4 Dessert Recipes With Vegetables for Your Whole Family

Many children are reluctant to eat vegetables. This motivates many parents to look for creative ways to work vegetables into their family’s diet.

Including vegetables in desserts is an excellent way to provide healthy and balanced nutrition for your entire family.

Let’s start with a foundation of 4 vegetables that most children love to eat in savory dishes: beets, pumpkin, carrots and spinach. You can use these same 4 veggies to create desserts that are delightfully delicious.

4 dessert recipes with vegetables

Pumpkin

Pumpkin has a sweet flavor that combines well with cakes and pies. It provides moisture and color to your recipes, and contains potassium, carotene, vitamin B and fiber .

Pumpkin is the most popular vegetable when it comes to desserts. You’ll find an interesting detail in the recipe below – the main ingredient is added raw.

Summer pumpkin pie 

• Grate 1 1/2 cups of peeled pumpkin or squash. Mix with 1/2 cup of unflavored yogurt. Set aside.
• Beat 3 eggs with 1 cup of brown sugar until you obtain a fluffy consistency.
• Melt 7 tablespoons of low-sodium butter and add a few drops of vanilla essence.
• Add the butter to the egg and sugar blend. Mix well.
• Now, add the above ingredients to the pumpkin and yogurt mixture. 
• Mix in 2 cups of cake flour with 1/2 cup of corn flour, one teaspoon of baking powder and another teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix well, folding in the ingredients.
• Place the dough in a greased and floured cake pan. Place in a preheated oven (350º F) for 45-50 minutes.
• Verify that the cake is cooked all the way through with a toothpick test. Decorate the cake with a sugar glaze, chocolate frosting or however you would like.

Beets

Beets are rich in potassium, magnesium, carotenes and fiber. Their natural sugars give desserts a special sweetness without adding calories.

Furthermore, they provide an intense color and moisture to your preparations. They’re an ideal vegetable when making succulent and original brownies.

Beet brownies

• Prepare puree with 2 cups of cooked and drained beets. To make sure the beets release all of their water, place the puree in a sieve and press down with a spoon.
• In a separate bowl, mix three eggs with 1 cup of sugar until you obtain a creamy mixture. 
• Melt 1 1/3 sticks of butter with 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips. You can do this in the microwave or with a water bath. Allow to cool a bit.
• Combine both preparations. Then, sift 1/2 cup of flour, 1/4 cup of cacao powder, a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of baking powder. Fold into the preparation before finally adding in the beet puree.
• Place the batter in a square-shaped cake pan lined with parchment paper so it doesn’t stick. Place in a preheated oven (350ºF) for 35 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool before cutting.

Carrot

Carrots are also a popular choice when it comes to making veggie desserts. Besides being rich in fiber and vitamin A, it also provides us with calcium, potassium, iodine and beta-carotene.

Another particularity of carrots is that they give desserts a special aroma and color. And, like beets, they offer a sweet flavor without added calories. The following recipe is easy and delicious, and no one will ever guess they’re eating carrot.

No-bake carrot bites 

• Place 2 cups of cooked and drained carrots in a bowl to make the puree. 
• A little at a time, add 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1/2 cups of shredded coconut.
• Form a dough and allow to cool.
• Form balls using small portions of dough. Coat them with shredded coconut and place them in cupcake molds.
• You can decorate the carrot bites with chocolate drizzles. Refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Spinach

Spinach is rich in phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals that are essential to boosting defenses. It’s an excellent option to add raw to sweet fruit smoothies – as in the recipe below – or use in a sorbet.

 Spinach sorbet 

• Freeze 2 cups of spinach and one avocado.
• Blend the frozen ingredients with a bit of sugar, lemon juice and 1 cup of soy milk.
• Place the sorbet mixture in molds and refreeze for a few more hours.

As you’ve seen, these dessert recipes with vegetables are simple and nutritious. They all offer excellent ways to disguise the presence of vegetables in your recipes. Your whole family is sure to enjoy them!