recipes

39 Healthyish Summer Desserts That Are Perfect For the Hottest Days of the Year

Summer is the time for refreshing, cooling, and fruit-filled desserts. These healthyish recipes have your back.
This image may contain Food Dessert Confectionery Sweets Creme Cream and Ice Cream

Our sweet tooth knows no limits, but we'll admit it: Summer is peak dessert season, especially for fruit fanatics. We might not have central A/C, but we're staying cool with plenty of icy sorbets, granitas, and semifreddos. And we'll even dare to turn on the oven for a juicy plum-cardamom crumble, blueberry-miso crumb cake, or strawberry-granola crisp to use up our farmers' market haul...or justify a last-minute greenmarket run. Whether you're looking for an excuse to eat even more stone fruit or searching for the perfect no-cook dessert (hint: it's a fool!), these healthy-ish takes on our favorite summer dessert recipes have you covered.

  • Image may contain Plant Nut Food Vegetable Confectionery Sweets and Dessert
    Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova
    1/39

    Chocolate-Almond Fridge Fudge

    There's a secret ingredient that helps replace the dairy in this vegan, fudgelike treat. Just kidding; it's not a secret...it's avocado!

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    2/39

    Strawberry-Raspberry Fools

    Soft, billowy homemade whipped cream with juicy, sweet macerated berries.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova
    3/39

    Blueberry-Miso Crumb Cake

    Miso and 100% whole wheat flour add salty-nutty complexity to this super tender crumb cake.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Drew Aichele, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka
    4/39

    Frozen Greek Yogurt Blackout Pie

    This no-bake pie is incredibly easy to make and will keep for over a week in the freezer.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Susie Theodorou
    7/39

    Strawberry-Granola Crisp

    Because this crisp is barely sweetened, leaning into in-season berries instead of added sugar, it's a perfectly acceptable brunch or breakfast.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio
    8/39

    Chocolate Date-Caramel Cups

    Assembling these dessert cups in muffin tin liners (just the liners!) helps speed up the process and ensure the sticky date caramel doesn’t get out of hand.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau
    9/39

    Caramelized Banana and Almond Nice Cream

    This banana-based "ice cream" adds a sweet depth of flavor by caramelizing the bananas first, then puréeing them into a smooth cream. Plus, the toppings possibilities are endless!

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    10/39

    Blueberry-Blackberry Fools

    Dish out individual servings in your favorite cocktail glasses for a lazy dessert that punches above its weight class.

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  • Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
    13/39

    Blueberry-Pecan Galette

    The more rustic (read: messed up) this galette looks, the better. Novice bakers, this one’s for you.

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  • Alex Lau
    14/39

    Coffee Cashew Vegan Ice Cream

    For an even deeper, nutty flavor, toast the cashews first (or buy them that way, but make sure they’re unsalted). Skeptical? Think hazelnut coffee, but with cashews instead.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Molly Baz, prop styling by Emily Eisen
    17/39

    Salted Chocolate–Tahini Bliss Balls

    These two-biters are just fudgy and chocolaty enough to satisfy a sweet tooth craving. Consider them an indulgent energy bite: Keep 'em in the fridge, then grab one when the craving hits.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Molly Baz, prop styling by Emily Eisen
    18/39

    Inflammation-Busting Pineapple Slushy

    This slushy has just enough ginger to let you know you’re ALIVE.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau
    27/39

    Chocolate-Cashew Chia Pudding

    This chia pudding is delicious on its own—and even better when layered with maple yogurt as a parfait.

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  • Gentl & Hyers
    28/39

    Chocolate-Avocado Pudding

    Leave it to cool-kid mecca Gjusta in Venice, CA, to create a produce-based, low-sugar, vegan-friendly, “good”-fat-filled, crowd-pleasing chocolate pudding recipe

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Molly Baz, prop styling by Emily Eisen
    29/39

    Beauty-Food Mango Slushy

    Mangoes are packed with vitamins C and A, both of which provide major skin-brightening benefits. Lime and chile keep this slushy spicy and bright.

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  • Photo by Gentl and Hyers, food Styling by Susie Theodorou, prop Styling by Nina Lalli
    30/39

    Fresh Fruit With Cheese and Peppery Nuts

    Make this fail-safe combination of sweet-juicy fruit, crunchy-salty nuts, and chewy-fatty cheese your all-season salad template.

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