Recipes for a Coffee Morning

Whether you’re hosting a coffee morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer on 30th September, or throwing any kind of gathering that involves putting the kettle on, cakes are a must! 

When you’re counting calories or following a diet plan like Weight Watchers you might think you need to skip the baked goods in order to stay on track. Lucky for you, we’ve got a whole selection of tasty sweet treats that are lower in calories, without losing out on any of the flavour. 

So roll up your sleeves, tie your apron strings and grab a wooden spoon…it’s time to get baking!

Coffee-infused treats

What goes better with your cup of coffee than a coffee-flavoured treat? You can’t go wrong with a chocolate and coffee combo, which is why tiramisu is a dessert that’s adored across the world. 

Our slimming-friendly twist on this classic inspired us to come up with our irresistible Tiramisu Swiss Roll – and a slice is just what you need with your cuppa! Despite being easy to make (and ready in under half an hour) it looks impressive enough to wow the guests at your coffee morning. 

For just 102 calories per slice, you’ll be obsessed with the rich chocolate cake, creamy mascarpone filling and deliciously bitter coffee drizzle. Time to put the kettle on!

If you want to make sure all the chocoholics in the room are happy, you’ll need to dish up slices of this Chocolate Mud Pie. You might not think it needs caffeine, but a shot of good coffee really ramps up the chocolatey flavour. 

There’s no biscuit base to this pie, which really helps to cut down on calories. Instead, we’ve added a toasted oat topping that makes sure you get a satisfying crunch with every mouthful. This one is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser!

Your coffee morning needs plenty of caffeine on hand, and there’s no doubt this Pumpkin Spiced Latte will be a popular addition to the menu. Why wait all year for it to be PSL season, when you can make this any time?

We’ve skipped the sugary syrups, instead opting for a homemade pumpkin puree that infuses the drink with real pumpkin flavour. Making your own version puts you completely in control of how sweet your latte turns out, and you can add more or less spice to suit your tastes too. 

Classic cakes

There are certain cakes that stand the test of time; much-loved classics that always go down a treat. It’s tough to find anyone who isn’t a fan of a lovely Lemon Drizzle Cake, and the good news is that our low-calorie version is a slimming-friendly dream. 

For just 73 calories per slice, bite into a light, fluffy sponge, full of those sweet, zesty citrus flavours. A loaf cake is such a handy option for a coffee morning – it’s fuss-free to make, easy to transport and slices up perfectly for sharing. 

Just remember to be careful with your whisked egg whites when you make this one. They need to be folded into the other ingredients nice and gently, keeping as much air in the mixture as possible. 

Speaking of loaf cakes, we’ll have a slice of this Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips with our cuppa please! A banana bread is always handy for using up old bananas, but lots of recipes also call for mountains of sugar and butter. 

Our lighter version keeps all the flavour and texture, without the calories. Plus, we’ve included a handful of chocolate chips, because chocolate makes everything better! It’s ready in less than an hour, which is perfect if you want to make it first thing before heading to your coffee morning. 

Cupcakes don’t come much more tempting than these Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. Our lightly spiced carrot cake batter is made using porridge oats instead of flour, which gives the cakes a really nice texture, and it makes them more filling too! 

The cream cheese topping is made by mixing quark, sweetener and vanilla extract together, before dolloping it on top of each little cake. You won’t believe these are only 57 calories each. One thing’s for sure – there won’t be any left over when the coffee morning ends!

Traybakes and tarts

When you’re serving sweet treats to a crowd, you’ll need simple recipes that are easy to slice and share. A traybake is the ideal solution, and you can make them in so many different flavours!

We’ve combined two of our favourite ever desserts to make this Millionaire’s Cheesecake, and we think we’ve created something really special (if we do say so ourselves!). With a layer of golden shortbread, sticky caramel and a creamy cheesecake topping, there are so many things to love about this recipe. 

We’ve even mixed chewy bits of toffee and a few chocolate chips into the cheesecake layer to give the finished treat some extra texture. You’ll want to make this the day before your coffee morning to give it time to set in the fridge overnight, but it’s well worth the wait. 

A bake with big flavour, this Lemon Sponge Traybake has got to be one of the easiest and tastiest cake recipes going. Who can resist a light fluffy sponge with a zingy lemon curd topping? At 77 calories per square, you don’t need to resist!

You only need a handful of simple, homely ingredients to make this recipe, and a spare 35 minutes to throw it together. Finished with delicate pieces of fresh lemon on top, it’ll really look the part when you put it out with all the other baked goodies up for grabs. 

If you’re more of a pastry person than a cake person, save yourself a slice of this Peach and Blueberry Tart. It’s so lovely and light, and it’s loaded with the moreish flavours of peaches and cream.

We’ve used ready-rolled light puff pastry for the flaky pastry base – it saves so much time, effort and calories! It gets smothered in sweetened cream cheese and then it’s time to add your fresh fruit. Juicy blueberries and slithers of fresh peach give this treat such a beautiful taste; and they look so pretty too!

Biscoff bakes

There’s one ingredient that we still can’t get enough of: Biscoff! The popular biscuit-inspired spread is a hit time and time again when it comes to making cakes, bakes and other sweet snacks. 

The lightly spiced caramel flavour is so delicious that it can turn the simplest ingredients into unmissable treats. In fact, this Biscoff Swirls recipe only needs 3 ingredients – and one of them is the Biscoff spread. 

Perfect with a cuppa, the baked pastry swirls are so simple to make, with a malty flavour that’ll have you reaching for a second helping (go on…they’re only 89 calories!). 

You’ll have to be quick if you want to get your hands on one of these Biscoff Blondies. We predict they’ll be gone in a flash at your next coffee morning. We’ve used an unexpected ingredient to help to make them so incredibly moist. 

They have a delicious, caramelly, biscuit flavour and are full of white chocolate chunks to make them extra special. Finished with a drizzle of melted Biscoff spread, you’d never guess that they’re so slimming friendly!

This recipe is only available in our Comfort Food cookbook. You can pick up a copy here if you don’t have one already. 

This one is a bit of a showstopper…our Biscoff Cheesecake has been super popular on our Facebook group and it’s not hard to see why! This is a proper cheesecake, with a Biscoff biscuit base and a thick, creamy cheesecake filling. 

You’d never guess that we’ve made a few healthy swaps to keep the calories down with this recipe. It tastes just as impressive as it looks, so it’s ideal when you want to bring the ‘wow’ factor! Biscoff biscuits were made for pairing with coffee, so get brewing the perfect cuppa to enjoy on the side. 

Find out more about hosting a Macmillan Cancer morning and how to donate on their website here.

Are you planning a slimming friendly coffee morning?

We’d love to hear all about it! Pop across to our Facebook group and tell us what’s on the menu. 

Plus, why not see if you can spot any tasty-looking cakes and bakes in our Gallery? If you need a little inspiration, you can scroll through what everyone else has been cooking lately (it all looks SO good!).