Diabetes-Friendly Desserts for the Holidays + Beyond

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The holiday season is here.
Happy holidays y’all.
If you haven’t already, run that back and listen to our previous episode because we covered overeating during the holidays, which is something that a lot of people struggle with.
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And today we are going to be talking about Blood Sugar Friendly Holiday Suite.
Desserts are such an important part of the holidays and if you’re managing diabetes, you might be hesitant to enjoy those sweets during this time of the year.
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So we’re going to talk about some of our favorite holiday recipes, sweets that won’t cause big spikes in your blood sugar.
And we’re also going to talk about tips for reducing sugar in your favorite holiday recipes and ways to indulge without the guilt.
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Welcome to the diabetes digital podcast.
I’m Wendy.
And I’m Jess, and we’re best friends, registered dietitians and diabetes.
Educators.
Through our telehealth platform, Diabetes digital.co, we offer accessible and personalized virtual nutrition counseling for people with diabetes and pre diabetes.
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Visit diabetesdigital.co that’s Co to book your first appointment.
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Options Now let’s get into today’s episode.
It can sometimes feel like there aren’t that many options that are both delicious and diabetes friendly, but that’s not the case.
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So today we’re going to each share a couple of our favorite recipes that are blood sugar friendly and also somewhat holiday related.
And I will say that you don’t even have to eat recipes that are blood sugar friendly if you don’t want to for the holidays.
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Like we all can enjoy whatever we want.
We believe that all foods can fit into a balanced diet.
And so if you’re like, screw these options, I already have my faves.
Like go for it.
You might just, you know, want to be mindful of portion sizes and hungerfulness and all of those things.
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So you don’t have to go with these ideas, but we’re going to share some of our favorites.
Now to start out, I want to share a couple of OG recipes on the Food Heaven site.
I think these are honestly from like 2013, if you could even believe it.
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But I still make them and they’re super easy, so.
And I probably should update them too.
I’ll tell you what my updates are.
They’re both mini pies.
And the way that I like to do it is buy those mini.
Are they called ramekins?
2:38
Like those little dishes?
Yeah, like I have so many of those and it’s so nice because if you just want to make like a couple portions or even more portions, you can.
And it just feels like, I don’t know, so exciting.
So if you want to do my sweet potato pie option, what you do is you take sweet potatoes so you can cook a sweet potato.
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Oh, well, actually I wouldn’t even do a puree.
I would cook the sweet potato and then I blend that in the food processor or blender to make it a puree.
And then I add things like cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, a little bit of sugar.
And then I put a little bit of it into each ramekin, so about half of a cup.
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And I bake it for 3:50, for about 15 to 20 minutes.
And it’s like just this delicious kind of sweet potato puree pie filling.
And then what I’ll do to make it even better and kind of balance out the carbohydrates from the sweet potato is I’ll add walnuts.
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And I’ll add walnuts on top, like chopped walnuts, which gives it like a nice crunch.
And then I add some unsweetened whipped cream as well, which many people don’t realize that you can get whipped cream that has like zero to 1 grams of sugar in it and it has a little bit of fat.
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But again, that’ll help to balance out the carbs of the sweet potatoes.
So that would be my first one.
Blood sugar friendly, delicious and simple to make.
That sounds so good.
Yeah, the crumble I have done, it tastes so good.
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And also, in addition to like, any nuts that you want to crush on top, you can also do oats, like you could do kind of like a granola mix and roast them and then put them on top.
And that way it has a little more fiber as well.
Yeah.
It’ll help to, like, regulate your glucose numbers.
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One that I did a really long time ago that was really good, and I’ve seen a lot of people do that in the holidays, is avocado mousse.
And I know that might sound weird.
Well, maybe not because I feel like now there’s so many avocado desserts.
It’s like avocado ice cream and like, so many different things.
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But when you blend chocolate with avocado, it is delicious.
It almost tastes kind of like a pudding.
And there’s a lot of recipes out there like if you want more of a moose consistency, you can just like, adjust the recipe.
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But it’s nice because avocados provide really healthy fats and fiber.
And then you can still add like that chocolate little bit of sweetener so that you’re getting your sweet fixed.
So that’s one that I really enjoy.
And then chia pudding, I think it has now become almost like a classic because it’s been around for a while.
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You can add spices to that.
