We have some good news for anyone out there with a sweet tooth looking for something healthy to snack on.
You don’t have to deny your cravings for sweets to live a healthy lifestyle. Just commit to changing the way you “do” sweet.
Put down the processed candy, the rich bakery cakes, and the packaged cookies, and start getting your fix of healthy sweet snacks from wholesome foods like fruits, nuts, and dark chocolate.
We’ve put together a list of healthy sweet snacks that also happen to pack a nutritional (and energizing) punch.
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Healthy Sweet Snacks For 2022
- Sleek Treat Snack Box
- Acai Smoothie Dessert Bowls
- Onnit Protein Bites
- Vanilla Avocado Pudding
- Edamame with Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Dipping Sauce
- Maple Cinnamon Roasted Squash
- Raw Salted Caramel Apple Nachos
- Secret-Ingredient Frozen Hot Chocolate
- Chocolate Chia Pudding
- Powerfood Protein Shake
There’s no need to feel guilty about indulging in a sweet treat every now and then, but when it comes to your overall health, it’s important to make sure that the majority of your snacks are coming from nutrient-rich sources. Filling up on sugary snacks can lead to weight gain, cavities, and an increased risk for developing diabetes, but by choosing snacks that are high in healthy fats, fiber, and protein, you can actually help to improve your health.
As you enjoy these robust sweets instead of empty sugar bombs, your body will be trained to crave better-for-you treats with substance instead of just sugar.
1. Vegan Keto Snack Box
We know that it can be tough to satisfy your cravings while starting or maintaining a keto diet. That is why our friends at Etsy offer a vegan keto snack box filled with 21 low-carb delicious vegan options. to deliver the goods. While these snacks will lean towards the healthy side, they do make a point to get some sweetness in there to avoid any candy-bar cravings.
Key benefit: The snacks that come in each Vegan Keto snack box are filled with nutrient-dense vegan snacks containing 5 grams of net carbs or less. The mix of half-and-half sweet and salty snacks is perfect for every craving.
Eat instead of: Convenience store goodies
2. HighKey Keto Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Perfect for ketogenic dieters or anyone who might be craving a chocolate chip cookie without any of the sugary guilt. Low in net carbs and sugar, these mini cookies are made with natural ingredients like almond flour, coconut oil, and collagen. A favorite of employees looking through the office snack station.
Key nutrients: Hydrolyzed Collagen that is great for skin, muscle, and joint health
Eat instead of: Chocolate chip cookie dough
Time of day: After-lunch dessert
3. Blueberry Muffins
These blueberry muffins are a healthier alternative to your favorite breakfast baked goods. This recipe from Sweet Peas & Saffron includes healthier ingredients unlike the store-bought variety and does not spare the blueberries!
Key nutrients: A full cup of Greek yogurt not only makes these muffins moist and light, it also offers an excellent source of calcium, potassium, and key vitamins.
Eat instead of: Toaster pastries
Time of day: Early morning
4. Mandarin Oranges + Cottage Cheese
This refreshing sweet snack is creamy, citrusy, and packed full of nutrients — including vitamin C, calcium, and protein. Made from just three ingredients, including delicious Tangerine Dream joint oil, this snack makes a satisfying dessert or a nutritious mid-morning snack. You can even up the sweetness with a drizzle of honey.
Key nutrients: Vitamin C from the oranges, Omega-3’s from fish oil, GLA from borage oil, curcumin from turmeric, and unsaponifiable oils (all the latter four nutrients are contained within the Tangerine Dream joint oil)
Eat instead of: A dreamsicle
Alternative super food suggestion: (Gold Chocolate) – Tastes just like a hot chocolate when mixed with your favorite hot nut milk or oat milk.
Time of day: Nighttime or really anytime you’re craving a pumpkin spice latte
5. Acai Smoothie Dessert Bowls
A smoothie bowl is a fit person’s ice-cream sundae. This particular bowl from Say Grace will delight your sweet tooth with acai berry puree, dark chocolate chips, shaved coconut, and MCT Oil derived from pure coconut oil for the final touch to bring these tropical flavors together. Whip up this bowl any time you need a pick-me-up.
Key nutrients: Antioxidants from the acai berries and MCT from coconut oil
Eat instead of: A banana split
Alternative super food suggestion: (Red Juice) – Sweet superfruit punch flavor with a hint of tartness. Acai Berry flavor is similar to a berry kool-aid
Time of day: afternoon lulls that come after lunch
6. Onnit Protein Bites
You’d be hard-pressed to find a snack with as many fruits and plants involved in their making as Onnit Protein Bites. Sixty fruits and plants, which contribute to an insanely robust nutritional profile, pack these bite-sized treats full of flavor. From Chocolate Coconut Cashew and Chocolate Cookie Dough to Chocolate Peanut Butter, your tastebuds will confuse this healthy snack for a dessert, while your muscles will thank you for giving them clean fuel to rebuild.
