I love fall. Everything about it, the atmosphere, the weather, the movies, and most importantly, the food. I like to keep some balance with what I eat so I have included “cheats” which are versions of your favorite fall foods but with less calories or more whole ingredients. The treat versions are your basic, full calorie, delicious treats we all know and love.

Some of these recipes are from TikTok or other sources and some are fully my own. I will link each recipe that is not my own creation and tell you my thoughts on them!

Healthy Treats

50 calorie crustless pumpkin pie (TikTok user shannhebert)

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup oat flour
• 1/3 cup of sweetener (honey, sugar, monkfruit)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 can pureed pumpkin
• 1 cup un-sweetend coconut milk
• 1 tbs flax seeds

Baking:

• combine all ingredients together into one bowl
• mix
• pour into a greased pie pan
• bake at 400 for 35-40 minutes
• top with your favorite whipped cream

This ingredient is vegan and diet friendly! It’s so good and if you’re a big pie crust lover like most people are, you can put the mixture into a pre-made pie crust, it’s still healthier than average pumpkin pie!

Here is the link to the original video: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJDwU84c/

Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte

Ingredients:

• 10 oz cold brew or black coffee
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 oz sugar free Jordans Skinny Syrup vanilla or pumpkin spice flavor
• 1 oz Silk brand pumpkin spice almond milk creamer

How to:

• put coffee into a mug or cup with ice
• combine creamer and syrup into a separate cup and froth with a hand mixer
• add the pumpkin cold foam to the coffee and top with pumpkin pie spice

This one is so easy but many people don’t realize how many calories are actually in your morning coffee! This is a way to get into the spirit of the season without going overboard on calories first thing in the morning!

Pumpkin Pie Mug Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 scoop Level-1 (1stphorm has the best protein and I use the pumpkin spice flavor)

• 1/4 cup milk of choice

• 1/4 tsp baking powder

• 1 egg

How to:

• combine all ingredients in a mug
• mix really well
• microwave for 1-1:30 minutes
• top with whatever you want!

I got this recipe from my personal trainer @madeline_silvestri on Instagram so go check her out!

Spooky Cheats (My favorite section)

Ghost Cookie Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• Pillsbury ghost sugar cookies
• Vanilla Icing (homemade or store bought, no judgement)
• food coloring
• Halloween themes sprinkles

How to:

• bake the cookies as the package says
• while they bake, add orange or green food coloring to a pot of vanilla icing, combine
• put sprinkles on a plate
• add icing to a ziplock bag to become a piping bag, cut the tip
• once the cookies cool, add icing to one cookie and sandwich between another one
• once you have all 12 sandwiches, roll the edges along the sprinkles
• Ta-da! you have an upgraded classic!

Tasty Autumn Pasta (recipe from Simplyrecipes)

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash weighing about 2 1/2 pounds
• 1 pound pasta
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup of chopped shallots or onions
• 1/4 cup of packed, freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
• 1/8 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, for garnish
• 1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
• Pepper to taste
• Water as needed to thin the sauce, about 1 cup

How to:

• 1 Bake the butternut squash: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the butternut squash lengthwise in half and scoop out the guts and seeds and discard them (or save the seeds and toast them).

• Pour 1/4 cup of water into a baking dish and place the butternut squash halves cut side down.

• Bake for 40 minutes or until a fork easily pierces the squash. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.

• Scoop out the squash flesh from the skins and put into a blender. Discard the skins.

• 2 Sauté the shallots in the olive oil over medium heat in a small skillet until just beginning to brown, about 2-3 minutes.

• 3 Purée in blender: Add the shallots to the blender. Add 1 cup water, the parmesan, 1 teaspoons salt and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and blend until smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed. If the sauce is too thick, thin it with a little more water.

• 4 Add sour cream and heat until warm: Pour the sauce into a small pot set over low heat. Mix in the sour cream and warm it through. Do not let the sauce boil.

• 5 Cook pasta in boiling salted water: Fill a pot with water and salt (1 tablespoon of salt for every 2 quarts of water). Set over high heat to bring to a hard boil. Add the pasta and cook at a hard boil, uncovered until al dente.

• 6 Mix cooked pasta with sauce: When the pasta is ready, drain and put it into a bowl. Mix with a little of the sauce and serve. Add a dollop of additional sauce and some parsley right when you bring it to the table.

Here is the link to the original post: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pasta_with_butternut_parmesan_sauce/

This pasta is so good and has exactly what you want in a fall dish. Once again, this recipe is not my own but I wanted to share will all of you my favorite dish!

Happy cooking! I hope you all enjoy these recipes as much as I do!