Sometimes when you're on a special diet — like a gluten-free meal plan, keto, or weight loss — it can be hard to find dessert recipes you can actually eat. With a Mediterranean diet, we've actually found several desserts that still let you reap the health benefits without sacrificing a good Mediterranean dish to satisfy a sweet craving. Turns out Italy and Greece are pretty kind to their dessert lovers. Here are a few desserts that won't ruin your diet.
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1. Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
The Kitchn has a blood orange olive oil cake recipe that will fit right in with any Mediterranean diet dessert recipes book. It's made with cornmeal and plain yogurt, among other ingredients, and you can even add blood orange slices. If you're not a cornmeal fan, you can get some whole grains into your cake in the form of whole wheat flour.
2. Honeyed Phyllo Stacks with Pistachios, Spiced Fruit & Yogurt
Like pistachios? Then you'll like this phyllo stacks recipe that features pistachios plus extra virgin olive oil, orange zest, honey, and pitted dates, as well as lemon zest and whole milk Greek yogurt. If you're feeling extra nutty, you can sprinkle some cashews on top too.
3. Italian Apple Olive Oil Cake
The Mediterranean Dish has a recipe for apple olive oil cake that looks simply delightful. It's got Gala apples and lots of simple ingredients like cinnamon, nutmeg, all-purpose flour, gold raisins, and confectioner's sugar. It can even be made vegan!
4. Mediterranean Diet-Friendly Carrot Cake
This cake recipe is made with whole wheat flour, applesauce, Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, shredded carrots, crushed pineapple, and just a few other ingredients. See it here.
5. Olive Oil Brownies with Greek Yogurt and Olive Oil
This one is for those who want brownies instead of cake. Low fat Greek yogurt makes its way into this recipe along with cocoa powder and chopped walnuts.
6. Orange Polenta Cake with Olive Oil
Sensing a theme with the olive oil? This cake is also gluten-free because it calls for almond flour instead of regular flour. The recipe also suggests that you can swap out the sugar in it for turbinado, honey, superfine caster sugar, or coconut palm sugar.
7. Almond Butter Cookie Recipe
This recipe calls for almond butter or peanut butter, packed brown sugar, and a few other ingredients that are sure to make cookies that should satisfy your sweet tooth.
8. No Dairy Chocolate Mousse
With an avocado, banana, date syrup or maple syrup, unsweetened almond milk, and a few other ingredients, you can make this mousse with a prep time of just ten minutes.
9. Turkish Yogurt Cake with Figs
Orange blossom water, halved figs, and icing sugar all show up in this delicious recipe.
10. Ricotta with Fresh Fruit
This recipe is super simple. If you've got whole milk ricotta cheese, granulated sugar, and any fresh fruit, you can make it!
11. Greek Baklava
Who doesn't love baklava? Almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, cloves, a cinnamon stick, and so much more make their way into this Mediterranean diet dessert.
12. Chocolate Hazelnut Energy Bites
With lots of protein and what looks like no added sugar, these energy bites make for a sweet treat any day.
