Picture this: you just got home after a long day of work, school, or both, and all you want to do is plop down onto the couch, watch some Netflix, and eat something chocolaty, sweet, and delicious. Problem is, you’re already exhausted; cooking and cleaning for hours is the last thing you want to do.
What you really want is something quick and easy…and you want to eat healthier. If only there was a 5-minute healthy chocolate dessert recipe to fulfill your cravings for sweet chocolaty goodness, health, and a lazy night in!
That was my exact thought process just a week ago. I spent a good amount of time pouting about it, until I remembered the wonders of the internet and began my search. Granted, in the time it took me to search for these recipes, I could have cooked a full 7-course meal. But now that I searched hours to find the best ones, you don’t have to! I picked out three of the most unique healthy chocolate recipes I could find, all of which claimed to take only 5 minutes or less.
Here are the three, 5-minute healthy chocolate dessert recipes I found:
1. Silken Tofu Chocolate Mousse
2. Healthy Chocolate Milkshake
3. Healthy Paleo Microwave Brownie in a Mug
Silken Tofu Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
Instructions
Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring each time, until the chocolate is melted. Set aside to cool at room temperature.
Meanwhile, place the silken tofu and maple syrup in a food processor and blend until very smooth. Add the melted chocolate and blend until well combined.
To serve, garnish with chocolate shavings, raspberries, blackberries and a sprig of fresh mint.
Healthy Chocolate Milkshake
Ingredients
Instructions
Place the ingredients in the blender in the order listed. (Note: Liquids should normally go first in a blender, but I add the maple syrup later so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.)
Process the mixture until smooth. If it’s too thick for your blender to run properly, add just a little bit more coconut milk.
Divide into 2 glasses and serve.
Healthy Paleo Microwave Brownie in a Mug
Ingredients
Instructions
Grease a small ramekin or mug, set aside.
In a small glass measuring cup, melt together the almond butter and coconut oil, stir until smooth. Add almond milk and vanilla extract and stir until combined.
Add coconut sugar, cocoa powder, almond flour, sea salt and baking powder, stir until completely combined and there are no lumps. And mix in the mini chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared ramekin or mug. Place in microwave and cook for 1 minute. Remove and let sit until cooled.
The Making of the Recipes
If you’ve ever cooked anything in your life, I’m sure you’re doing the math right about now: making a dessert in 5 minutes? Sounds suspicious. I thought so, too. In fact, I was almost certain it couldn’t be done. Sometimes it takes me 5 minutes to find a spoon, let alone make a dessert. I just had to know if these were truly possible.
I set out to make each of these three recipes to discover if:
1. They actually only took 5 minutes to make
2. They actually were “healthy”
3. They actually tasted good.
As seen in the video, making any recipe, even with as little as 3 ingredients, was difficult to complete in only 5 minutes.
Making the Silken Tofu Chocolate Mousse
The Silken Tofu Chocolate Mousse was possibly the easiest of the three healthy chocolate dessert recipes to make. The ingredients included: dark chocolate, tofu, and maple syrup. Excluding the maple syrup, research suggests that both dark chocolate and tofu have potential health benefits in moderation. This, led me to believe that this recipe was actually quite healthy. Now I set out to make it. Because there were only 3 ingredients that could be blended together, it took me less than 5 minutes to make. I was surprised, but still nervous. This was supposedly the easiest to make. That meant that I needed to move quicker to achieve the same timely success in the next two recipes.
In terms of the taste, I was a bit worried. I am not tofu’s biggest fan. In fact, I tend to avoid it as much as possible. But, when I tried this recipe, as seen in the video, the Silken Tofu Chocolate Mousse was actually incredibly delicious. It was rich, chocolaty, thick, and creamy. I loved it.
So, the Silken Tofu Chocolate Mousse recipe was approved. It was healthy, delicious, and absolutely can be made in 5 minutes. I gave this recipe a 5 out of 5 star rating.
