Best Diet Dessert Recipes

This wonderful rich, sweet lemon pound cake is downright zingy and the candied lemon slices are a beautiful bittersweet topping that's better than frosting. The best part, though: when you taste it you won't miss all the butter we cut out compared with a traditional pound cake recipe.

These super-rich brownies made chocolaty with plenty of cocoa powder have less fat than other brownies, but stay extra gooey and good with marshmallows, nuts and chocolate chunks on top.

You don't have to have pumpkin pie to still enjoy pumpkin and spice in a Thanksgiving dessert. Pumpkin helps keep this cake tender and moist while, delicate spices add the classic Thanksgiving flavors.

A truly old-fashioned dessert, “pandowdy” is said to refer to the cutting up of the flaky crust, or “dowdy-ing,” toward the end of the baking time. Once the crust is cut, the bubbly fruit cooks up around the crust. This dessert is good with whichever berries are ripe at the moment. In early summer go for strawberries. Serve with ice cream or frozen yogurt.

Try this cherry sorbet recipe with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream or some more chopped cherries on top.

This warm pudding has a marvelous deep chocolaty flavor, but it's low in fat and super-quick to make. Don't skimp on the quality of cocoa with this one--treat yourself to the good stuff.

Retro, creamy and delicious, this cake is the frozen version of the beloved classic. This takes a bit of extra time to make--but it's worth it.

Don't be intimidated by its tall, dark beauty; this decadent (yet calorie-smart) Kahlua and chocolate soufflé recipe is easy to make at home.

This is a healthier version of a traditional cobbler, with canola oil in place of some of the butter and whole-wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour. Unlike more classic biscuit-topped cobblers, the peaches and blueberries are nestled into a tender batter that swells around the fruit as it bakes. Other fruits may be substituted. It's especially beautiful when baked in and served right from a cast-iron skillet.

Panna cotta (“cooked cream” in Italian) is a silky-smooth dessert that works beautifully with the flavor of coffee. The sauce was inspired by café brûlot, the New Orleans classic coffee drink spiked with flamed brandy. Cooking for teetotalers? Use brandy extract in the panna ­cottas and omit brandy (and flambéing) from the sauce. Garnish with chocolate-covered espresso beans, if desired. Recipe by Joyce Hendley for EatingWell.

Inspired by the old-school, ultra-rich, mousselike chocolate cake that usually called for a whole pound of chocolate, half a dozen eggs and lots of butter, this enlightened rendition has deep bittersweet chocolate flavor and dense melt-in-your-mouth texture. No one will guess it's healthier. The secret is excellent natural cocoa powder and good-quality bittersweet chocolate, preferably with 70% cacao. Although the cake can be eaten once it's completely cool, it comes out of the pan much easier and even tastes better if it has been chilled at least overnight.

This refreshing chilled Key lime mousse is a perfect union of cream and foam, tangy lime and soft sweet custard. The method is simple but a little unusual--you make a custard with fresh Key lime juice rather than milk or cream. Key limes, which are about the size of a Ping-Pong ball, are wonderfully fragrant and more acidic than regular limes. They are available all year at well-stocked supermarkets. If you can't find them, by all means use regular limes.

Rich, creamy, vanilla bean-flecked pudding tempers the tart-sweet pomegranate compote. Pick out small, festive glass dessert dishes for this pretty parfait.

We love that Bundt cakes don't demand frosting--just let a sweet lemon glaze run over the poppy-seed cake and you've got perfection.

This ultra-chocolaty, dairy-free Sicilian-style gelato--made without eggs or cream--is relatively lean but still creamy-smooth and flavorful. The coconut milk used for the base gives it a silky, rich mouthfeel and a subtle coconut flavor.

For this tart a few tablespoons of maple syrup sweeten the blueberry topping and round out the flavor of the cream filling.

These magical little desserts start out as one batter and separate during baking into fluffy cake hiding a creamy layer of lemon pudding.

This creamy sweet potato pie recipe is seasoned like a pumpkin pie with plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg and gets nice ginger flavor from the gingersnap crust. For the best results, roast sweet potatoes in the oven; in a pinch, microwave them instead.

When you have a craving for a comforting dessert, try this pudding cake, which forms its own rich-tasting sauce as it bakes. The coffee flavor is subtle, but it adds complex depth to the cake's flavor.

The idea of chile with chocolate still surprises most people, but the duo pairs beautifully in many chocolate desserts. In this silky, luxurious mousse the chile adds a light but bright accent.