Healthy Fruit Dessert Recipes That Still Feel Indulgent

We love serving fruit every which way for dessert. Depending on the season and your mood, it's delicious grilled, chilled in an icy shake, or baked in a warm pastry shell, just to name a few. Here are our favorite fruit-filled desserts.

Blueberry-Ricotta Tart

Ground almonds in this tart's crust add heart-healthy omega-3s while honey and brown sugar sweeten the filling.

We love this cool, slightly boozy dessert that combines fresh and frozen strawberries with ice, almonds, sugar, milk, and a splash of amaretto. Try it with raspberries, blackberries, or peaches next!

Dessert couldn't be simpler: Take a small bowl of cherries and coat each one with a bit of luscious, melted dark chocolate.

This dish goes great with a dollop of yogurt or ice cream.

This drink makes a nutritious dessert for milkshake lovers -- especially once you swirl in fresh fruit.

Sweet cherries dot light, flaky phyllo dough dusted with sugar and cinnamon in this virtuous dessert.

Want a macaroon or a piece of tart? Shredded coconut paired with a sweet filling in this dish deliver the best aspects of both.

Blackberries mix with raspberries and strawberries in this dessert. Ricotta holds them in place and provides a wonderfully creamy texture.

Since you can make the lemon cream in advance, this is a great dessert for entertaining. Blackberries and lemon juice provide most of the flavor while the silken tofu makes the dish silky smooth.

The humble, healthful banana is elevated to elegant heights when sugared and fanned out atop lightly spiced ricotta.

Watermelon is aptly named: About 92 percent of the cool fruit is water. But the melon packs a nutritional punch; it contains L-citrulline, which the body converts into an amino acid essential to vascular health.

A little ginger -- a powerful anti-inflammatory and digestion aid -- goes a long way in this dessert. Combining dates and apples makes for a sweet dose of fiber.

Don't let strawberries have all the fun: A blueberry shortcake makes the perfect dessert.

The mellowed acidity of aged balsamic vinegar pairs perfectly with the sugary sweetness of strawberries. For a special presentation, garnish with wild strawberries.

If peaches are in season, pair them with this crust of light flaky dough, but if not, try it with any fruit you wish. The pastries are a perfect end to any summer meal.

This quick and easy salad can be served as a side dish at a barbecue or dessert at a luncheon.

This recipe calls for apricots, but peaches, plums, and nectarines roast beautifully, too. Traditional dulce de leche is full of fat, but this slimmed-down version is a great alternative to heavy cream.

Layered and light, the tiers of this cake call for cholesterol-free egg whites and skim milk.

A sorbet of frozen fruit can be supremely satisfying when cravings strike.

As delicious as a bowl of just-picked strawberries are for dessert, tossing them in a simple vanilla syrup sweetened with fruit juice and a little sugar is a wonderful, quick way to make them special.

Paper-thin crepes are improved upon healthwise with blackberries; this fruit is among the most fiber-rich you'll find and is a good source of vitamin C.

Plantains aren't meant for eating right out of the peel, but they are transformed into a gently sweet dessert when caramelized.

Individual fruit puddings made with guava juice, a good source of lycopene, are topped with yogurt and heart-healthy almonds.

Vitamins A and C found in peaches and apricots take the cake in this sweet after-dinner treat.

This gelatin recipe is almost as easy to make as the from-the-box variety but is more sophisticated and nutritious.

Juicy nectarines imbue the glace with the most unbelievable color. Find the very ripest nectarines for this gorgeous dessert.

Take a classic summer drink and make it a perfect ending to a late summer meal.

Instead of ice cream, serve bowls of beta-carotene-rich chilled cantaloupe soup with tarragon syrup.

Halved and pressed into a fragrant mix of candied ginger and toasted nuts, seared apples are a sophisticated (and far healthier) version of those sticky, sweet candied apples from childhood.

Try to find a variety of dried fruits for this dessert. Dried plums work especially well.

For the most visually rewarding presentation, layer the parfaits in clear glasses.

This gelee replaces gelatin with agar, a natural setting agent made from seaweed.

Kanten, also called agar-agar, is a vegetable gelatin. This is a great palate refresher.

Juicy, ripe peaches star in this easy-to-make dessert, but you can also substitute other stone fruits such as nectarines or plums -- or even combine several.

Is it a cocktail or a dessert? This easy dish of cubed watermelon with a bit of Campari lets you have it both ways. Add it to a menu of light sandwiches and red-cabbage coleslaw.

Scoops of sorbet made with red papaya and a zingy dose of freshly squeezed lime juice pack plenty of antioxidant power in the form of lycopene and vitamin C.

Spare, cool melon and pineapple prepared sushi-style is a graceful finish to a simple, elegant meal.

Summer melons serve as enticing dishes for this sweet-tart black-currant gelatin infused with a hint of mint.