Key nutrients: Protein, fiber, antioxidants, and alkaloids from a wide range of herbs, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and mushrooms
Eat instead of: Fudge squares
7. Almond Date Truffles
Via Sprouted Kitchen: Almond Truffle Dates
Yes, you can be healthy and still eat truffles. Featuring almond butter, vanilla, and Medjool dates, this recipe from Sprouted Kitchen makes it easy to balance sweet snacking and your health. Since these truffles are healthy, you really can’t eat “too many.”
Key nutrients: Protein from the almond butter
Eat instead of: Processed chocolate truffles
Alternative suggestion: That’s it. Organic Dark Chocolate Date Truffles Fruit Bites
8. Raw Sandwich Cookies
Via Chalkboard: Pamela Salzman’s Raw Sandwich Cookies
Transform dates and nuts into some raw, real-food cookies you could guiltlessly eat for breakfast. These incredible cookies have a creamy layer of almond milk cream cheese and maple syrup that sends your inner sugar monster on a pleasure trip. Get the recipe from the Chalkboard.
Key nutrients: Magnesium from the almonds
Eat instead of: Processed chocolate sandwich cookies
9. 3-Ingredient Maple Almond Fudge
The foodie behind the Big Man’s World makes fast and easy fudge from three simple ingredients: almond butter, coconut oil, and maple syrup. When you have a healthy sweet treat this easy to make up your sleeve, you have no excuse for eating fudge filled with refined sugar. You might even want to keep your fridge stocked with this fudge in case of emergency.
Key nutrients: Protein from the almonds
Eat instead of: Regular fudge
10. Powerfood Protein Shake
For the gym lovers out there, the Powerfood Protein Shake is a mouthwatering pre or post-workout treat. Blend bananas, Fatbutter, cinnamon, dates, clove, Powerfood Active, and honey together and find yourself in that sweet spot between tasty perfection and ultra-nutrition.
Key nutrients: Potassium from bananas, keto-friendly fats from Fatbutter, Omega-3s and Omega-6s from hemp, cocoa, and maca
Eat instead of: A milkshake
11. barkTHINS Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Seed
BarkTHINS turns rich chocolate into an anytime, good-for-you snack. The Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Seed flavor wraps protein-rich pumpkin seeds in a layer of dark chocolate made from the best fair-trade ingredients available. One serving has 230 calories and 7 grams of protein.
Key nutrients: Protein from the pumpkin seeds
Eat instead of: Peanut brittle
12. Paleo Baklava Bars
Via Cotter Crunch: Easy 3-Step Paleo Baklava Bars
Baklava gets a healthy foodie makeover in these simple bars from Cotter Crunch. Featuring nuts and almond meals instead of the usual buttery phyllo dough, these baklava bars are downright tasty and wholesome.
Key nutrients: Iron from the walnuts
Eat instead of: Restaurant baklava
13. Homemade Chocolate
Via Our Four Forks: Homemade Chocolate
Grab cupcake liners, a cupcake tin, and a few simple ingredients, and you can make your own chocolate. It’s actually as easy as mixing, pouring, and freezing. Get started with instructions from Our Four Forks. Once you master the basic recipe, you can get creative by adding in your own fillings, including cashews, berries, toasted sesame seeds, dried edamame, bananas…and anything else you can think of.
Key nutrients: Iron from the cocoa powder
Eat instead of: A packaged chocolate bar
14. Healthier Turtles
Pitted dates, dark chocolate, and pecan halves deliver all the flavor of your favorite cluster candies without all the fake stuff. Who says you can’t have it all? Make your own healthy candy with help from Nutrition in the Kitchen. This recipe is super simple, and you can pick up all the ingredients you need in any store that sells tempting candy.
Key nutrients: Fiber from the dates
Eat instead of: You guessed it; packaged turtles
15. Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberry Compote
Via Nom Nom Paleo: Panna Cotta with Strawberry Balsamic Compote
Rich, non-dairy panna cotta (Italian for cooked cream) and balsamic strawberry compote meld to form one healthy sweet snack from Nom Nom Paleo. This better-for-you panna cotta tastes as it came straight off the menu of your favorite Italian restaurant.
Key nutrients: Vitamin C from the strawberries
Eat instead of: Full-fat panna cotta
16. Pears + Honey + Greek Yogurt
Capture all the sweet indulgence of poached pears and cream sauce by eating fresh pears with honey and Greek yogurt. The Greek yogurt in this lightened-up swap adds a healthy dose of protein, and the substitution of fresh pears for poached pears gives you all the fruit’s raw nutrients.
Key nutrients: Fiber from the pears
Eat instead of: Poached pears
17. SMASHMALLOW Cinnamon Churro
These premium marshmallows were made for snacking. Eat them right out of the bag without even a hint of guilt. Smashmallow uses only the best ingredients, including organic sugar, tapioca syrup, and fruit and vegetable juices. One serving of the Cinnamon Churro flavor has only 80 calories.
