Simplest and healthiest solution is to eat a piece of fruit.

"Healthy" and "dessert" don't exactly go together in my mind :-) To me, dessert is a baked something or other....pie, cobbler, cake, pot au creme, souffle or flan, etc. and few of those I would consider necessarily healthy or low sugar!! Fruit is my go-to 'refresher' or sweet after dinner as well but I don't really consider it a dessert. Otherwise, I like sorbets or gelato. Or if I get a rare chocolate craving, Sheila G's brownie brittle, which you can find at most grocery stores and keeps a long time in its foil pouch. Only 120 calories per serving!!

Dessert is a special occasion thing for us. We long ago gave up on having something sweet after a meal unless it was a special reason. There are sugar-free ice creams and cookies that might do in a pinch, if you are desperate.

I'd rather have a decadent treat a couple of times a month than add the calories to my day-to-day diet. One day we had lunch at a tavern that has really nice homemade coconut sheet cake. I decided that if we are ever there on a rainy Friday, we can have dessert. It's been months! And a small serving of real fruit, no added sugar or processed in any way, is lovely, but not a real 'dessert', at least to me.

If you re looking for something to serve to a diabetic guest once in a while, ask them what they would prefer.

Someone in another thread was looking for an alternative cookie, and I thought of Raincoast Crisps. They're just a little sweet, have nice crunch, one is satisfying, but there are four in a "portion". Recently, they started selling them in little packs of four as well. Even though they're meant to be crackers (and are good with cheese), I wouldn't be disappointed eating one instead of a cookie. (I'm another who rarely eats desserts.) They're "natural", as healthy as crackers/cookies get, and available at Whole Foods as well as some larger chains, and independent grocers.

Not low sugar, but small, are actual cookies and bite sized pastries, ice cream novelties, etc. The portion size on Trader Joe's ice cream bonbons is three, but one is enough. They're very satisfying for sugar, chocolate and ice cream cravings, and while one will fit in most mouths whole, they're good for 4-8 bites by the dainty.

Also, consider what balances your dinner. Unless you have specific issues that you're restricting intake of certain foods for, you might want to tailor your afters to what you've already eaten. If you've had a carb heavy meal, like pasta, for instance, fruit could be piling on more sugars with no relief. A small low sugar ice cream or cream puff might be a better option. If you've had a heavy meat meal, with plenty of fat, perhaps a more sugary dessert like a piece of fruit or cake might be better.

You can also just exert lots of portion control. You could buy a slice of pie, for instance, with the idea that it's dessert for the week, and keep well wrapped in the fridge or freeze half, so it won't get moldy. Even better if you can find a mini-pie and cut it into seven sections. Instant small dessert for one. If you can bake your own, even better because you can control the sugar content. Same for any kind of dessert you like. Give yourself permission to let it rot, rather than eating more of it than you want to, and go for it.

Do your desserts need to be low in sugar or low in added sugar? Are they for you, and can you modify your tastes, or are they for someone else whom you can't ask to change?

How sweet something tastes to a person depends on how much sugar they eat: the less sugar in one's diet, the sweeter any sweetening tastes. In my household our sweets tend to be lightly sweet, but might not taste sweet at all to another person.

A few ideas: a few strawberries, sliced and with a half teaspoon of sugar sprinkled over and left to sit for a little while, then serve with a spoonful or two of plain full fat yogurt. A sliced fresh ripe peach with yogurt, or a peach half, pitted, chilled, topped with chopped pecans. Baked apples: cut in half and core, fill the center with cherry preserves, and bake until tender. A couple of squares of 70% cocoa dark chocolate. Small servings are a problem, or I'd suggest ricotta cake, which is mild, and a small slice of which can be served with fresh fruit. I'd recommend a crisp, not-too-sweet cookie, made with a healthy fat, only I haven't found the recipe yet myself. A graham cracker, spread with a spoonful of peanut butter made of 100% peanuts, and sprinkled with unsweetened cocoa. If you can make or find a dessert with sufficient flavor and personality, a small amount of it will be satisfying. I like 'Pan Nero' from Dolores Casella's World of Breads, and James Beard's French Chocolate Cake from (I think) The New James Beard. The latter is truly rich, but you could freeze it and have it a little at a time, as you could the Pan Nero (actually something like a cake). Neither recipe is terribly difficult. Also biscotti, which are easy to make and last well and are fairly innocent sweets.

Some of these are quite caloric, but they tend to be nutritious, full of eggs and nuts, and the richer ones are best eaten in small amounts anyway. Of course plllog is right that you need to balance the dessert with the meal, and keep track of your total calories. I hope something in here will be helpful.

Baked apple. Only needs a teaspoon or two of sugar. Core the apple but leave the bottom skin intact, fill the cavity with a mix of sugar and cinnamon. Optionally you can add a dot of butter on top, but it's not necessary. Bake at 375 for 45 min to an hour, use a bain marie if baking several. You can serve it with a splash of milk or not.

ETA Oops, I see pllllog beat me to it, but personally I prefer a teaspoon of sugar to preserves and I don't think that much sugar is harmful.

This time of year, broiled peach halves are great. I use maybe a tsp of brown sugar on each half (or less, just so there is a thin layer of it to be broiled). Same goes for pears when the peaches are out of season.

I make baked apples with some low fat/low sugar granola in the cavity, along with some raisins if the granola doesn't contain them and a sprinkle of cinnamon. A little almond paste is also great inside a baked apple. Makes it seem a little decadent.

Full fat, no sugar yoghurt with a teaspoon of honey and some pieces of fresh fruit.

Dark Chocolate squares.

Dark chocolate covered almonds. The See's Candies ones are good and satisfying.

I think it helps when dessert has something more substantial to it like whole milk or nuts- keeps the cravings at bay for me.

A little almond paste is also great inside a baked apple.

Ooh, great idea, Olychick!

Banana lightly drizzled with chocolate sauce, topped with a few toasted nuts.

Or break a banana into chunks, freeze, then blend. Makes great ice cream.

Biscotti. Espresso optional.

These biscotti have very little sugar:

Fruit has always been my favorite dessert, and the less processing the better. I had two fig trees in Venice (where I lived for 15 years), and the fruit I got from them tasted like honey - almost too sweet for me. Figs are in season right now!

A small piece of 88-90% dark chocolate, some walnuts or almonds, some coconut if you like. Like eating a really high grade candy bar and extremely satisfying.

You can top a broiled peach half with a dollop of low fat sour cream or some low fat yogurt and then top with a little brown sugar. Mom used to make that for us with canned peaches when we wanted a little something sweet with a meal. But if you are seriously dieting, then just the peaches, no sugar or toppings. Peaches are my favorite fruit. I also occasionally do peaches with raspberry sauce this time of year when both are in season.

This is my first post on the cooking forum, though I've been a lurker. :-)

These are not recipes but a few ideas that can easily be adjusted to lighter versions:

Since baked apples were already suggested, pears poached in red wine could be an alternative (Bosc pears).

Compote with fresh fruit in summer or dried fruit in winter.

My favorite summer desert that is also low in calories is simply a fruit salad without any additives, just chopped seasonal fruit in rainbow colors. I let the mixed fruit sit in the fridge overnight to get lightly sweetened in their own natural juices.

And a very quick and surprisingly delicious: 1 cup cooked quinoa sweetened with 1-2 Tb maple syrup. Nice in autumn.