So like cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, all those holiday spices can be like a good addition for added flavor.
You can add a little bit of Maple syrup for sweetness.
And chia seeds are great because they are packed with fiber and healthy fats, and they also help to balance our blood sugar.
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So that’s another one that I really like.
Now, if you’re like, OK, I don’t want to do all of that.
Like I’m not trying to get creative and, you know, make all these like recipes.
You can just go with things that are sweet and simple, trying to pair things together.
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And one of my favorites is berries and cream.
So you can literally just like grab your favorite berries.
Berries are a little lower in sugar and they have a lot of antioxidants.
And then you can top it with a dollop of sugar free whipped cream.
You can also do Greek yogurt if you want some protein.
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Greek yogurt’s really creamy as well, and it has like a little bit of a tank to it.
So that’s something else that you can do.
Dark chocolate and almond is a great combination.
Dark chocolate has antioxidants, and then the almonds have the fat and fiber, which will help to slow down the absorption of sugar.
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And then another one that I really like is frozen grapes.
I mean, literally just throw grapes in the freezer and then a few hours later you’re good to go and you can enjoy them with our chocolate and that’s like a really simple, refreshing way to get your sweet fix on.
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Yum, all those sound good.
I’ve never had frozen grapes.
They’re so good.
Yes that sounds amazing.
I love the berries and the whipped cream.
I’ll also add like some chopped almonds or chopped walnuts on that.
So good.
And if you are like, hmm, that’s great, but like, I’m trying to bring something to the holiday party or whatever, but like keep it simple or I don’t know, maybe it’s a potluck.
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Let me tell you what you can do.
So this is another recipe that it’s not even really a recipe.
It’s just a way to make the dessert that is very simple, tastes even better.
And I’m, I’ve been doing this like at least once a week when I can remember, like when I’m cooking dinner, I’ll just like put this in the oven too.
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So it’s essentially you have like a bag of frozen berries, mixed berries, and then I’ll take out again in the ramekins, like half a cup around there and put the frozen berries in the ramekins.
You can even mix like a little bit of sugar, a little bit of those holiday spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract.
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And then you just bake it.
It makes it so delicious.
Especially like when I take it out, I’m topping it again with that unsweetened whipped cream, with the nuts, like the almonds or the walnuts, chopped pecans even.
And it’s so good.
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It feels like just happiness in a ramekin.
And you can even make it more exciting by adding a crumble on top.
I’ll do that sometimes too.
And if I were to make a crumble that’s blood sugar friendly, I would do like some butter sugar, maybe a little bit, you know, less sugar.
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And I would blend that with some pistachios or some kind of nut.
And like Wendy said, maybe even some oats, like kind of find a good proportion of each of those that still tastes good, but that is a little less in sugar.
And then you can top the berries with that and bake those in the oven.
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And like I said, typically about you can bake it like 350 or even 400 for I would say this one a little bit longer, like 30 minutes until the berries are really melted and gooey.
And then you have like that crumble on top.
Take it out again, add the unsweetened whipped cream.
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It’s so delicious.
And for me, it’s like kind of the same as eating a pie, but it has a lot less sugar.
It’s a lot more blood sugar.
Friendly.
Now, if you’re like, I want pie, I want cake, I want cookies, bean, greens, tomatoes, potatoes.
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That’s fine.
There are ways to enjoy traditional sweets while keeping in mind your glucose levels.
And I mean, I think the best way is really to keep in mind those portions, like Jess said, like try not to go overboard.
If you’re gonna enjoy dessert, make sure that you’re having a complete meal so that you’re having a meal that has fiber, protein, healthy fats, carbs, so that you feel satisfied and you’re not just relying on dessert to fill up.
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And also like having that complete meal is going to have a good range of macro nutrients to help slow down the absorption of sugar from the dessert.
It’s likely going to reduce your chance of having those like blood sugar spikes post dessert.
And also, I recommend spacing things out so that you can gauge how full you are.
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We spoke about this in our previous episode, but giving yourself 10 to 20 minutes, so like, really digest and allow your brain to register how your body is feeling is also going to be really helpful.
Because, yeah, like after dinner, a lot of us are like, oh, yeah, let’s just go straight for dessert.
And we might already be at capacity.
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And then we have that dessert and we just go overboard and we’re not feeling so great physically.
So you can give yourself time.