Key nutrients: A touch of calcium
Eat instead of: Real churros
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18. Spirulina Chia Pudding and Cashew Yogurt Parfait
Via Leah’s Plate Spirulina Chia Pudding & Cashew Yogurt Parfait
This power parfait from Leah’s Plate includes spirulina, chia seeds, buckwheat granola, and so many other things that you’ll never find in an average sweet treat. Easy to toss together in seconds, this parfait should definitely make your list of go-to sweet snacks.
Key nutrients: Iron from the spirulina
Eat instead of: Sugar-packed yogurt
19. Flat Tummy Superfood Burcha
A classic raw food recipe, a purchase is a kind of like a superfood parfait. This particular recipe from Feel the Lean will fuel you like no sugary dessert ever could. This purchase is a healthy sweet snack, but it’s also a nutrient-dense meal in itself.
Key nutrients: Fiber from the buckwheat
Eat instead of: Sugary cereal
20. Coconut Yogurt + Mango Chunks
The combination of rich mango and smooth coconut-based yogurt tastes so creamy and indulgent, you might have a hard time believing it’s vegan and healthy. Keep frozen mango chunks on hand to avoid cubing a mango every time you make this snack. If you want to change things up, dress your yogurt with shredded coconut, banana slices, and macadamia nuts.
Key nutrients: Vitamin A from the mango
Eat instead of: Cheesecake
21. Peach “Sundaes”
Fill a bowl with 1/2 of a fresh peach or a few canned or frozen peach slices. Top the peaches with 1 tablespoon of plain goat cheese, and then drizzle on a teaspoon of honey and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla. Dust everything with cinnamon and snack away. If you’re feeding guests, put everything into wine glasses and garnish with whole vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks.
Key nutrients: Vitamin C from the peaches
Eat instead of: An ice cream sundae
22. Raw Raspberry Reishi Slice
The reishi mushroom is known for its medicinal qualities; it might help regulate circulation and boost the immune system. This recipe from Peace, Love & Vegetables whips powdered reishi, raspberries, coconut cream, and more into a raw, vegan, layered “ice cream” slice that makes the perfect healthy sweet snack.
Key nutrients: Vitamin C from the raspberries
Eat instead of: Raspberry gelato
23. Banana Mug Cake
Via The Roasted Root: Paleo Banana Bread Mug Cake
The Roasted Root has a fast and easy banana mug cake recipe featuring one entire ripe banana, one egg, and pure maple syrup. Stir all the ingredients up and pop them in the microwave. In less than 5 minutes, you’ll have a cake that’s warm, rich, good for you, and absolutely delicious. This snack is perfect if you have too many ripe bananas and a sweet tooth.
Key nutrients: Vitamin B6 from the banana
Eat instead of: Poundcake
24. No-Bake Carrot Cake Bars
Why slave away baking carrot cake when you can make a no-bake, healthier version in a flash? These amazing bars from Happy Healthy Mama get a cakey texture from carrots, walnuts, dates, raisins, and pineapple pieces. With all the healthy stuff inside these bars, you can guiltlessly enjoy the best part of carrot cake: cream cheese frosting.
Key nutrients: Vitamin A from the carrots
Eat instead of: Carrot cupcakes
25. Enstrom Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee
If you’re going to eat candy, then make it the best-quality candy you can get your hands on, like the candy made by Enstrom. This Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee is worth at least one hundred of the candies you might be able to find anywhere else. It features healthy almonds, rich buttery toffee, and antioxidant-packed dark chocolate.
Key nutrients: Iron from the dark chocolate and almonds
Eat instead of: Low-quality candy
26. Vanilla Avocado Pudding
The Iron You makes a creamy, dreamy avocado pudding using a ripe avocado, chia seeds, almond milk, vanilla and acai Powerfood Vitality, honey, and vanilla extract. Just blend all the ingredients to whip up a pudding that’s as easy to make as the instant stuff. This version doesn’t have any ingredients engineered in a lab.
Key nutrients: Potassium from the avocado, Omega-3s, and Omega-6s from chia, flax, and hemp seeds contained in Powerfood Vitality
Eat instead of: Regular pudding
27. Edamame with Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Dipping Sauce
Grab some steam-in-bag edamame, natural peanut butter, and quality dark chocolate, and you have everything you need to make an adventurous sweet snack. Once your edamame is ready, just stir together your peanut butter and dark chocolate and microwave until smooth. (Add a bit of milk and honey if you want to sweeten the mix-up. Add a bit of turmeric and cayenne if you want to spice it up.) Dip the edamame in the sauce and enjoy.
