5 diet-friendly desserts, including a jalebi that's made from fruit

If you spent the last month of the year, footloose, fancy-free and fully abandoning your healthy diet — i.e eating everything from decadent Christmas meals to all the candy you could get your hands on, congratulations you’re just like the rest of us. It also means one of your half-hearted resolutions is probably ‘eat healthier’. But a new year doesn’t automatically mean shiny new willpower. You’ll still get those stress-induced 4pm sugar cravings — and since we’re #realisticresolution kind of girls, we hit up popular food bloggers for diet-friendly desserts that are just as fun with half the guilt.

Diet-friendly desserts to gorge on this year

Slow cooker coconut brown rice pudding from The Food Network

Ingredients
· Non-stick cooking spray

· 3 cups coconut water

· One 13.5-ounce can lite coconut milk

· 1/2 cup sugar

· 1 tbsp vanilla extract

· 1/2 tsp kosher salt

· 1 1/4 cups short grain brown rice

· 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

· 1 tsp finely grated lime zest

Directions

• Mist a slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.
• Mix the coconut water, coconut milk, 1 1/2 cups water, sugar, vanilla and salt in the bowl of the slow cooker until the sugar is dissolved.
• Stir in the rice and cook on high 4 hours or low for 5 to 6 hours.
• Uncover, stir well and let stand 15 minutes.
• Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the butter.
• Continue to cool, stirring, until warm. Stir in the lime zest.
• Serve warm or chill until cold. Top as desired

Lemon Yogurt Mousse from The Food Network

Ingredients:

· Eggs

· Sugar

· Salt

· Lemons

· Greek Yogurt

Directions

• Whisk 2 egg whites, 1/4 cup sugar and a pinch of salt in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until the sugar dissolves.
• Remove the bowl; beat with a mixer until stiff peaks form.
• Whisk 1 1/2 cups low-fat Greek yogurt, 1 teaspoon lemon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a separate bowl; fold in the egg whites.
• Chill 2 hours and serve with crumbled shortbread cookies.

Apple Jalebi from Sanjeev Kapoor

Ingredients:
· 2 medium apples
· ½ cup maida
· 2 tbsp semolina (rawa/suji)
· 2 tbsp cornflour
· Baking soda
· Oil for deep-frying
· Vinegar ½ teaspoon
· 2 cups of sugar syrup with saffron
· Saffron strands for garnishing

Directions

• Heat sugar syrup in a non-stick pan till warm.
• Whisk together refined flour, semolina, cornflour, baking soda and sufficient water to a thick smooth batter.
• Core the apples and cut them into thick roundels. Soak them in water to which lemon juice has been added to prevent them from getting discoloured.
• Heat sufficient oil in a kadai.
• Add vinegar to the batter and mix well.
• Remove the apple roundels from the water and pat them dry with kitchen tissue.
• Dip the apple roundels in the batter and slide them in the hot oil and deep-fry till golden and crisp. Drain them from the oil and dip in the sugar syrup.
• Serve hot garnished with saffron strands.

Frozen chocolate banana pops from The Food Network

Ingredients
· 4 large ripe bananas

· 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

· 3 tbsp heavy cream

· 3 tbsp maple syrup

· 1/2 cup salted, roasted peanuts, finely chopped

Special equipment: ice-cream moulds

Directions

• Break the bananas into chunks, and puree in a food processor until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
• Add the cocoa powder, cream and maple syrup, and puree until combined.
• Spoon the banana mixture into moulds, and freeze until firm, 8 hours or overnight.
• Spread the peanuts on a plate.
• Run hot water over the moulds to help loosen them, then remove, roll them in the peanuts and serve (or keep them frozen on a parchment-lined baking sheet until ready to serve).

Quinoa Apple Kheer from My Food Story

Ingredients:

· 1 1/2 cups quinoa (cooked)

· 1 teaspoon ghee

· 1 apple, finely chopped

· 750 ml skimmed milk

· 8–10 strands saffron

· 1 tsp crushed cardamom

· 1/4 cup sugar

· 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios

· Sliced apples for topping

Directions

• In a pot, heat the ghee and add the finely chopped apples. Sauté for 3-4 minutes till slightly soft and add quinoa, milk, saffron and cardamom to it.
• Bring it to a boil and simmer for 35-40 minutes till milk reduces by about one third and the kheer thickens up. You can simmer for longer if you like your kheer really thick.
• Add sugar and stir till combined. Cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate for an hour or so.
• Serve chilled, topped with chopped pistachios and apple slices.

What are your favourite diet-friendly desserts?

WATCH NOW: Which is the best jalebi in India?

With inputs from Durdana Simran