The Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) diet is a therapeutic approach to nutrition that aims to eliminate inflammatory foods to manage autoimmune conditions, focusing on nutrient-dense, healing alternatives. It’s been widely used in conjunction with other treatments for autoimmune conditions to help minimize certain symptoms and improve quality of life.
It may sound challenging to find desserts that fit AIP requirements but are still tasty, as excessive consumption of added sugar is known to be pro-inflammatory.
If you’ve found yourself in this position, don’t worry — we’ve curated a list of 25 scrumptious AIP-compliant desserts that redefine satisfaction without pushing you overboard. Embrace the joy of guilt-free indulgence as we navigate the world of delightful treats crafted with wholesome ingredients that align with AIP principles.
Can I Eat Desserts on AIP?
Yes! You can enjoy desserts while adhering to the AIP diet by experimenting with other ingredients. AIP-friendly treats use nutrient-dense options like coconut flour, honey, and fruits, excluding inflammatory elements that may trigger symptoms.
After all, being on the AIP diet doesn’t mean you have to eliminate all of your favorite treats — it just means you have to make some creative substitutions. For the most part, you can start with a traditional dessert recipe you’re used to making and find alternatives that make it AIP-friendly.
AIP Dessert Ingredients to Avoid
When crafting desserts aligned with the AIP, it’s best to exclude certain ingredients, namely ones with a higher potential to trigger inflammation and disrupt the delicate balance of your immune system.
Note that not everyone with an autoimmune condition will have the same if any, symptoms related to specific ingredients on this list. It’s important to understand your personal autoimmune journey and identify your triggers as you go through the AIP.
Generally speaking, some of the dessert ingredients that are best avoided on AIP include:
- Grains, like wheat and oats, contain gluten, a common irritant for some (but not all) individuals with autoimmune conditions
- Dairy products, which are known allergens and may trigger symptoms for some
- Refined sugars, like table sugar, contribute to inflammation in large amounts
- Eggs, another common allergen restricted during the elimination phase of the AIP diet (but can be reintroduced later if you normally consume eggs)
- Nuts and seeds, because they are often high in compounds called lectins may be problematic for some individuals who have sensitive gut lining
By steering clear of these potential culprits, AIP desserts prioritize nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory alternatives to help satisfy cravings while supporting overall health.
Substitutions for AIP Desserts & Baking
Adhering to the AIP diet doesn't mean forgoing all of your favorite desserts. AIP-friendly ingredient substitutions provide a creative and satisfying way to replace non-compliant items without compromising on taste or texture.
Some of the best go-to substitutions when baking AIP-friendly desserts include:
- Coconut flour in place of traditional grain flour, brings a light, airy quality to baked goods
- Natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar replace refined sugars, offering sweetness without the inflammatory impact
- Gelatin or mashed fruits like bananas and applesauce can be used in place of eggs as effective binding agents in homemade recipes
- Coconut oil and avocado oil can replace dairy-based fats in recipes, ensuring a rich and moist consistency
- Vanilla and cinnamon make for excellent non-inflammatory flavoring ingredients without triggering sensitivities for most people
Embracing AIP-friendly substitutions like these not only caters to dietary restrictions but also enhances the nutritional profile of desserts. With a diverse array of ingredients at your disposal, creating AIP desserts can be really fun — so enjoy the opportunities to experiment and figure out what pleases your palate without triggering symptoms.
Sweetener Options for AIP Desserts
While most of us have become accustomed to using refined table sugars to make homemade desserts, the AIP diet requires the exploration of alternatives. When used in moderation (as all sweetening agents should be), several natural sweetener options can be AIP-friendly while also offering the sweetness you desire without compromising on your health goals.
Some examples of AIP-friendly sweetening agents include:
- Maple syrup, which has a bold and unique flavor that lends itself well to many recipes
- Honey, which may also offer antimicrobial properties depending on which one you choose
- Coconut sugar, which has similarities to brown sugar but is a lower-glycemic option, meaning it won’t cause such a dramatic spike in your blood sugar when consumed
For those seeking convenient baking solutions, AIP-compliant baking mixes can be game-changing when creating desserts at home. For example, some are made with a blend of cassava flour and coconut flour to provide a nice balance of flavor and texture in your recipes.
25 Tasty AIP Dessert Recipes
Now that we’ve covered some of the best sweetening agents to use, you’re probably ready for some easy AIP dessert recipe ideas. We’ve put together a list of 25 dessert recipes that can fit on an AIP diet while providing satisfaction for your sweet tooth.
1. Coconut Flour Banana Bread
This recipe is gut-friendly and grain-free, using coconut flour to help support digestion and offer a mild sweetness while curbing inflammation. It’s also a great way to use up any overripe bananas and repurpose them into an AIP-friendly treat.
2. Blueberry Lemon Muffins
Antioxidant-rich blueberries combat inflammation and are naturally sweet. This recipe utilizes a mixture of arrowroot flour and coconut flour, offering a delightful, grain-free AIP option.
3. Cinnamon Carrot Cake Bites
We love the use of anti-inflammatory spices like cinnamon wherever possible. Plus, this sweet little recipe uses nutrient-packed carrots to make for a satisfying AIP treat.
4. Flourless Sweet Potato Brownies
Sweet potatoes in brownies? You bet! Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet, nutrient-dense, and provide a creaminess that can’t be beaten in this dessert. They’re combined with pitted Medjool dates, coconut flour, raw cacao, and coconut oil.
5. Avocado Chocolate Mousse
Heart-healthy avocados provide a creamy texture and a fairly neutral taste, which is masked with cocoa powder and stevia to make this delightful AIP mousse.
