The Best Healthy Ice Cream Toppings for a Guilt-Free Dessert

The best healthy ice cream toppings for a guilt free dessert FI

Everyone deserves a little ice cream now and then, but you want to stay as healthy as possible. Well, to stay healthy you don’t have to avoid ice cream, you can indulge in healthy ice cream toppings for a guilt-free dessert.

The best healthy ice cream toppings add vitamins and minerals to your dessert. Fruits, seeds, and nuts are whole food options that are filling and provide essential nutrients. Instead of piling on more sugar, use ice cream toppings as an opportunity to add vitamins, calcium, iron, and zinc.

By using toppings that are guilt-free and full of nutrition you don’t have to ruin your overall diet. You’ll share healthy eating habits with everyone you share your ice cream with. Your whole family can join in on the fun. 

Keep reading for a list of toppings that has something for everyone. To get started, you can pick one topping or mix and match. Of course, we have a favorite, so keep reading to find out more about what the best healthy toppings are and how to use them. 

What are healthy ice cream choices?

Traditional ice cream is not the only choice, the best healthy ice cream choices come in low-calorie and dairy-free options. Sherbet, sorbet, and fruit-flavored ice are also healthy ice cream alternatives. 

When in doubt, you can make your own sorbet or ice cream with a few ingredients and a blender.

If you are in a hurry and want to save on the calories or skip the dairy, you have store-bought ice cream options as well. Look for these low-calorie or dairy-free options in the freezer aisle.

At home, you can make healthy alternatives to ice cream that will help ease your guilt even more. 

Choosing your ice cream first will help you pick the perfect topping. While hemp hearts work with any flavor of ice cream, some toppings won’t work as well with every flavor. Don’t worry, whether your favorite is vanilla, chocolate, nutty, or fruity, there’s a topping on this list for you.

If you’re making ice cream for the whole family for a special occasion, have a variety of toppings to choose from. It’s a fun way to show your children that you can have a healthy and tasty dessert. If they find healthy ice cream and toppings they love your family will always reach for the healthy toppings first. 

What are healthy ice cream toppings?

Healthy ice cream toppings add something more than sugar to your dessert. You have the opportunity to sneak in your daily values of iron, calcium, and vitamin B. 

Use dessert to give you and your family all the vitamins and minerals you need in a fun way. With toppings like hemp, crunchy whole grains, and fruit you’re sure to add the macro and micronutrients you need at dessert time. 

Hemp Hearts

Adding hemp hearts to your ice cream will give it a nutty bite. More importantly, it will give your ice cream omega fatty acids, protein, and iron. It’s no secret that hemp products are our favorite topping, for more than ice cream.

Hemp hearts require no preparation, simply take them out of the bag and sprinkle them on top of your dessert. Of course, you could also roast your hemp hearts with spices like cinnamon for more fun flavor options. No time to roast, no problem try our honey aleppo hemp hearts, or go wild and try our spicy hemp hearts on your ice cream.

Hemp hearts are the perfect last touch to any flavor of ice cream. They work well with other nutty flavors as well. Make a fruit and seed medley and have a guilt-free dessert that’s full of essential vitamins and minerals. 

 

 

Hummingbars 

Humming Hemp hummingbars combine hemp and honey for the perfect amount of chewy sweetness. They make a good dessert on their own, but the mix of flavors is great on ice cream. 

To use hummingbars on ice cream all you need to do is cut them up and sprinkle them on top. You can add your favorite chewy flavors with whole fruit to make a full sundae. Grab a Gimme 5 box of hummingbars to try every flavor in different recipes. 

For example, try a blueberry banana split with our Lavender Pistachio & Blueberry hummingbar. If you are more of a chocolate lover, drizzle dark chocolate over ice cream with our Almond Chocolate bar. No matter what flavor you choose you’ll love the chewy and creamy combinations. 

Berries 

Any fruit is great on ice cream or sherbet, but berries are particularly wonderful due to the antioxidants. Since berries are a bit lower in sugar than other fruits they have become popular for dieters on keto and whole30.

Less sugar means you get the vitamins and fiber fruit has to offer without using up all of your allotted carbs. Blueberries and strawberries are fruits you should include in any diet. 

Cacao Nibs

Cacao nibs are chocolate in one of its more pure forms. These treats come from the cacao tree and are more healthy than chocolate chips or chocolate syrup. For one thing, they don’t contain added sugar or dairy. They do have a bit of caffeine giving your ice cream a bit of an energy boost.

