Throughout the year we are constantly surrounded by sweets, between holidays, family gatherings or just another coworker’s birthday at the office. These sweets are usually high in both sugar and fat but there are ways to make your own desserts that are not only healthier, but tasty too! In fact, you may even find that you like the healthy alternatives better! Identify which of the following are true or false to see how much you know about making healthy desserts.

1) If you want to lose weight, you can’t eat dessert.

2) Brown sugar is healthier than white sugar.

3) In a recipe, you can replace 1 whole egg for 2 egg whites.

4) Light margarine and other low calorie spreads can be used instead of butter in baked desserts.

5) The healthiest chocolate is high in cocoa content.

6) Enriched flour is just as healthy as whole wheat flour.

Now check your answers:

1) FALSE. Desserts are part of almost every culture and it’s not only very hard to avoid them, but it’s possible to eat desserts and stay healthy. Try to focus on fruit-based desserts and controlling portions.

2) FALSE. Brown sugar and white sugar have the same amounts of calories. However, many recipes still turn out great while using ¾ or 2/3 of the total sugar the recipe calls for. Additionally, you can add in other spices such as cinnamon, vanilla bean, nutmeg, allspice, pumpkin pie spice, or vanilla extract. This is an easy way to make a recipe healthier without losing much in terms of taste.

3) TRUE. Substituting egg whites for whole eggs is an easy and useful change to cut down calories and fat content.

4) FALSE. Light margarine and other low calorie vegetable spreads often have more water or air than actual butter, and this can affect the final texture of the dessert. Also, they may contain unhealthy fats such as hydrogenated oils. Instead, consider using other substitutes: fruit purees, apple sauce, or canned pumpkin. All can be used to replace up to ½ of the butter in a recipe.

5) TRUE. Chocolate is actually very healthy in small portions, and the healthiest part is the cocoa itself. Dark chocolate (especially 70% cocoa or higher) is even better for you, and can be part of a healthy diet. When a recipe calls for milk chocolate, you can substitute dark chocolate or cocoa powder in its place for the same chocolate taste without the extra fat and sugar.

6) FALSE. Whole grain flour has 5 times as much heart-healthy fiber as enriched flour. Try using whole wheat flour, gluten-free or ground nut flours instead.

Hopefully you aced this quiz! But if you didn’t, you hopefully picked up a few ideas to keep you feeling healthy all year round. With a little practice and planning, you don’t have to feel guilty about making or eating a serving of dessert.