Light, No-Bake Desserts for Hot Summer Nights
Hot summer nights will probably keep you away from baking and cooking all day, so make sure you have a plan for preparing some delicious desserts! Make use of the fresh fruit of the season and be creative with low-fat ice cream flavors to put together light and delicious desserts the crowd will love. Summer is a great time to serve fruit, ice cream, and yogurt-based desserts and many end up being very low in calories.
Whether you're hosting a barbecue, weekend get-together, or just want to indulge in a tasty treat this season, here are some light, no-bake desserts for those hot summer nights:
Light Ice Cream Sundaes
Ice cream sundaes are a popular summertime treat and also super-easy to make! Use low-fat ice cream like Dreyer's/Edy's® Slow Churned Light Ice Cream to create your diet-friendly masterpiece. The sweet caramel and vanilla flavors are perfect for homemade sundaes, ice cream cakes, or just a simple ice cream cone. A small sundae glass layered with ice cream, low-sugar syrup, sugar-free candies, or some fresh fruit can be a delicious treat on those hot summer nights.
No-Bake Cookies
Cookies are a great summer picnic food and can also be served as a tasty dessert on those hot summer nights - as long as you're not spending hours in the kitchen baking them! Keep these cookies healthy by using reduced fat peanut butter, oatmeal, ground flax seeds, and skim milk as your base. Look for recipes that make use of healthy ingredients like wheat germ, vanilla for flavoring, dried fruit, or your favorite artificial sweetener to create a tasty summer treat that nobody will know is also a diet-friendly one. No-bake cookies are easy to pack and also store very well so you can take them along on those summer road trips or pack them as a snack for a busy day.
Tropical Fruit Tart
If you're feeling adventurous and want to put together a show-stopping dessert this summer, round up some fresh fruit of the season to create your very own tropical fruit tart. Mango, pineapple, kiwi fruit, and bananas are some great summer fruits to add to your list. You could also keep things simple with peaches, blueberries, raspberries, and papaya. Make a basic crust out of low-fat graham cracker cookies and low-fat margarine (or buy a low-sugar prepared crust) and fill the shell with low-fat vanilla yogurt mixed with low-fat whipped cream and some flaked coconut. Top the tart with sliced or chopped tropical fruits and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
Content by Sabah Karimi.
