Top 10 Dessert Recipes for Nordic Diet to Control Sugar Cravings

| Author: Manoja Kalakanti

You have an incorrigible sweet tooth and crave for all kinds of sweet things but a step on the scales and you are reminded of the fact that all things sweet and savory may be high in calories and not too weighing-machine friendly! Desserts should be best left out of your menu right? Not at all! You can eat clean and eat tasty as well! The Nordic Diet shows you the way how to do it, binge on desserts and yet have a tight rein over calories. So let’s discuss some easy dessert recipes to cater to your sweet tooth.

Top 10 Dessert ideas to satisfy your sweet tooth Curb Calories

Nordic Food Habits

The Nordic diet has some distinguishing features which separate it from other diets like the Mediterranean diet, The Gm. Diet or the Atkins Diet. Let’s see what separates this new and effective diet from its contemporaries.

  • Use of whole grains like rye spelt oats etc. Yes, The Nordics prefer whole grains over refined flour and this makes it all the healthier.
  • Use of canola oil over the much in demand olive oil. The use of this oil makes it heart healthy and reduces inflammation, the chief causes of several lifestyle diseases.
  • A diet rich in all kinds of fruits and vegetables, especially root
  • The Nordic Diet is chock full of all kinds of fish, like salmon herring mackerel and so on. It is an omega -3 and omega-6 fatty acid rich diet.
  • Use of less amount of meat. Consumption of too much of meat is not regarded as healthy. Meat is used in restricted amount.
  • Diet is a huge factor in your weight loss regime but it has to combine with exercises to get maximum results.

Following are the ground rules can get you started on the path to health and fitness. After all, life without desserts, is not much fun! So here is a way to incorporate desserts and do it the healthy way.

Ten Delicious and Healthy Dessert Recipes

There are a plethora of simple dessert recipes in the Nordic diet. Let us now look into some delicious and healthy dessert recipes.

Pie with Rye

Rye is a very important grain for the Nordics, and they use it to great effect in a number of recipes. Its nutty flavor adds a lot of taste in baking dishes like pies and quiches. The following recipe can help you concoct something which caters to both health and taste.

Pie-with-Rye

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup rye flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. dill, caraway, or fennel seeds
  • 2/3 cups diced and chilled butter
  • 6-7 Tbsp. ice water

Preparation:

  • Use a balloon whisk to “sift” together the rye flour, all-purpose flour, salt, and seeds in a mixing bowl.
  • Cut the butter into the mixture (using your fingers, a pastry blender, or two knives) until the mixture assumes the texture of small breadcrumbs.
  • With the help of a fork, add the ice water, one tablespoon at a time, just until the pastry is soft and pliable and pulls away from the side of the mixing bowl.
  • Divide the pastry dough in half, pat each half into a circular “pancake” (about 1″ thick), then cover each half with the help of a plastic wrap.
  • Refrigerate for 30 minutes before you could roll that out for use.

Cheesy Pie Pastry

This is a creamy pie pastry containing the goodness of butter and cream cheese. To make the healthier version of it, you can omit the sugar and do with maple syrup or honey.

Cheesy-Pie-Pastry

Ingredients:

  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, 6 ounces, room temperature
  • 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 4 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 11 ounces, plus more for rolling
  • 6 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Optional Egg Wash
  • 1 egg yolk, whisked with 1 tablespoon of water
  • sugar, vanilla sugar, or cinnamon sugar, optional

Preparation:

  • With an electric mixer, beat the butter and the cream cheese until creamy. Add the cream and beat until smooth.
  • Add the flour, sugar, and salt. Beat on low speed just until the dough holds together.
  • Turn it out onto a surface which has been floured nicely.
  • Gathering it into a ball, knead a few times, and divide into two equal pieces.
  • Shape into disks and wrap in plastic wrap.
  • Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  • Roll out on a floured board and proceed with filling and baking according to the specific pie, tart, or quiche recipe.

Optional Egg Wash for 2-Crust Pie: Mix the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush lightly over the top crust before the cutting slits. If you want then, sprinkle with sugar, vanilla sugar, or cinnamon sugar, depending on the flavor of the pie you are baking.

The Layer Cake

This cake hails from Iceland and is a part of their traditional desserts and recipes. It is a rich cake full of the goodness of prune filling or rhubarb jam. It depends on you whether you want to frost it or just let it be. This is a delicious cake to add to your list of easy dessert recipes.

