Healthy Super Bowl Dessert Recipes

A retired writing professor and mother of two daughters, Jessie Grearson got inspiration for these mini tarts from a pineapple-coconut bar that her mother used to make. Her version successfully uses whole-wheat pastry flour and less butter and sugar.

An adaptation of EatingWell's popular Died-and-Went-to-Heaven Chocolate Cake, this recipe is from reader Barr Hogen of San Francisco. “I love chocolate--it has antioxidants--but Americans need more fiber in our diet. So I added prunes, which provide a lot of moisture, and flaxseeds, which have the added benefit of omega-3s,” she wrote. “If you can squeeze fiber into your decadent dessert, why not?”

Here we layer delicate banana-buttermilk cake with a fluffy Bavarian-style cream that's made low-fat by combining nonfat milk with a reasonable amount of whipping cream. The rich taste makes it hard to believe that this cake has only 300 calories and 3 grams of saturated fat per slice.

This pudding's rich vanilla flavor plays perfectly with the luscious chocolate, cherries and almonds.

These soft chocolate cookies have a big peanut flavor since they use peanut butter and peanut butter chips.

Shredded apple replaces some of the oil and keeps the cake moist in these cinnamon-spiked cupcakes. There is a generous amount of fluffy marshmallow frosting to mound or pipe on top for a festive look. Be sure to frost them right after you make the frosting--it stiffens as it stands and becomes more difficult to spread.

Traditional recipes for apple squares often use plenty of trans fat–laden shortening in the crust. We replaced it with a mixture of canola oil and butter and swapped out half the all-purpose flour for whole-wheat pastry flour for a little fiber. They are best enjoyed slightly warm. Gently reheat any leftovers in the oven or toaster oven to recrisp the crust.

Flavored with orange, lemon and lime, this big, beautiful cake is a fitting ending to a celebration. Just three egg yolks give the cake a golden hue and a texture richer than angel food.

These raspberry-lemon cupcakes are topped with an easy cream cheese frosting tinted pink with a little raspberry puree. For those unaccustomed to the mildly nutty flavor of whole-wheat flour (used in these cupcakes), the flavor of the raspberry puree swirled into the lemony cake makes the wheat flavor undetectable.

Inspired by our love of lemon squares, we developed this healthy raspberry squares recipe using the juice of fresh raspberries in the filling. We slashed the butter in the shortbread crust for these raspberry bars, but kept the crust light and crisp with heart-healthy canola oil and a little cornstarch. A judicious amount of sugar in the filling lets the natural sweetness of the fruit shine and keeps calories in check.

A simple, low-fat and--best of all--fast chocolate cake that is moist and dense.

If you like chocolate and peanut butter together, try this frozen peanut-butter-and-pretzel pie recipe in a chocolate cookie crust. The sweet vanilla frozen yogurt and chocolate cookie crust combine with the salty flavors of pretzels and peanut butter for an irresistible dessert.

Here's a healthy--and adorable--twist on deep-dish apple pie. This mini apple pie recipe will give you just a bit of something sweet and the melted wedge of Cheddar on top is a nod to the New England tradition of serving cheese with apple pie.

These sweet-tart cranberry-orange bars are a great addition to a holiday cookie tray or cool weather grab-and-go treat.

Applesauce rounds out the flavor of this quick, low-fat remake of classic oatmeal cookies.

The surprise ingredient in this chocolate cake--mashed potatoes--keeps it exceptionally moist.

Chocolate cream pie isn't just a diner special--it's the perfect dessert for any celebration. We love the added flair of chocolate curls on top, but a pretty dollop of whipped cream on each piece would look just as elegant.

These vanilla-infused cupcakes are made with applesauce as a fat-replacer for butter that's traditionally part of vanilla cake batter. Thickened evaporated milk works as a great base for the rich and creamy chocolate frosting. Dark chocolate lovers, be sure to use bittersweet chocolate.

This creamy and subtly sweet dessert is perfect for pecan pie lovers who don't want to go through the hassle of making an actual pie. Serve it with sliced apples and pears to complement the pie-dough dippers.

Pound cake got its name from the original formulation: a pound each of sugar, flour, butter and eggs. Just the thought of it is enough to raise your cholesterol. Our version calls for half whole-wheat flour, less sugar, a modest amount of butter and loses quite a few egg yolks. To keep it rich we moisten the cake with reduced-fat cream cheese and buttermilk. It is every bit as delicious as the original, with only a third of the calories and fat.

This pecan tart gets added tang from dried cherries. Instead of corn syrup, which is found in most pecan pie recipes, we've opted for maple syrup. If you can find it, choose dark amber or grade B, because it has the richest maple flavor. The crust, made with heart-healthy pecans and canola oil, couldn't be easier to whip together. Just blend it in the food processor and pat it into your tart pan.

A lemony date filling makes oatmeal cookies more special.

Strategy and operations director Josh Gitlin gave this low-fat cookie three layers of chocolate flavor with cocoa powder, grated bittersweet chocolate and cocoa nibs.

Shortcake isn't just for strawberries. Roasted pineapple and macadamia nuts give this version a Hawaiian twist and perfume the kitchen with a tropical fragrance. Leftover shortcakes freeze well and the pineapple is also great on its own.