Healthy Pumpkin Dessert Recipes

This cookie recipe combines classic carrot cake and pumpkin bars--it's a favorite dessert for kids and grown-ups.

This decadent, moist cake features a creamy pumpkin-spiced custard atop a shortbread-like crust. The cake mix is a convenient shortcut for making the buttery crust. Serve with whipped cream.

A Thanksgiving meal wouldn't be complete without pumpkin, and here in Vermont we wouldn't dream of excluding our beloved maple syrup. We've combined the two in these elegant custards, featuring the best part of a pumpkin pie and saving calories for a luscious finish of real whipped cream. If you can find it, use Grade B dark amber syrup to get the best maple flavor.

Pumpkin swirl cheesecake is a delicious dessert that everyone will love, especially during the holiday season. Swapping in reduced-fat cream cheese for regular saves you approximately 50 calories and 3 grams of saturated fat per slice.

Cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg add lots of flavor to these rich pumpkin cookies.

This take on the classic Thanksgiving pie has the familiar warming spices, like cinnamon and nutmeg, plus rum and coconut for a tropical twist.

The pumpkin puree in these delicious vegan pumpkin cookies gives them a great orange color and fall flavor and also acts as the "egg" to help bind everything together. Coconut oil takes the place of butter in these cookies and should be solid when you use it--if it's not, stick it in the fridge for a few hours until it firms up. When we were developing this recipe, tasters said they wouldn't have known the cookies were vegan if they hadn't been told. We call that a win!

This easy vegan pumpkin pie gets its structure from aquafaba (the leftover water from a can of chickpeas) whipped up into a meringue-like foam. When it's combined with pumpkin and poured into a gluten-free pecan crust, you would never know beans had anything to do with this vegan pumpkin pie recipe.

If you're ready for a change from standard pumpkin pie, try this pumpkin torte recipe with a deep chocolate flavor. Pureed pumpkin helps make the dessert incredibly moist and dense. The topping is whipped cream with a touch of vanilla and sugar and a bit of pureed pumpkin folded in.

These pumpkin sugar cookies are soft and moist with just the right amount of spice and a delicate pumpkin flavor topped off with a nice lightly spiced glaze. They're perfect for a fall after-school snack or light dessert.

Dark rum, coconut milk, cinnamon, ginger and cloves give this pumpkin tart a complex flavor that matches perfectly with a cup of chai laced with milk.

In this healthy pumpkin bread pudding recipe, whole-wheat bread, Vitamin A-rich pumpkin and toasted pecans come together for a praiseworthy dessert. To make individual bread puddings instead of one large pan, divide the batter among 12 small oiled individual baking dishes (about 8 ounces each). Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, uncover, sprinkle with pecans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes more.

These simple bars are lightened up with pumpkin and fat-free yogurt, but taste as decadent as red velvet cake.

This pretty pumpkin-cranberry Bundt cake is a delicious alternative to holiday pumpkin pie.

Planning any parties for fall? Don't overlook this custard recipe--it's easy to assemble and will have your guests doling out the compliments! They'll love how the creamy pumpkin custard contrasts with the crunchy walnut, brown sugar and oat topping.

A delightful twist on classic pumpkin pie, these sweet, crispy egg rolls will be your new favorite spiced pumpkin treat. Don't be concerned about the quantity of oil used for frying: only about half of it is absorbed during the cooking process.

This healthy cake recipe is like a pumpkin-flavored version of Boston cream pie. Rather than the traditional round shape, we use a 9-by-13 pan to make a four-layer rectangular cake that looks fun and provides more layers of creamy goodness.

This sumptuous pumpkin-coconut cheesecake with a graham cracker crust and a caramelly topping is adapted from a recipe that chef Leticia Moreinos Schwartz, author of the cookbook Latin Superfoods, developed for her family's Thanksgiving dinner. The combination of coconut and pumpkin is a flavor profile that nods to Moreinos Schwartz's childhood in Brazil. We've cut down on the sugar and the calories in a traditional cheesecake for this version of the treat but left all of the flavor and silky texture of the original.

These spiced cookies are a wonderful treat in the fall or winter. Each bite offers delicious pumpkin flavor with chewy raisins and crunchy walnuts. Make and freeze an extra batch to keep on hand for up to a month.

Chocolate and pumpkin flavors pair perfectly together in this diabetic-friendly loaf bread recipe.

We pulled out a few of our favorite EatingWell tricks to achieve plenty of creaminess in our pumpkin cheesecake without all the saturated fat of a typical recipe: nutrient-packed canned pumpkin and pureed nonfat cottage cheese replace some of the cream cheese. A touch of pumpkin pie spice warms up the flavor. For the crust, shop the natural-foods section for gluten-free gingersnaps without any hydrogenated oil. Simple toasted walnuts are an elegant garnish. Or try making candied walnuts. Just be careful not to eat all of them before they make it to the cake!

This fall treat has reduced fat and calories, but plenty of rich spicy, nutty flavor.

This easy slow-cooker pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap-and-walnut crust is full of all your favorite fall flavors. Cooking dessert in the slow cooker frees up oven space, making this healthy dessert perfect for entertaining. It might just bump your regular old pumpkin pie off the Thanksgiving menu. To make this recipe gluten-free, swap out the regular gingersnap cookies for gluten-free gingersnaps.

Get your pumpkin flavor fix with this diabetic-friendly crème brûlée recipe! Allow for ample time for this recipe to chill and set before adding the melted sugar topping.