The-Layer-Cake

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

  • 1 cup European-style butter (Plugra)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla or cardamom extract
  • 6 cups flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 tsp. freshly ground cardamom
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 cup milk

For the Filling:

Three cups of prune filling or substitute it with rhubarb jams

For the Frosting (optional):

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. European-style butter (Plugra)
  • 1 Tbsp. milk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla or cardamom extract
  • 1/2 tsp. lemon zest

Preparation:

  • Preheat oven to about 350. Cream the butter and sugar together in a heavy mixer and whisk it briskly. Add the eggs one at a time, and then stir in the vanilla or cardamom extract.
  • Sift together the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt.
  • Add the dry ingredients and the milk to the cake batter, stirring until it’s all combined into very stiff, almost like bread-like dough.
  • Divide dough evenly into 4 portions. Line a 10″ x 15″ jelly roll pan with a buttered parchment paper.
  • Press the first portion of dough evenly across the pan (as you would pizza dough), place in the oven, and bake just until golden, about 10 minutes. Cool on a cake rack; repeat for the remaining 3 layers.
  • Once the layers have cooled, slice each in half lengthwise so that you have a total of 8 even layers.
  • To assemble, place the least attractive layer of cake on a plate and spread with a thin layer of prune filling or raspberry jam. Repeat the layers, and top it off with the most eye-pleasing of all Place in an air-tight container and allow it to sit for 24 hours, the prune filling will soak into and soften the cake layers making it beautifully pliant.

To serve, either, cover the top of the cake with powdered sugar or frost the top or sides lightly with the frosting. Cut into very thin slices.

Sweet Pancakes

Pancakes are the favored dishes of the Nordics. Light and fluffy these pancakes are soon going to be your favorite staple, especially for breakfast.

Sweet-Pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 3 eggs
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 cups flour, sifted
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation:

  • Lightly grease a platter pan, pancake griddle, or frying pan. Preheat pan over medium-high burner until a drop of water sizzles on the surface.
  • Beat the eggs briskly then mix in the sugar, milk, flour, salt, and vanilla extract to make a thin batter, of a runny consistency.
  • Pour the batter by tablespoons into the wells of the platter Fry until golden, flipping once deftly.
  • Serve with whipped or sour cream and the delicious Lingonberry

Sweet and Savory Chocolate Waffles

What’s not to like about waffles? These are dessert dreams and a Nordic breakfast staple. Skip the sugar if you are watching your waistline and use natural sweeteners like maple syrup or honey to give it the required sweetness. Swap the chocolate to dark chocolate to give it a healthy twist.

Sweet-and-Savory-Chocolate-Waffles

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup 1% milk
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tbsp. melted butter cooled to room temperature
  • 1 1/2 tsp. confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla sugar
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

Preparation:

  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the ingredients that are milk, egg, melted butter, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder.
  • Allow the batter to sit on the counter at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  • Preheat your waffle iron to high temperature. Spoon the waffle batter onto the iron; cook until golden and crispy.
  • Remove chocolate waffles from the iron and transfer to warm oven until all waffles are suitably prepared.
  • Serve immediately, topped withice cream whipped cream, and / or fresh fruit.

Chocolate and Strawberry Popsicles

When summer is around, can ice-creams be behind? But somehow the ice-creams available in stores have far too many unwanted calories and preservatives. So how would you have one then? Make your own! It’s healthy and looks so good that you have to gobble it down!

Chocolate-and-Strawberry-Popsicles

Ingredients:

  • 600 g frozen strawberries
  • 2 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 5 dl (2/3 cup) water
  • 4-5 tbsp. honey, agave syrup (Agave nectar) or similar
  • 200 g (7 oz.) dark chocolate
  • 2 tbsp. coconut oil

Preparation:

  • Pour strawberries, water, lemon juice and honey into a blender.
  • Blend the ingredients until the consistency is nice and beautifully smooth.
  • Pour the strawberry mixture into Popsicle molds and put them in the freezer.
  • After about 30-60 minutes add the sticks and let them freeze for another 4 hours or until they solidify completely.
  • Melt the chocolate in a water bath or microwave on low heat.
  • Mix the chocolate with the coconut oil and pour it into a glass or cup that fits the tip of the Popsicles.
  • Let the chocolate cool down.
  • Take the Popsicle out of the molds and dip the tip of them into the chocolate. The coconut oil should make the chocolate harden swiftly.
  • The Popsicles are now ready to be eaten or you can keep them in the freezer for consuming later.

Chocolate Tree Logs

Just the mention of chocolate can bring a big smile on your face. But instead of buying, you can make some of your own, yes, a dessert with chocolate! What’s not to like about that?

