Sweet and high-calorie foods can contribute to weight gain; because they taste so good, it is easy to eat a lot of them. Most of these foods are unhealthy because they spike your blood sugar levels and do not provide essential nutrients. If you need to gain weight, nutrient-dense foods, such as those with healthy fats and essential vitamins and minerals, make healthier choices.
Baked Goods
Many kinds of baked goods are sweet and high in calories from sugars, starches and fats. Examples include cookies, cakes, pies, cobblers, sweet rolls, muffins, doughnuts and fruit breads, such as banana or pumpkin bread. Homemade baked goods may be high in saturated fats if you make them with butter, and packaged or other commercial baked goods may have trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils. Healthier options may contain vegetable oil instead of butter, and whole wheat instead of refined white flour.
Dairy Desserts
Dairy desserts are sweet and high in calories, and it is easy to eat large servings of them if you are trying to gain weight. Puddings, custards, ice cream and frozen yogurt all have added sugars as well as natural sugars from milk. They may provide some calcium, which is essential for strong bones, but they may be high in saturated fat and cholesterol from whole milk. Reduced-fat and fat-free dairy choices are still high in calories, but are healthier.
Candy
Hard candies, lollipops, toffee and fruit-flavored chewy candies may be made mostly from sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup or invert sugar, according to MedlinePlus. Some candies, such as caramels, fudge, chocolates and peanut brittle, may be high-calorie because of high sugar and saturated fat content from butter or cocoa butter. Most candy has very little nutritive value, but choices with nuts or peanuts are slightly healthier because they have heart-healthy fats.
Shakes
Shakes are sweet and can be very high in calories. They can promote weight gain because they provide liquid calories, which are less filling than calories from solid food, according to MayoClinic.com. Healthier shakes may have nutrient-dense ingredients such as milk or yogurt, fruit and artificial sweeteners, but other possible ingredients for sweet, high-calorie shakes are soft drinks, such as cola or root beer, ice cream and chocolate or strawberry syrup.
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