#115: Guilt Free Desserts

Babycakes Carrot Cupcake

This is why I love L.A.. It's got smog and stressful driving and all kinds of other stuff that's bad for your health, but when it comes to healthy eating, this city comes out on top. And leave it to L.A. to offer some of the best guilt free desserts in the country.

(You can lower that skeptically raised eyebrow now)

Trust me. At worst, these guilt free desserts taste like the real thing. At their best, they are so uncontrollably good that I can eat them all day (and presumably not get fat, right?) :)

So here are my picks for the all out best guilt-free desserts in town...

Babycakes in Downtown L.A. This is the mother of all guilt free bakeries. Most of their products are gluten/sugar/soy/dairy free. Yes, all of those. They use gluten free flour and sweeten everything with agave. Furthermore, instead of using butter, they use coconut oil. (Yes!!!) That's their carrot cupcake shown above. So pretty. My favorite, though, has to be the chocolate on chocolate cupcake. Out of this world good. Coming a close second are their chocolate chip cookies, doughnuts and carrot cupcake. Be sure to eat the cupcakes right when you get them so that they stay moist. Also, just a warning-- street parking's a little tough in DTLA, but there are plenty of paid lots.

Babycakes small brownie

Babycakes chocolate chip cookies

Babycakes banana bread

Raw Food Desserts: Juliano's Raw, Euphoria Loves Rawvolution, and Cru have the best raw desserts, IMO. You can also get them from the Santa Monica Coop or Whole Foods if you don't feel like dining out just for dessert. These desserts have no wheat or sugar in them. Instead, they're sweetened with agave or honey and are made mostly of fruit and nuts and coconut oil.

Little raw chocolates from Euphoria Loves Rawvolution

M Cafe de Chaya: This macrobiotic cafe has got the best desserts! Their carrot cake and cupcakes--especially the pistachio cupcakes--are so good. They are technically sugar free, and are sweetened with evaporated cane juice and perhaps agave.

Pistachio cupcake from M Cafe

The Sensitive Baker: This place is in Culver City and is heaven for those who are sensitive to wheat. All of their products are gluten free! They use evaporated cane juice instead of sugar, and an Earth Balance oil product instead of butter. In addition to killer brownies and cookies, they've got some crave worthy bread sticks.

Zen Bakery: They distribute through Trader Joes and Whole Foods, but they've also got their own little shop on Pico in West L.A.. Zen bakery specializes in sugar and dairy free whole wheat or bran muffins. The muffins are sweetened with fruit juice and contain canola oil instead of butter.