Chocolate-Tree-Logs

Ingredients:

  • Rum and Chocolate filling
  • 450 g (16 oz.) cake left-overs (e.g. Danish pastry and chocolate cake)
  • 100 g (3.5 oz.) marzipan
  • 100 g (3.5 oz.) dark chocolate, melted
  • 1 tbsp. raspberry jam
  • 2 tbsp. rum essence

Covering

  • 200 g (7 oz.) marzipan (at room temperature)
    a little icing sugar
  • 100 g (3.5 oz.) dark chocolate, melted

Preparation:

  • Cut the cake into smaller pieces and pour it in a food processor.
  • Grate the marzipan and melt the chocolate; pour it into the food processor. Add the raspberry jam and rum essence.
  • Run the food processor until all the ingredients are completely mixed into the sticky
    Roll the chocolate dough into two logs with a length of about 40 cm each. Let the logs cool in the fridge while preparing the marzipan covering.
  • Make the marzipan covering: Start by bringing the marzipan to a room temperature. Using a rolling pin; roll the marzipan into a thin piece. If you sprinkle the kitchen table with a little icing sugar, then the marzipan will be easier to remove afterward. You can also try using a sheet of parchment paper instead of icing sugar.
  • Divide the rolled marzipan into two pieces.
  • Place the chocolate logs on the marzipan and roll them so that the entire logs are covered with marzipan.
  • Cut the logs into smaller pieces with a length of about 8-10 cm (3-4 inch).
    Melt the chocolate in a water bath or using the microwave on low heat.
  • Cover a chopping board or similar with parchment paper.
  • Dip each end of the logs in the chocolate and place them on the parchment paper.
    Let the logs cool off until the chocolate is completely hardened and ready to eat!

Crumble Pie with Rhubarb

Though rhubarb is mostly used in desserts it is actually a dessert but its sour taste lends a unique touch to the sweet desserts.

Crumble-Pie-with-Rhubarb

Ingredients:

  • 300 g (11 oz.) all-purpose flour
  • 200 g (7 oz.) butter, soft
  • 100 g (3.5 oz.) sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla sugar or essence
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 400 g (14 oz.) fresh rhubarb
  • 30 g (1 oz.) chopped almonds

Preparation:

  • Rinse and clean the rhubarb. Cut off the top and cut them into smaller pieces.
  • Mix the soft butter with the sugar, vanilla sugar, baking powder, and flour. Mix/knead until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  • Distribute 2/3 of the crumble dough in a pie dish. Use a rectangular dish but a circular (20-23 cm / 8-9 inch) would work just fine. Use your fingers; press the dough into the shape of the pie dish.
  • Distribute the cut rhubarb on top of the dough.
  • Distribute the last crumble dough on top of the rhubarb. Sprinkle with chopped almonds.
  • Bake the pie at 175 C (350 F) for about 30-35 minutes.

Tip: Serve the rhubarb pie with some sour cream.

Oat Cocoa Balls

Oat is the healthiest of all grains and a recipe with that, that also a sweet one at that will check all the lists for the perfect dessert. Is it Sweet? Yes! Is it Healthy? Yes again!

Oat-Cocoa-Balls

Ingredients:

  • 280 g (10 oz.) oats
  • 225 g (8 oz.) soft butter
  • 200 g (7 oz.) sugar
  • 6 tbsp. cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp. heavy cream
  • 5-2 tsp. rum extract
  • 5-2 tsp. almond extract

Decoration:

  • coconut flakes
  • cocoa powder
  • sanding sugar

Preparation:

  • In a large bowl; Mix all the ingredients well together.
  • Leave the cocoa dough in the fridge for about 15-30 minutes.
  • Use your hands to roll small cocoa oat balls.
  • Roll the oat balls in coconut flakes, cocoa powder or in other decoration, you like.

Keep the oat balls in the fridge until you are going to eat them.

Choco Delight

Chocolates are full of antioxidants and the fact that they taste so good tips the scale in their favor even more. The following recipe is combining the goodness of chocolates and zest of lemon peel.

Choco-Delight

Ingredients:

  • 2 egg whites
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1-decilitre flour (I used a gluten free mix)
  • 1/2 deciliter brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
  • 0, 5-decilitre almond milk (or any other)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon peel

For Chocolate glaze:

Ingredients:

  • 100-gram dark chocolate 70%
  • 2 tablespoons lemon peel

Preparation:

Melt the butter. Mix everything in a bowl and let it sit while the waffle iron is heating up. Peel only the yellow part as the white part of the lemon tastes bitter. Fry on semi high heat- as the outer part of the cookie should be crisp while the inside part should be soft and gooey. It takes the time to master the art of baking the right kind of waffles but once you know how to, it would be hard to stop yourself from baking this one.

Whenever you are down you crave something sweet and delicious but if you cater to your sweet tooth too much then you would end up piling on unnecessary kilos. So if you want to avoid that use natural sweeteners which are way better than refined white sugar. A healthy lifestyle will give you the right verve to live life to the fullest!

Top 10 Healthy Dessert Recipes for Nordic Diet Plan – PDF

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