If you plan on following a low-carb diet to drop a few unwanted extra pounds, improve your health or better manage your diabetes, aim for a carbohydrate intake of between 50 and 150 g a day -- although some people keep their carbohydrate intake as low as 20 g a day. Following a low-carb diet is a way to get rid of cravings for sweets and desserts, but you may need a little treat that is suitable for your new lifestyle once in a while. It's encouraging to know that some popular low-carb desserts each provide less than 15 g of carbohydrate per serving.
Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate, with a minimum of 70 percent cocoa, is the easiest and most popular dessert for those following the low-carb approach. Two to three squares, or 20 to 30 g, of dark chocolate provides approximately 120 to 179 calories, 9.2 to 13.8 g of carbohydrate and 2.2 to 3.3 g of fiber. You can also melt dark chocolate and use it to dip a few strawberries. Each medium strawberry contains about 4 calories, 0.9 g of carbohydrate and 0.2 g of fiber.
Cottage Cheese With Raspberries
Berries in general are the fruit with the lowest carbohydrate content, and the raspberry is the low-carb fruit winner along with blackberries. For a simple low-carb treat, mix 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with 1/2 cup of raspberries and your favorite hypocalorie sweetener. Mix it in a food processor for a smoother version. This recipe provides 134 calories, 11.5 g of carbohydrate and 4 g of fiber.
Mousse
A low-carb mousse only requires a few quality ingredients: heavy cream, sugar-free sweetener and your favorite dark chocolate or a few berries. When preparing a chocolate mousse, melt dark chocolate in some hot cream and let it cool. If you want a berry mousse, mix a bit of berry puree with some heavy cream. Then, all you have to do is whip heavy cream along with your favorite low-carb sweetener until you get soft peaks. Gently incorporate either the cooled chocolate or the berry mixture and beat until you get stiff peaks. Put in clear glasses and chill for a few hours before serving. You can also layer chocolate mousse with berry mousse in a transparent glass for a very elegant low-carb dessert. A 1/2-cup serving of chocolate mousse provides approximately 250 calories, 6.8 g of carbohydrate and 2.3 g of fiber.
Cheesecake
Cheesecake constitutes an easily modifiable dessert that you can concert into a low-carb treat in a cinch. For the crust, use ground nuts, such as almond or pecan meal. Instead of sugar, use a sugar-free sweetener. Then, for the filling, simply replace the sugar with your favorite hypocalorie sweetener, follow the rest of the recipe, and you will get a delicious low-carb cheesecake. Depending on the portion size, a slice will provide you with 5 to 15 g of carbohydrate.
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