Recipes for Healthy Easter Treats

Easter is a holiday synonymous with tasty treats! Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies line the shelves of the supermarkets and tempt us every time we go in for our weekly shop. However, Easter is also a time when we spend lots of time with family and friends, often hosting Easter lunches and dinners. So here we’ve got some of our favourite recipes for different Easter treats and deserts you can make when you’re entertaining over Easter, including some classic favourites with healthy twists!

Skinny Eton Mess

Eton mess is quick and easy to make, as well as being delicious! However, thanks to all the cream, the traditional recipe is high in fat. So, this is our slightly skinny version, that is still guaranteed to get taste buds tingling. Ingredients (serves 4)

• 4 individual meringue nests
• 200g fresh strawberries
• 200g fresh rasperries
• 100g fresh blueberries
• 0% fat free greek yoghurt

Method Break up the meringue nests with your hand or a spoon in a large bowl. Mix in the yoghurt & the fruit. Serve in individual bowls & top with a couple of berries.

Low Fat lemon cupcakes

These are our favourite low calorie cupcakes that the whole family can enjoy, better yet, if you make these with kids then why not buy some extra bits to decorate! Ingredients (makes 12)

• 200g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 75g golden caster sugar
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon (unwaxed)
• 2 large eggs
• 150ml low-fat natural yoghurt
• 2 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
• 50ml sunflower oil
• 100g icing sugar
• 4–4½ tsp fresh lemon juice

Method Line a 12-hole muffin tin with some festive paper cases and preheat your oven to 200c/ gas mark 6. Sift the flour & bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Next, stir in the sugar and lemon zest. Make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a large whisk. Next beat in the yoghurt, milk and oil until it is all combined. Next, stir into the flour mixture with a large spoon until lightly mixed. Divide the batter into the paper cases. Bake in the oven for 15-17 minutes, or until the cupcakes have turned golden brown and risen. After, transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool. Whilst cooling, mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth and runny. Once the cakes have cooled down, drizzle the icing over each of the cakes & leave to set.

Chocolate Covered Fruit

Chocolate covered fruit are great desert/treat option when you’re entertaining. They always look impressive, they’re simple to make, and still relatively healthy depending on how dark the chocolate you use is. Our recipe uses 70% dark chocolate to try and keep these as good for you as they can be. Ingredients

• 150g 70% dark chocolate*
• 1 punnet of strawberries*
• 50g white chocolate (optional)

*Quantities can be adapted depending on how many people you are making for, fruit may also be adapted. Method Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a simmering saucepan of water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Holding the strawberries by the stem, dip each one into the bowl of chocolate about two thirds of the way to the stem. Place them upside down on a wire rack and chill in the fridge until the chocolate has hardened. Optional: Once the dark chocolate has hardened on the strawberries remove them from the fridge. Melt the white chocolate in a glass bowl the same as you did the dark chocolate. Once it is all melted and smooth, take a teaspoon and drizzle the white chocolate over the strawberries to give a stripy pattern.