Cacao nibs are loaded with antioxidants and healthy fat, so while you indulge in chocolate you’ll be getting heart-healthy benefits.  

Espresso Beans

Espresso beans are great for a treat since you shouldn’t eat espresso or coffee beans too often. However, since you are having a treat it may be nice to have coffee ice cream with a few espresso beans on top. 

If you’ve missed your caffeine for the day get your boost of energy with dessert. Espresso beans are packed with antioxidants and caffeine may help you burn fat. 

When you reach for coffee beans be sure not to go for the chocolate-covered options. Unless you dip your espresso beans in chocolate yourself, you may get a product with too much added sugar and calories. Luckily, it’s easy to make chocolate-covered espresso beans with dark chocolate, another healthy topping to try on your ice cream.

Nuts 

Nuts are packed with healthy fat, fiber, and protein. The macro and micronutrients in nuts have the ability to help you lose weight, by helping you reduce your appetite. For a low-calorie option go with pistachios. You can even choose pistachio ice cream or make your own. 

 

 

You have different nuts to choose from, so you don’t always have to choose the low-calorie option. Make your choice based on what you need more of: protein or healthy fat. When all else fails choose flavors that taste delicious. 

Coconut Shavings

A few coconut shavings added to the top of your ice cream will go a long way. Coconut is high in calories and contains saturated fat, so it’s got a bad reputation. No matter which side of the argument food experts are on it’s undeniable that coconut has other attributes that make it a healthy choice. 

If you keep the amount to a minimum you’ll add fiber and vitamins A, D, E, and K to your ice cream. Whether you believe coconut fat is healthy or not, the other benefits make the topping worth the small amount of fat. 

In fact, you can toast the shavings and cook away a bit of the fat, and still bring on the nutrition. If you really want a lot of coconut flavor choose a dairy-free coconut ice cream for dessert.

Dried Fruit 

Dried fruit is an underused topping because added sugar has given it a bad reputation. However, the idea that dried fruit is bad for you is a myth. Dried fruit actually contains more nutrients in one bite than eating fresh fruit. 

However, don’t stop eating whole fruit because dried fruit is so delicious. When it comes to dried fruit you do have to be careful which fruit you choose. The problem with dried fruit is some have secretly added sugars. 

As long as you dry the fruit yourself, or choose a fruit that has no added sugar, dried fruit is a healthy treat. Sprinkle dried fruit onto your ice cream to feel like you’re adding candy to your ice cream. 

 

 

Popcorn

When you think of ice cream toppings it’s easy to automatically think sweet, but sweet and salty go great together. Low-calorie popcorn gives ice cream a fun flavor and texture. 

The light treat won’t pack on the calories and will make you feel like you’re truly indulging. They taste even better with pistachios and hemp hearts on top. If you want more sweetness try all-natural kettle corn. 

No matter which flavors you choose fresh popcorn can bring fiber and antioxidants that are great for digestion and heart health. Maybe your dessert can be included to your next family movie night. 

Granola

Granola isn’t just for yogurt. You can treat your ice cream like a parfait and build fun layers with granola and fruit to add more fiber into your dessert. Granola is full of healthy oats, nuts, dried fruits, and seeds. 

The healthiest granolas will help you get vitamins B and E, iron, zinc, and healthy fats. Choose the right granola and add hemp hearts and you’ll get most of the vitamins and minerals you need for all your daily values.

Of course, since granola is a mix of different healthy ingredients you’ll have to choose wisely or make your own for the healthiest options. However, if you choose the right serving size with low sugar and whole grains, you’ll get a nutrient-dense topping that will make you happy you chose dessert. 

Summary: Healthy ice cream toppings

It’s difficult to think of ice cream as healthy because the decadent dessert is all about overindulging. But with so many options for healthy ice cream and guilt-free toppings, you can have a dessert that is beneficial for your overall health. 

Choosing toppings like hemp hearts gives you the opportunity to enjoy fun sweet and salty combinations while taking your health into consideration. 

If you’re dieting you should have ice cream but have it with omega fatty acids, iron, and zinc. By choosing your toppings carefully, you’ll walk away guilt-free from a much-deserved snack session. 

If you’re ready for dessert, grab the ingredients you need like popcorn, berries, hummingbars, and hemp hearts at a store near you today. 

 

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