You want to bake, but if you eat too much sugar or white flour, you won't feel so hot. These healthy recipes are just what you need on a laid-back Sunday afternoon when you feel like turning on your oven. From black bean brownie bites to chocolate cupcakes with avocado frosting to vegan protein banana bread, these treats taste amazing but are much healthier for you than recipes that call for four sticks of butter creamed with three cups of sugar. Let's get to baking!
Theses baked doughnuts taste amazingly decadent for just 150 calories.
Get the recipe: pumpkin spice doughnuts
This cake will satisfy your lemon pound cake cravings and fool anyone who's skeptical that a vegan cake could taste this good.
Get the recipe: iced lemon pound cake
You probably already have everything you need to make these brownies, except maybe the patience to wait for them to cook!
Get the recipe: three-ingredient brownies
Soft, chewy, and under 100 calories, these gluten-free cookies are bursting with spiced pumpkin pie flavor.
Get the recipe: pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
Upon your first decadent bite, you just might drop the rest of your cupcake when you realize these are low-calorie and vegan. Plus, the frosting is made with avocados instead of butter!
Get the recipe: chocolate cupcakes with "buttercream" frosting
Sweet and moist on the inside and crispy on the outside, this banana bread tastes delicious on its own, but it's even more amazing smeared with nut butter and sprinkled with chocolate chips.
Get the recipe: banana bread
Life is full of too many tough decisions, so if you can't choose between baking apple pie or apple crisp, then don't! This lightened-up recipe marries these two traditional desserts into one glorious, warm and spicy treat.
Get the recipe: apple coconut crumble pie
The batter is easy to whip up, and don't fret if you don't have a doughnut pan — just use a muffin tin instead. Decorate as you like, and enjoy right away, since these babies taste best freshly made.
Get the recipe: vegan chocolate frosted doughnuts
These chewy peanut butter brownie bites are disguised as fudgy, peanut buttery goodness, but shhh! They also offer a healthy dose of protein.
Get the recipe: chewy brownies
Packed with fiber and protein, this bread is naturally sweetened with sweet potato, banana, and applesauce. And it tastes like dessert!
Get the recipe: sweet potato banana protein bread
A cross between oatmeal cookies and brownies, these chocolaty bars are so insanely delicious that you won't even guess there's protein powder added to the batter.
Get the recipe: protein-packed brownies
Bake up a batch of these soft and cake-like bars, and the aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, maple syrup, and pumpkin will waft through your house.
Get the recipe: chocolate chip pumpkin bars
The gooey filling and a moist, crumbly crust will offer all the textures and flavors of the classic you love — without a sugar crash!
Get the recipe: Paleo pecan pie bars
While this recipe does contain sugar, each muffin has only 17 grams of the sweet stuff.
Get the recipe: banana oatmeal crumb muffins with avocado
This pumpkin muffin recipe just may convince you to never want to bake with butter again.
Get the recipe: pumpkin avocado muffins
These cookies are not only free of white sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, or any other sweeteners, but they're also flour-free, gluten-free, and vegan, so if you're trying to eat cleaner, you can feel good biting into these chewy cookies.
Get the recipe: date-sweetened cookies
These are so light and summery, with bursts of juicy raspberries — perfect to grab with your morning smoothie or to bake up for a weekend brunch.
Get the recipe: low-sugar, high-protein lemon raspberry muffins
Soft, sweet, and everything you want in a chocolate cake, the cauliflower adds a moistness that's unforgettable. I know it sounds totally weird. But if you love using cauliflower for other recipes, like pizza crust and in place of oatmeal, and you LOVE cake and all things chocolate, then this recipe is a must-try!
Get the recipe: chocolate (cauliflower) cake with peanut butter frosting
If you're trying to eat less sugar and less processed junk, this cookie recipe is perfect.
Get the recipe: banana oat cookies
Soft and full of warming spices, these baked doughnuts are just 86 calories.
Get the recipe: vegan cider doughnuts
This gluten-free recipe has your busy morning's back. Make it the night before, and you've got breakfast for the week.
Get the recipe: oatmeal protein bars
The best vegan desserts are the ones no one would even guess are made without dairy and eggs, and these sugar cookies fit the bill!
Get the recipe: iced sugar cookies
Delicious brownies in bite form, these are just 150 calories each.
Get the recipe: black bean brownie bites
This banana bread is just begging to be smeared with peanut butter for tomorrow's breakfast.
Get the recipe: gluten-free banana bread
These cupcakes don't taste vegan in the slightest — they're moist, sweet, and just plain delicious.
Get the recipe: carrot cake cupcakes
These chocolate chip cookies are Paleo and vegan, but they're delicious enough for seconds . . . and thirds.
Get the recipe: Paleo chocolate chip cookies
These melt-in-your-mouth moist, rich, and fudgy brownies taste so good, you'll be amazed that they're vegan and barely over 150 calories.
Get the recipe: double fudge brownies
Made with homemade dairy-free chocolate kisses for an extraspecial flair, these vegan cookies will not disappoint.
Get the recipe: peanut butter kiss cookies
These 87-calorie peanut butter cookies are made with gluten-free oats and a handful of other ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. As an added bonus, they cook up golden brown in less than 10 minutes.
Get the recipe: peanut butter cookies
Try this decadent chocolate twist on the classic zucchini bread recipe.
Get the recipe: chocolate cranberry zucchini bread
As soon as you bite into the soft and juicy chunks of cooked apples, you'll want to purposely let a bunch of bananas get overripe just so you can bake a loaf of this warm and comforting banana bread.
Get the recipe: banana apple chunk bread
With fewer than nine grams of sugar per muffin, these light and moist muffins deliciously sweetened with lemon juice and blueberries are sure to satisfy your dessert cravings.
Get the recipe: lemon blueberry protein muffins
This recipe for banana smoothie muffins is filled with a healthy secret ingredient you won't even taste — spinach!
Get the recipe: banana smoothie muffins
You won't miss the calories in these slimmed-down brownies! Compared to a classic recipe, these can save you 170 calories without sacrificing taste.
Get the recipe: low-cal brownies
When you want your house to feel as cozy as slipping on a sweater in the Fall, turn on your oven and bake this pumpkin bread.
Get the recipe: chocolate chip protein-packed pumpkin bread
These light and fluffy pumpkin pie muffins can serve as a tasty breakfast to fuel your day, but they're sweet enough to feel like a treat.
Get the recipe: pumpkin pie muffins
Save money by baking up a batch of these energy bars to start off your morning. If banana isn't your thing, then try one of these other healthy energy bar recipes.
Get the recipe: low-sugar oatmeal banana bites
For a gluten-free and Paleo-friendly banana bread that will satisfy nostalgic cravings, bake up a batch of these breakfast muffins.
Get the recipe: gluten-free banana muffins
You love sitting down to a bowl of oatmeal, but when you're in a rush, who's got time to sit with a spoon? Here's a quick breakfast to satisfy your oatmeal cravings on the go.
Get the recipe: peanut butter protein granola bars
Wow yourself and your friends with how authentic this homemade and vegan version of Thin Mints tastes.
Get the recipe: vegan Thin Mints
These cute pecan-filled thumbprint cookies are a far healthier alternative to sugar- and fat-laden pecan pie.
Get the recipe: thumbprint cookies
If you grew up loving this chewy Girl Scout favorite, you can whip up your own vegan version that's just 114 calories per delectable cookie.
Get the recipe: vegan Samoas