Have your dessert

Biscuits & pie crusts

Half wholemeal flour and half plain flour

Just plain flour

Wholemeal has 15.8g of filling fibre in every cup, and your guests probably won’t even notice the difference, says nutritionist Keri Gans, author of The Small Change Diet

Apple pies & other fruit pies

Half the sugar

All the sugar

For every cup of sugar you don’t use, you’ll save 3125kJ. “It doesn’t change the chemistry of the pie, so you can go as low in sugar as you’d like,” says Gans. “[Fruit’s] natural sweetness is often all you need.”

Cheesecake

Low-fat ricotta cheese

Cream cheese

You’ll double the amount of hunger-fighting protein and cut the fat by close to 60g for each cup you use. “It’s much less heavy and caloric than cream cheese,” Gans says.

Chocolate cake, brownies & fudge

3 tbs cocoa powder

30g cooking chocolate

For every 3 tbs you substitute, you’ll peel 323kJ and 6g fat off the dessert.

Puddings

Low-fat milk

Thickened cream

Why? This swap slashes a mega 2940kJ per cup. “It will still have a nice, rich, creamy body, but so much less fat,” Gans says.

Fruit breads & muffins

Pureed pumpkin

Oil

Pumpkin puree keeps baked goods deliciously moist, and for every half-cup you sub out, you’ll save more than 3768kJ and 100g of fat.