Weight Watchers and Desserts

Desserts Are Necessary

In today’s world, chocolate, ice cream, candy and the like are everywhere. Often times, there is an insatiable desire for the sweet tastes in life. And, by all rights, desserts should not be a taboo finish to a healthy meal. There are tens of thousands of taste buds in our mouths, some seeking a bitter taste, some a tart taste, and then there is the sweet taste. Most importantly, when it comes to dieting, depriving yourself of a sweet treat may lead to eating everything else in an effort to avoid the sweet dessert. However, the avoidance of this desire carries with it a lot of extra calories without the craving ever really being satisfied. In a nutshell, it is wiser to have a little chocolate or other confection than piling up on other foods that do not do satisfy.

Great News

As Weight Watchers continues to be one of the leading weight loss programs in the world, the conclusion is that they must be doing something right. Besides their intensely supportive environment both in and out of meeting rooms, the Weight Watchers program does not forbid desserts. In fact, nearly every single cookbook published by Weight Watchers includes desserts. In Simply The Best, there are 37 recipes for a variety of baked goods and desserts.

Magic Ingredients

Of course, there are no magical weight loss foods, but by substituting a few key fat-laden ingredients with a healthier substitution and using quality food sources, most dessert recipes can be converted to a lower fat, fewer calorie treat. A few critical substitutions are:

• Applesauce or apple butter for the oil, vegetable shortening, or other fat
• 2 egg whites for every whole egg
• Pureed prunes (jarred baby food works great) for butter or oil
• Low-fat versions of dairy products, such as low fat cream cheese, sour cream, milk or buttermilk, etc.
• Low fat plain yogurt for fats
• Fresh fruit in season for fruit-based desserts
• Ripe bananas for sweetness

In addition to these alternative ingredients, using fresh herbs and spices in a recipe boasts the best and satisfying flavor. For example, instead of using artificially flavored vanilla extract, why not go for its source, the vanilla bean. It is easy to do by simply cutting the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scraping the vanilla beans from the pod into the mixing bowl. Weight Watchers makes a great Vanilla Wafer (see recipe below) dessert cookie with this key ingredient. By keeping the general principle of using the whole food or the primary source of any food in mind, desserts are afforded the chance to be turned into the best tasting treat it can be.

Weight Watchers and Desserts: The Sources

There are several great Weight Watcher cookbooks available today filled with desserts to satisfy the sweet tooth of all. Besides the favorite Simply The Best cookbook with its Tropical Tarts and Brownie Pie recipes, New Complete Cookbook is a perennial favorite for delectable treats. In their book, All Things Sweet, Weight Watchers strives to offer every palate a satisfying dessert dish. It is loaded with cookie recipes, fruit desserts, pies and cobblers. You can be assured that while these desserts taste like they were made with the richest, calorie dense ingredients, they are friendly to the waistline when eaten in appropriate serving sizes.

The Weight Watchers magazine, a monthly publication, also consistently features several dessert recipes within its pages. You can also check out Weight Watchers website for a variety of recipe offerings.

Real Vanilla Wafers

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

• ½ cup sugar

• ¼ cup cornstarch

• 2 tablespoons margarine, melted

• 1 large egg

• 1 vanilla bean, 6 inches in length, split lengthwise

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray and dust with 1 tablespoon of flour; set aside.

Combine sugar and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into bowl. Add ¾ cup flour, baking powder, and salt; stir until smooth.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove cookies from pans and let cook on wire racks.

Nutrition and Serving Information

Yields 3 dozen cookies

Serving size = 2 cookies

32 Calories, .5 g Protein, .8 g Fat, .2 g Saturated Fat, 5.6 g Carbohydrate, .1 g Fiber, 6 mg Cholesterol, 17 mg Sodium