One of the more popular diets these days is the keto diet. If you’re reading this, you might already be a keto devotee. But just in case you aren’t as familiar with keto, here’s a quick summary:
At its most basic level, a keto diet is a very high-fat, low-carb diet. Its aim is to send the body into a metabolic state called ketosis. Ketosis prompts the body to use fat instead of glucose for energy, and it allows the body to become much more efficient at burning fat for energy.
A keto diet can be great for losing weight—and keeping it off. But it also potentially has other benefits, such as reduced blood sugar, diabetes prevention, reduced risk for heart disease, and more.
While a keto diet can be tough to follow in some ways, there are still endless yummy things to eat while on it. One perfect example of this is that there’s no need to give up desserts. We just have to pick the right kinds of desserts—or alter the ingredients for our favorites.
Below are some of the best desserts to make if you’re on a keto diet.
Keto Cheesecake
Cheesecake is one of the all-time best desserts. It’s hard not to love, and there are so many different ways to make it tasty and unique. It’s also very possible to make delicious keto cheesecake. A great go-to for the crust is almond flour (with cinnamon, sweetener, and butter). The filling itself is pretty similar to your traditional cheesecake—so nothing is really lost by making it keto!
Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
It’s hard to go wrong with chocolate chip cookies. Although keto chocolate chip cookies might not sound appealing at first, they’re actually pretty good. The recipe calls for almond flour, though you could also use coconut flour if preferred. Since (being keto) they’re sugar-free, it also calls for a sugar-free alternative sweetener. It’s a pleasant surprise how tasty these cookies end up being.
Fudgy Keto Mug Cake
Sometimes all you really need is chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. But it can be a hassle to go through the whole process of running to the store or whipping up an involved recipe for cake, cookies, or brownies. That’s where mug cake can be our best friend.
Keto chocolate mug cake is a thing. Not only is it delicious, but it’s also easy to whip up. Like a lot of keto desserts, it involves almond flour. But unlike a lot of keto desserts, it’s not hard to make in the slightest—and it takes no time at all.
Instead of “as easy as pie,” maybe the saying should go, “as easy as mug cake.”
Keto Chocolate Bark
If, after keto chocolate mug cake, our chocolate cravings aren’t quite sated, there’s always chocolate bark. Keto chocolate almond bark is a yummy, (relatively) healthy option for keto dessert. It’s got a healthy sugar replacement, as well as the more usual cocoa butter, chocolate, vanilla extract, butter, sea salt, and roasted almonds. Making it takes less than half an hour. Then it just needs to chill for a couple of hours before being fully enjoyed.
That sweet, salty, chocolatey goodness is hard to complain about. It’s the perfect thing if you’re needing a low-carb sweet treat.
Keto Ice Cream
What’s a better spring and summer sweet treat than ice cream? Low carb keto ice cream exists—and it’s yummier than you might think. Its ingredients are extraordinarily simple for such a lovable dessert: just butter, heavy cream, powdered allulose, vanilla extract, MCT oil, and vanilla bean. Making it with an ice cream maker is ideal, but it’s also not a problem to make without one.
It’s great as is, but it’s also a good base for adding other ingredients and flavors to. Garnish it or spice it up to your liking.
Keto Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
Any diet that can involve eating donuts is a diet we can get on board with. Keto, paleo, and low-carb cinnamon sugar donuts are a great option for satisfying those sugar cravings. Both coconut flour and almond flour serve as a keto alternative to gluten. For the paleo folks out there, this recipe calls for ghee instead of butter (though butter is more than okay for the non-paleo people).
The ingredients can all just be mixed by hand, and the whole thing can be done in less than 30 minutes. There’s even a video to help out if needed.
Keto Brownies
It would be tough to permanently go without brownies—so it’s a good thing that there are mouth-watering keto brownies to be made. The recipe calls for our trusty, go-to keto almond flour. Other ingredients include butter, erythritol (alternative sweetener), dark chocolate, eggs, and vanilla extract. Throw in some instant coffee, too, for a little extra flavor.
The whole process, including baking, should take about 30 minutes—not too shabby for some scrumptious, low-carb, chocolatey brownies.
Keto Peanut Butter Mousse
Sugar-free, five-minute dessert? Say no more.
Keto peanut butter mousse is just about the easiest, tastiest, sweet tooth-satisfying snack we can think of. Its ingredients are just heavy whipping cream, cream cheese, peanut butter, Swerve Confectioners (sugar substitute), and vanilla. It literally takes five minutes or less—though you do have to leave it to chill for a couple of hours. For some added deliciousness, top it with chocolate chips.
Keto “Apple” Pie
Because of their high sugar content, fruits are generally on the “avoid” list for the keto diet. Which makes apple pie an unlikely dessert for keto dieters. But someone clever created a keto "apple" pie.
How’d they do it? They use squash, instead of apples.
It sounds questionable, but it’s well worth a try. Squash faux-apple pie will likely take you by surprise. Maybe it’ll never seem the same as the real thing—but it’s a great replacement while living the keto life.
Eggless Keto Butter Cookies With Almond Flour
Brittany Baxter/Oola
Eggless keto butter cookies with almond flour are our new favorite cookies here at Oola! This incredibly easy keto cookie makes us want to snuggle up with a warm blanket and a hot cup of tea for a cozy evening at home. Keto butter cookies are reminiscent of classic shortbread cookies and beloved Amish butter cookies, without the added carbs and sugar, at only 0.4g net carbs per one cookie!
Four-Ingredient Almond Cake
Brittany Baxter/Oola
Some may scoff at the idea that a four-ingredient cake could be just as scrumptious or hold its own against the big boys at the dessert table. What may be even more surprising is that a four-ingredient showstopper can be both grain-free and gluten-free!