6. Turmeric Ginger Cookies
These yummy bites are basically AIP gingersnap cookies. Reap the anti-inflammatory benefits from turmeric and ginger, blended with other AIP ingredients like maple or coconut sugar, cassava flour, and gelatin.
7. Pumpkin Spice Energy Balls
Enjoy the pumpkin spice obsession all year long with this recipe! A combination of cassava flour, coconut flour, monk fruit, pumpkin puree, seasonings, and collagen peptides for added protein make this an easy afternoon treat on the AIP diet.
8. Strawberry Coconut Panna Cotta
Panna cotta is traditionally a cold Italian custard, which has been made AIP-friendly with this recipe. This approach offers a dairy-free elegance plus the sweetness of strawberries, using ingredients like rhubarb, fresh ginger, and coconut milk.
9. Zucchini Bread
A traditional comfort food and lightly sweet treat, zucchini bread is made AIP-friendly in this recipe by using ingredients like cassava flour, coconut oil, cinnamon, and honey.
10. Mango Lime Ice Cream
Just because you’re on the AIP diet doesn’t disqualify you from ice cream. It just has to be made dairy-free, like this recipe, which uses coconut milk, honey, fresh mango and lime, and a bit of salt.
11. Cherry Vanilla Chia Pudding
This recipe incorporates antioxidant-rich cherries combined with nutrient-packed chia seeds for AIP-compliant nourishment and delight. It’s sweetened with maple syrup and uses a base of plant milk of your choice.
12. Coconut Lime Bars
This simple no-bake easy AIP dessert recipe is just what your heart desires. Find zesty coconut goodness in grain and dairy-free bars, ensuring an AIP-approved delight.
13. Apple Cinnamon Crisp
Who doesn’t love the combination of apple and cinnamon? This is a comforting dessert featuring gut-friendly apples and promoting AIP wellness. It uses coconut flour and is sweetened with maple syrup and cinnamon.
14. Coconut Matcha Protein Balls
Tigernut flour, matcha, protein powder, and coconut make for an energizing AIP snack with antioxidants for sustained vitality.
15. Rosemary Infused Pear Sorbet
This recipe only uses four ingredients: pears, water, rosemary, and honey. Put it all together and you’ve got yourself a creative, delicious, and refreshing AIP-friendly treat you can feel good about eating.
16. Crustless Pumpkin Pie Bites
This recipe uses eggs, so be aware of this if you’re in the beginning stages of AIP. It combines cinnamon, pumpkin puree, ginger, nutmeg, and honey to create the cutest and tastiest bite-sized pumpkin treats.
17. Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
This recipe uses eggs, so be aware of this if you’re in the beginning stages of AIP. It combines coconut flour, date or maple syrup, coconut oil, and lemon to create grain-free, dairy-free, and AIP-friendly muffins.
18. Bacon Chocolate Chunk Deep Dish Skillet Cookie
If the name of this recipe already has your mouth watering, you’re in for an AIP-friendly treat. Made in a deep dish skillet, it combines AIP ingredients like coconut flour, maple syrup, and carob chips. If you’re not in the mood for bacon, perhaps try some sliced Sea Salt Beef Chomps Sticks.
19. Mixed Berry Cookies
These are fun berry-rich cookies that are easy to make and can stand in for traditional dessert cookies or even be enjoyed for breakfast. They use tiger nut flour, coconut sugar, cassava flour, and coconut oil along with berries and a pinch of salt for an AIP-friendly treat.
20. Apple Pie Smoothie
Smoothies fit any time of day, whether it’s in the morning, afternoon, or as a dessert. This one blends apples, bananas, and coconut milk with seasonings to create a flavorful apple pie copycat in a glass.
21. Pineapple Ice Cream
This is a no-churn AIP-friendly ice cream that combines frozen pineapple chunks with coconut cream, salt, and optional fresh pineapple garnish.
22. Lemon, Ginger, and Honey Gummies
You read that right: gummies! This recipe leans on gelatin, ginger, honey, lemon juice, and water. The end result is some fun and wobbly treats that are surprisingly satisfying.
23. Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Ingredients for this delicious AIP dessert recipe include things like tiger nut flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, gelatin, maple syrup, and applesauce. This recipe is sure to satisfy a coffee cake craving creatively.
24. Cranberry Bliss Bars
These might just be a new go-to AIP copycat of your favorite coffeehouse version. They use honey, palm shortening, coconut, tiger nut flour, cinnamon, and dried cranberry among other AIP-friendly ingredients.
25. Chocolate Mug Cake
Mug cakes are so satisfying in that they’re super easy to make and just enough to fill your tummy. This recipe combines cassava and coconut flours with carob powder, banana, and coconut oil to create the most rich and delectable AIP chocolate cake in a cup.
Ready to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth with Our AIP Dessert Picks?
Even when adhering to an AIP diet, you can intertwine health-conscious choices with indulgence without triggering unwanted symptoms. There is a vast array of flavors and textures to be enjoyed by creating AIP desserts like the ones above.
While it can feel overwhelming to have to change your diet at first, we hope this provides some encouragement that following the AIP doesn’t have to mean ditching desserts. Ultimately, the AIP journey can become more than a dietary adjustment and perhaps a practice in mindfulness and understanding how certain ingredients affect your body.
So, whether you're savoring the creamy richness of avocado chocolate mousse or relishing the warmth of cinnamon carrot cake bites, AIP desserts have lots to offer in terms of flavor, health, and joy. We encourage you to experiment with AIP-friendly desserts and find what aligns with your goals, preferences, and lifestyle the best.
