For some reason, every night after dinner time, I always crave something sweet. I usually indulge in ice cream or cookies, but I have since realized that if it is an everyday affair, I should try and opt for something a bit healthier. So I started looking into healthier alternatives to my late night cravings, and I found a couple of cleaner desserts that give me the same satisfactions. I do not think I am alone with craving sweets late at night, so let me offer you some of the dessert swaps I have found!
1. “Nice” Cream
Ice cream has always been a go-to for my nighttime snack. A cold and sweet treat is something I am always craving around that time. In high school, I used to grab a bowl of ice cream every night. But I was also a lot more active and younger in high school, so I do not think a bowl of ice cream every night would fly so well now. But luckily, there are a lot of alternatives to ice cream that offer a bit less guilt. I usually go for dairy-free ice cream options, which are sold in the same section at the grocery store. There are a variety of different plant-based ice cream cartons, which are just as tasty and a little less fattening. My favorite is coconut milk ice creams, but I have tried many and like them all!
2. Chocolate Banana Bites
Another frozen and sweet treat that always satisfies my sweet tooth cravings is chocolate banana bites! These are super yummy and super easy. You can easily make it at home by just covering banana slices in chocolate and then freezing them, or a lot of grocery stores sell variations of it. My roommates and I usually get the box from Trader Joes, and we will pull them out after dinner. They are really tasty and easy to quickly eat or make!
3. Rice Cake
Cookies are another staple dessert that I often find myself craving late at night. Something that I have found that works as an easy substitute for cookies is a rice cake with peanut butter, or any other type of nut butter. This is a fun treat because you can switch it up by changing the kind of rice cake, changing the type of nut butter, or even adding different toppings like fruit or chocolate chips. I was reluctant to try this at first because I did not think it would be as good as cookies, but I have realized it tastes just as good!
4. Smoothies
If you’re ever feeling like drinking a delicious and frozen drink late at night, I am always going to recommend a smoothie over a milkshake! Growing up, I actually never really liked smoothies. I always thought they tasted weird and I was never in the mood for one. As I have gotten older, I like them a lot more, and I also love them with protein powder! Flavored protein powder, like vanilla or chocolate, can really make your fruit smoothie taste like a milkshake. It adds a lot more flavor and will help satisfy your cravings.
5. Protein Waffles
My roommates and I weirdly crave waffles a lot. At the beginning of the school year, everytime we went to the grocery store we would always get Eggo waffles and eat them with butter, whipped cream and maple syrup. This honestly became something we did every night, when we realized we needed to switch it up for something healthier. Our alternative became protein waffles, which have less sugar and more protein than regular waffles. And we eat them usually with peanut butter, honey and fruit! These ones taste just as good and definitely have us feeling less guilty.
I hope that these 5 dessert alternatives give you some inspiration on just as tasty but a little healthier sweet tooth cravings! But as a disclaimer, there is nothing wrong with what I was eating before, and I only wanted to experiment with some healthier options to see if I would like them too, and I ended up liking them the same!