Making the Healthy Chocolate Milkshake
The Healthy Chocolate Milkshake was definitely a step up from the previous recipe. It included a larger selection of ingredients that required a bit more preparation. Again, in moderation, most of the ingredients can be labeled healthy, excluding the maple syrup again. The coconut milk does, however contain high levels of saturated fat, which can increase cholesterol. But it is a significantly healthier option than the alternatives, such as full-fat cow’s milk, used in most traditional milkshake recipes. Also, because there were double the amount of ingredients as the previous recipe, the ingredients took much longer to measure one-by-one. Selecting measuring spoons and cups created a bit of confusion. However, because the ingredients could all be thrown together into the blender, the recipe was finished in less than 5 minutes.
Next, it was time for the taste test. This Healthy Chocolate Milkshake was excellent. Each individual ingredient stood strongly on its own, yet blended so well together. I could taste each one: the banana, the peanut butter, the coconut milk, and the cocoa powder. And all together the recipe tasted smooth, sweet, creamy, chocolaty and delicious. I wanted to drink the whole milkshake, but I had to move on to the next recipe.
So, the Healthy Chocolate Milkshake recipe was also approved. Healthy in moderation, of course, delicious on a whole range of flavors, and can be made in less than 5 minutes (if you don’t consider freezing the banana overnight). As stated within the video, I also gave this recipe 5 out of 5 stars.
Making the Healthy Paleo Microwave Brownie in a Mug
This recipe gave me a run for my money. The Healthy Paleo Microwave Brownie in a Mug was possibly the most rushed 5 minutes I’ve had in a long time. The recipe included 10 ingredients that all needed to be measured by tablespoon or teaspoon measures to create one serving. All of the ingredients were exceptionally healthy. To sweeten the mixture, coconut sugar was used instead of the typical, highly-refined white sugar used in most dessert recipes. Coconut sugar has a lower rating on the glycemic index scale. This means that the increase in blood sugar following consumption will be much slower compared to regular white sugar. On top of this, almond flour was used instead of the general refined and bleached flours used in most baked goods. Therefore, the recipe was even considered gluten free and contained the added omega-3 fatty acids found in almonds that are beneficial for brain function. In other words, this recipe was super healthy, especially for a chocolate dessert.
However, there were so many elements and steps to be followed. And the hardest part of all was reading the instructions and having to find the corresponding measures for each ingredient in seconds. I tried my best to complete all of the tasks within the 5 minutes. Still, there were far too many measurements and steps. I couldn’t keep up! On top of everything, I had forgotten that I still needed to cook the mixture in the microwave for a whole minute! So, not surprisingly, I failed. I could not complete the recipe in 5 minutes…I was disappointed, but it made for a good laugh afterwards.
Finally, for the tasting. I wasn’t too excited for this one. From the video, you can see that the appearance was very much unlike the image shown on the website. In reality, it appeared much more like a mushy, brown loaf. Still, I gave it a chance, and tried it out. To my delight, the finished product tasted great. It did not taste or have the same consistency of a brownie, but it was the perfect healthy replacement for a chocolate cake. It was fluffy, chocolaty, and the chocolate chips provided pockets of condensed portions of chocolate for an even more intense chocolate flavor. This recipe would be even better with some vegan ice cream or whipped cream on top.
So, the Healthy Paleo Microwave Brownie in a Mug was a partial success. It was definitely healthy and it did taste pretty great. But I could not be make it in 5 minutes or less. It took me at least 6 minutes. But maybe you can make it in time if you give it a try. It’s definitely worth it. I gave this recipe 4 out of 5 stars. Maybe if I hadn’t stressed out so much from making it, it would have given it a few more points.
Final Review
Even though it was a bit of a struggle along the way, I absolutely recommend all three of these recipes. They certainly satisfy that chocolaty sweet-tooth craving and they don’t break the healthy bank. The 5 minute or less description is a bit questionable… but if you’re in the mood for a great laugh, 5 minutes to make each of these 5 minute healthy chocolate desserts is all you need.