The good thing is that family gatherings are usually longer.
So, you know, you could wait a few hours even, and I mean, especially if you’re like sleeping over family’s house, you could be like, OK, well, maybe I’ll just have it like later on tonight or the following day or something like that.
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Now, if you do want to make those traditional holiday desserts that you enjoy, there are some ways to reduce sugar without compromising flavor.
For people that have diabetes, you can absolutely use sugar substitutes.
Just make sure that you adjust the recipe because it isn’t a one to one conversion for a lot of these artificial sweeteners or like sugar alternatives, but you can still do it.
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So you can, you know, just look up what the conversions are and then adjust the recipe that way.
You can also use spices like the ones that we’ve been mentioning like cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla to enhance that natural sweetness of dessert so that you don’t have to use as much sugar or sweetener.
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And then I would say incorporate fruit.
So try to go for fall and winter fruits like apples and pears.
Also berries, you know we mentioned those are a bit lower in sugar compared to other fruits.
They have fiber which will help to manage your blood sugar levels too.
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Yes, and as we said in the last episode, walking is such a great free tool to help bring your blood glucose down.
So if you are somebody who has diabetes and you do want to have your traditional desserts and maybe they are a little bit higher in sugar, like Wendy said, I would definitely have them with a meal.
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I probably wouldn’t have them on an empty stomach.
And consider just even a 10-15 minute walk or a walk around the block after that meal.
It’s going to do wonders for your blood sugar levels and also for digestion and probably just make you feel better and less like you’re in a food coma and have the itis and have to take a nap and a little more energized after that meal.
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A couple of other tips are one is you can always plan ahead.
So if you are going to holiday event, you can offer to bring the dessert.
And if you’re like, I love dessert, but like I want to make something that is a little bit more blood sugar friendly, bring the dessert.
This is something I always do for the holidays.
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Typically we don’t have any vegetables at our holiday meals.
So I’m always bringing like the veggie side dish or the salad.
So that way I can, I can do the my plate method and make like at least a third of my plate vegetables, 1/3 protein and 1/3 carbohydrates.
That’s my personal, my plate.
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It’s a little different from the traditional one.
It’s a little more balanced for each of those macro nutrients.
But yeah, you can bring your dessert and it’ll be something that you enjoy and that’s also diabetes friendly.
Now, another thing I would say is do not skip meals.
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Going to a holiday gathering hungry can lead to overeating sweets because your blood sugar will most likely drop and your brain and body are going to seek out high carb, high calorie foods to help bring that blood sugar back up.
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So it can cause you to overeat on some of those sweets.
So eat your regular meals throughout the day.
Even if you are going to a holiday dinner at 2:00, maybe what you can do is instead of having lunch at 12, maybe you have an earlier lunch at 11:00 so that you have room to have that.
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Like is it called litter?
Like second lunch dinner, you know, or you do smaller meals, right?
Like you have a early breakfast and then like a lunch one mini meal at 11 and you have a litter one at 2:00 and then litter 2 at, I don’t know, 6.
So you can still enjoy all these foods.
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Or maybe not.
Yes, such a huge volume of food at once to the point where you feel sick because you haven’t eaten anything else all day.
Also make sure to drink that H2O, Stay hydrated.
Drink a ton of water throughout the day.
Most people need about 8 cups of water in a day, 8 oz cups.
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But your best way to tell your hydration status is the color of your urine.
So you want your urine to be a light lemonade color and make sure that it’s that throughout the holidays that’s going to help you feel better overall.
Yeah, and remember that the holidays are a time to enjoy your foods, enjoy your sweets, enjoy your traditions.
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You can make small adjustments to your favorite desserts while keeping your blood sugar in check.
But also, no food is off limits.
It’s all about balance.
So if you have to adjust the portions accordingly, that’s totally fine.
We hope that you have an incredible holiday this year.
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We hope that this episode, major holiday season a little sweeter without the stress about blood sugar spikes.
Happy holidays and we’ll see you next year.
Actually, I can’t believe it’s already the end of the year.
But yeah, we’ll be back in January with more episodes.
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All right, catch you next year.
Bye bye.
Thanks for joining us for today’s episode.
If you’re interested in nutrition counseling with one of our expert dietitians to help improve your pre diabetes or diabetes, visit us at diabetesdigital.co.
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Bye.