Holly Clegg’s sweet-tooth fixes

Holly Clegg is not afraid to admit she loves sweets. She even owns up to holiday splurges, chocolate cravings and urges to treat coconut as a default add-in to desserts. “I always have sweets. I just trim them down,” Clegg says.

Baton Rouge’s healthful-cooking guru often finds herself falling back on a few staple desserts that combat cravings and impress a crowd for entertaining. She uses lighter options to produce more calorically sound sweets. Check out her top five. hollyclegg.com

Click on the name of each dessert for recipes and nutrition information.

Chocolate Italian cream cake“Anytime I make this for friends, they have to bring me a slice the next day. It’s the best.”

Pecan pie“During the holidays, I make the real thing, Crisco and all. But year-round, I use less sugar and butter. New research shows that pecans also pack the most antioxidants than any other nut.”

Peanut butter cookies “I always keep extras of these in the freezer. It’s a great cookie that is—surprisingly—in my diabetic cookbook.”

Banana éclair“This dessert combines fresh pureed and sliced bananas, a skim milk whipped filling and a dark chocolate sauce. It’s the one that gets me oohs and aahs at parties.”

White chocolate bundt cake“When I bake this in a bundt pan, I pour some batter into a mini loaf pan. That’s for me. Ninety-nine percent of the time I eat it hot, right out of the oven.”