfaits, page 144-45

Save your left over coffee, not for iced coffee but for this melt in your mouth healthy tiramisu recipe with much less the fat than the original.

Serves 4:  1-cup servings

Chocolate Filling:
2 cups fat-free milk
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1⁄4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Creamy Filling:
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup low-fat (1 percent) cottage cheese
1⁄4 cup reduced-fat cream cheese
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Parfaits:
8 large low-fat store-bought biscotti
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1 cup strongly brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature
4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

  1. Place the milk, cocoa powder, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan.
  2. Place over medium heat and cook 4 to 5 minutes, whisking often, until a thick sauce forms.
  3. Place the applesauce, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a minichopper. Process until smooth.
  4. Break the biscotti in half. Place a piece of biscotti in the bottoms of each of four parfait glasses.
  5. Mix the confectioners’ sugar with the coffee, then spoon 1 tablespoon of the coffee mixture into each glass.
  6. Dot each with the chocolate filling and then the creamy filling. Repeat the layers three times, ending with the creamy filling.
  7. Sprinkle each parfait with 1 teaspoon cocoa powder. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Per serving (about 1 cup): 349 calories, 17 g protein, 60 g carbohydrates, 6.5 g fat (2.2 g saturated), 11 mg cholesterol, 5 g fiber, 418 mg sodium

Slender Blondie Brownies with Walnuts, Chocolate Chips, and Prunes, page 146-147

White whole wheat flour is a lot softer than regular stone ground whole wheat flour and makes for tender baked goods.

Serves 12 pieces

Nonstick cooking spray
¾ cup white whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ cup canola oil
2/3 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ chopped prunes
¼ cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup bittersweet chocolate morsels

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch square pan with cooking spray.
  2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt onto a piece of waxed paper or aluminum foil. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the oil and sugar until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Mix in the egg whites and vanilla. With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in the prunes, walnuts, and morsels.
  4. Spread the batter in the pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist-looking crumbs.
  5. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into 12 pieces and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Per serving (1 piece): 169 calories, 2 g protein, 25 g carbohydrates, 7.2 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 81 mg sodium..

Hot Fudge Sundae with Vanilla Bean Frozen Yogurt, page 161

This is real vanilla bean frozen yogurt because you start with…what else?…one vanilla bean

Serves 6:  1/2-cup servings plus fruit

1 vanilla bean
1 cup fat-free Greek yogurt
1 15-ounce can peaches or apricots packed in water, drained
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 ripe bananas
6 tablespoons chocolate sauce, heated

  1. Cut the vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds.
  2. Place the seeds, yogurt, peaches or apricots, and sugar in a blender or food processor.
  3. Process until smooth.
  4. Transfer to a small freezer-safe container and freeze at least 3 hours or more until firm.
  5. Cut the bananas lengthwise in half and remove the peels. Cut each banana in half crosswise.
  6. Place 2 banana quarters into each of 6 small dishes or wine glasses. Spoon two small scoops of the frozen yogurt in between the slices of banana.
  7. Drizzle with the chocolate sauce and serve immediately.

Per serving (1/2 cup yogurt + 1/2 banana + 1 tablespoon chocolate sauce): 166 calories, 4 g protein, 34 g carbohydrates, 1.7 g fat (0.7 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 81 mg sodium

These additional healthy chocolate dessert recipes and more can also be found in Secrets of a Skinny Chef by Jennifer Iserloh on Amazon.com.

  • Chocolate Pudding Pops, page 157 (1 pop = 62 calories, 0.5 g fat)
  • Chocolate Covered Pretzels and Fruit, page 155 (1 serving = 60 calories, 3.1 g fat)
  • Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes with Angelic Icing, page 138-139 (1 cupcake = 142 calories, 4.2 g fat)

It is amazing how easily our favorite chocolate desserts can be tweaked into healthy chocolate desserts by just switching to healthier ingredients…and still continue to be our favorites. Check out The Skinny Chef’s healthy chocolate dessert recipes and more website – I know you’ll enjoy it.

Involve your kids or grandkids in making these delicious healthy chocolate dessert recipes, too. And while you are having great fun together, remember to talk about the healthy ingredients and why they are so much better than ingredients in the original recipes. While you are waiting for the recipe to be done, look through some cookbooks or online recipes and come up with a healthier recipe to make together next time!

(This post is 2nd in a series for “Celebrating National Milk Chocolate Day.” 1st post: Chocolate Lovers National Milk Chocolate Day)