Key nutrients: Protein from the edamame
Eat instead of: Chocolate-covered cherries
28. Maple Cinnamon Roasted Squash
Sweet squash features in some of our favorite fall side dishes; we see no reason it can’t make the leap into our healthy sweet snacking lives. Follow Naturally Ella’s lead and add maple syrup, cinnamon, and butter to healthy squash to make a snack that’s better than candy.
Key nutrients: Fiber from the squash, vitamins E and K from the sesame oil, and Omega-3s and Omega-6s from the other oils
29. Raw Salted Caramel Apple Nachos
Via Nutrition Stripped: Raw Caramel Apple Nachos
Nutrition Stripped slices apples into rounds and whips up some raw caramel sauce to make a healthy sweet snack. Make it and eat it with zero guilt. Experiment with all the different apple varieties out there until you find your favorite caramel-and-apple pairing and sprinkle on a little Pink Himalayan Salt to top off this sweet and savory snack.
Key nutrients: Fiber from the apples
Eat instead of: Caramel apples
30. Secret-Ingredient Frozen Hot Chocolate
Via My New Roots: Secret Ingredient Frozen Hot Chocolate
Turn your favorite comforting beverage into a healthy frozen sweet snack. Brace yourself; this recipe from My New Roots uses cauliflower and Cinnamon Swirl Emulsified MCT Oil to achieve an amazingly creamy texture. You’ve gotta try it to believe it.
Key nutrients: Vitamin C from the cauliflower, pure coconut-sourced MCT oil
Eat instead of: Hot chocolate from a packet
31. No-Bake Pina Colada Fingers
Pack all the flavors of a pina colada into a sweet snack stick you don’t even have to bake. Coconut and dried pineapple feature in these quick-prep treats from Hemsley Hemsley.
Key nutrients: Vitamin B6 from the pineapple
Eat instead of: Coconut cream pie
32. Sweet Pea and Ricotta Cupcakes
We all know peas and ricotta make a crazy-good combination when served over pasta. Are you ready to try putting peas and ricotta into your cupcakes? This recipe from the Cupcake Project makes a delightfully green cupcake filled with the nutrients of peas.
Key nutrients: Vitamin K from the peas
Eat instead of: Vanilla cupcakes
33. Easy Chocolate Mousse
The Crunchy Radish’s avocado-based mousse is like sweet guacamole, and it’s just as fast and easy to make. Just blend some avocados with a few sweet ingredients, top it with crunchies, and snack.
Key nutrients: Fiber from the avocado
Eat instead of: Chocolate pudding
34. Quinoa Porridge
Classic porridge makes an amazing snack when you want something sweet that also has substance. This recipe from Be Smart, Eat Smart calls for quinoa, raspberries, and maca powder.
Key nutrients: Protein from the quinoa
Eat instead of: Sugary instant oatmeal
35. Chocolate Chia Pudding
Via Kale Me Maybe: Layered Mocha and Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding
Chia pudding is something every healthy snacker with a sweet tooth should know about. It’s as easy to make as stirring chia seeds and chocolate-flavored whey protein into some flavorful liquid and letting everything sit until the seeds plump up. When everything’s ready, you have a concoction with the creamy texture of your favorite pudding or yogurt. This layered recipe from Kale Me Maybe will spice up your chia pudding game.
Key nutrients: Iron from the chia seeds, amino acids, and essential fatty acids from maca
Eat instead of: Chocolate pudding
36. Blueberry Mint Salad
Grab blueberries, mint, and greek yogurt, and you’ve got a fast, simple, and sweet snack that has zero guilt and lots of good-for-nutrients. Unlike many other sweet snacks, this one will actually fill you up. Get the recipe here.
Key nutrients: Vitamin C in the blueberries
Eat instead of: Blueberry crumble
37. Oatmeal Berry Bite Pistachio Cookies
SunRype’s healthy, whole wheat, fruit, and nut cookies will have you begging for seconds! This healthy cookie recipe is made with SunRype’s FruitSource Bites and is a great snack for on the go. Be sure to get their cookie recipe and reward your taste buds with this delicious treat!
Key nutrients: Fiber from Chia Seeds & FruitSource Bites
Eat instead of: Chocolate chip cookies
38. Oatmega Protein Bars
Are you craving a brownie? Mint chocolate chip ice cream? Vanilla with almonds in it? Or perhaps, something with a chocolate/peanut butter twists? Well, oh, oh, Oatmega is here for the win! With 14 grams of protein, these all-natural, non-GMO, gluten-free bars are a snack that makes you feel just as good about eating them as they taste. Oatmega Protein Bars come in a brownie, mint chocolate chip, vanilla almond, and chocolate peanut butter flavors, all of which contain 300mg of Omega-3s per serving for brain-boosting benefits.
Key nutrients: Fish oil contains the omega-3s, DHA and EPA
Eat instead of: Chocolate chip snack bar
