desserts

There's nothing like biting into a homemade cookie right out of the oven, but all the butter, eggs, and cream add fat, cholesterol, and calories to your diet. If you can omit those ingredients and make your recipes vegan, you'll be doing your heart and your waistline a favor. Don't want to compromise on flavor? Of course, you don't. Here are five easy ways to veganize basic desserts so your butter-loving self will hardly notice the difference.

1. For eggs: You probably remember making volcanoes when you were a kid using baking soda and vinegar. That amazing foaming reaction can offer the same binding qualities as an egg. For every egg, use one tablespoon of vinegar along with one teaspoon of baking soda. This egg replacer works best in cakes, cookies, muffins, and quick breads. If you want more fiber in your baked good, make flax eggs by mixing two and a half teaspoons flax meal and three tablespoons of water.
2. For butter: Instead of fat-and-cholesterol-filled butter or shortening, choose either avocado, banana, or prune puree. Whatever the amount of butter the recipe calls for, use half fruit puree and half Earth Balance margarine. Try it in cookie, cake, and quick bread recipes.
3. For milk or yogurt: This substitution is a cinch since soy, almond, and coconut milk taste like dairy milk. Choose vanilla-flavored for an even sweeter treat. The same goes for recipes that call for yogurt or sour cream. Just replace those ingredients with either soy or coconut milk yogurt. And tofutti cream cheese is made with soy but tastes so much like regular cream cheese that it makes a perfect vegan substitute.
4. For buttermilk: Mix one cup of soy or almond milk with one tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and let stand for five to 10 minutes.
5. For chocolate: Semisweet chocolate chips aren't vegan, but what's a chocolate chip cookie without them? Go for dark chocolate chips instead, like the ones used in these Vegan Samoas. Just be sure to read the label since some brands contain milk. Add a little espresso powder for a richer chocolaty flavor.

Sweet and creamy ice cream pints fly off the shelves in the Summer months, and while Ben & Jerry's is a popular brand, you might like the more basic yet scrumptious Häagen-Dazs flavors. Below shows what 100 calories of raspberry sorbet looks like, but chances are one little scoop just won't be enough. Check out the chart below to see how many calories are in your favorite flavors of ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and frozen yogurt, so you can arm yourself before polishing off an entire pint.

Don't see your favorite flavor? Keep reading to find out the calorie amounts of other ice cream flavors as well as gelato, sorbet, and frozen yogurt.

If your insanely huge sweet tooth takes over your willpower, it can be hard to say no to dessert. Now you don't have to. Keep these calorie-saving tips in mind when it comes to indulging in sweets, and you can have your cake without looking like you do.

1. Order your ice cream in a bowl instead of a cone: A sugar cone is 45 calories and a waffle cone is 160. Aside from those calories saved, eating your ice cream with a spoon allows you to savor each bite instead of having to quickly inhale a melting cone to prevent dripping.
2. Skip the traditional sundae toppings: Whipped cream (53), nuts (210), hot fudge (48), and caramel (52) really add up. Instead, top your ice cream with a half cup of frozen raspberries for only 35 calories.
3. Choose sorbet instead of ice cream: A half-cup serving of strawberry ice cream will run you 240 calories. Go for the just-as-fruity but fewer-calorie sorbet for only 130 calories. Or whip up your own vegan ice cream made with bananas for 150 calories. But remember that just because it's lower in calories doesn't give you the green light to eat twice as much. Keep the serving size the same to truly save on calories.
4. Find healthier alternatives to your faves: A slice of New York-style cheesecake with strawberry topping is about 630 calories. You can get the same creamy fruitiness with a bowl of these strawberry banana creams — just 145 calories. If you can't pass on your favorite recipes, switch out the butter or oil for avocado or applesauce, or use mashed sweet potato to cut down on sugar.