Tiramisu With Yogurt & Homemade Lady Fingers (No Raw Eggs)

So you want to make a healthy tiramisu with yogurt, one that’s also truly delicious, because what’s the point of dessert if it doesn’t taste amazing?

Ciao friend, I’m Alessia, the writer and founder behind Italy with an Italian.

Today, I’m sharing my go-to recipe for a lighter tiramisu made with Greek yogurt and no eggs.

It’s simple, lower in calories, and incredibly easy and quick to make – one of those desserts you’ll come back to again and again.

And if you want to go the extra mile, you can even try making your own ladyfingers. I’m also sharing my experience and the key mistakes to avoid when trying them for the first time.

What’s So Special About My Healthy Tiramisu With Yogurt

I have already hinted to the fact that this recipe is amazing, but here is exactly why, so you know what to expect before you proceed with making this recipe.

1. It’s Eggless: Do you get the ick when you use eggs? I do, and I know many other people do too. Maybe, you are completely fine with cooking with them, but wouldn’t dream of eating them raw. And that’s what the classic tiramisu involves. Perhaps, you are actually intolerant to eggs and can’t eat them. Either way this recipe has no eggs!
   
2. It’s Half the Calories: A large portion of my tiramisu recipe has around 300 calories, while the classic tiramisu has nearly double that. This is gold! Not only you can enjoy more tiramisu, you can also eat it more often, without worrying about it being unhealthy. Of course, do keep in mind this recipe uses lady fingers, but there’s a healthier alternative to that. I will share more in a minute.

3. It’s High in Protein: Even though we are not using the two classic tiramisu ingredients, we are still getting more protein. And that’s because of the type of Greek yogurt.
   
4. It Lasts Longer: Because there are no eggs, this tiramisu is safer to be stored and enjoyed over the next few days. I personally wouldn’t do that if it had the raw eggs.
   
5. It’s Super Versatile: Once you try and love this recipe, you can use it to make all the yogurt tiramisu flavors you’d like. Later, I’ll show you an alternative for those who don’t drink coffee.

Ingredients For This Eggless Tiramisu Recipe

You already know we are not using eggs, and that we are using yogurt, but you might be curious as to which other ingredients you will be needing. Let me quickly tell you.

Greek Yogurt: That’s why this healthy tiramisu recipe is so high in protein and filling. For that same reason, it makes a great guilt-free treat, but it could also be a good breakfast option. I usually use vegan greek yogurt, because I am intolerant to dairy. However, this time I made it with the regular one and my husband loved it.

Coffee: If there’s one ingredient we must retain from the original tiramisu recipe it must be coffee. That’s especially important since I am sharing the healthy version of classic tiramisu. You might be shocked when I tell you that my favorite tiramisu flavor has no coffee! So if you don’t like, or can’t drink coffee, you can still use this recipe without it. I will share how in the variations section.

Lady Fingers: The second must-have ingredient we are retaining from the classic recipe, and actually a more essential one than coffee, is the classic tiramisu cookies. We can’t make a proper tiramisu without them. 

Are store bought lady fingers really that healthy, though? I have my doubts about that, but I guess it’s ok if you treat this tiramisu as an occasional treat. However, if you plan on having it nearly every day, or multiple times a week, you might look into a less-processed and less sugary option.

That’s why I am attempting to make my own lady fingers in this recipe. You will find the recipe further down on this page.

Vanilla essence: The original recipe doesn’t use this, but I like to mix a pinch of vanilla with my greek yogurt. You could also add a little espresso too, if you’d like to intensify the coffee flavor.

Coconut Sugar: The coconut sugar goes into the greek yogurt. It’s a healthier option than white sugar, and even brown sugar. Did you know that brown sugar is not healthier than white sugar?

Milk: If you like your tiramisu strong, you won’t need this. However, I use it to mix it with the coffee and get more of a cappuccino taste. You’ll appreciate this tip if coffee makes you jittery, or gives you indigestion.

Chocolate: The original recipe calls for cocoa powder, but I prefer using grated dark chocolate. You can choose whichever you prefer.

Those are all the ingredients we need to make this healthy tiramisu recipe with yogurt and no eggs and mascarpone.

Exact Quantities (makes a large dish):

• 1 kg Greek Yogurt
• 25 to 28 lady fingers
• 250 ml espresso (strong coffee flavor) or 50 ml (for a lighter version)
• 1 cup milk to mix with the espresso (for a lighter coffee flavor)
• 60 to 75 gr coconut sugar (depending how sweet you want it)
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence (adjust it depending on the strength of your essence)
• Dark chocolate (or milk chocolate) or cocoa powder for dusting

If you want to do individual portions, you’ll need about one fourth of the ingredients above for a large portion.

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Equipment:

• 2 bowls
• 1 casserole for your tiramisu (similar to this; makes 6 to 8 portions)
• 2 tablespoons
• 2 teaspoons
• A sifter or a grater (depending on which chocolate option you choose)

How To Make The Healthy Tiramisu Recipe

1. Start by making your espresso. If you don’t have an Italian moka pot, you can buy one at a coffee shop. Just ask for a regular espresso with no sugar nor milk. For a stronger tiramisu, you will need up to four.
2. Pour the espresso into a bowl large enough for dipping the lady fingers.
3. If you want the lighter coffee version, mix it with the warmed up milk.
4. Prepare your yogurt mixture. Add the Greek yogurt into another clean bowl, the vanilla essence, and the coconut sugar. Mix well.
5. Now, get your casserole ready for making the tiramisu.
6. Start with a layer of the sweetened Greek yogurt mixture.
7. Then, proceed with dipping the lady fingers into the warm but not piping hot coffee. You want to turn them after a few seconds, and transfer them immediately into your casserole. Repeat until you have created a layer of coffee dipped lady fingers.
8. Repeat one more layer of yogurt, and one more layer of lady fingers.
9. Then, depending on the size of your casserole, you can decide whether you want to do a third layer of everything, or finish off with one final layer of yogurt.
10. Speaking of which, if you want a fancier look, you can choose to pipe that final layer, using a piping bag to create professionally looking peaks.
11. Finally, you can dust or grate your chocolate.
12. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and enjoy later! I cut mine after 6 hours and it had the perfect consistency.

Making Homemade Lady Fingers: How It Went

I must say the recipe is really simple but it’s easy to mess it up if you don’t handle the eggs well. So that’s the part I was worried about.

However, there’s nothing to worry about. Even if these don’t turn perfect, they will still be eatable and you can still use them to make the tiramisu.

Mine didn’t turn out perfect because the mixture got too liquid after combining the whites with the yolks and the flour. But they still tasted lovely on their on and in tiramisu.

These are the ingredients you need:

• This recipe makes enough cookies for the tiramisu.
• 3 eggs
• 100 gr coconut sugar (regular white sugar will likely give you better results)
• 85 gr 00 flour sifted
• 25 gr potato starch sifted
• Pinch of salt
• A little vanilla essence
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Equipment:

• 2 small narrow and tall bowls (that shape makes the mounting of the eggs easier)
• 1 electric hand mixer (I use an older model of this one)
• 1 spatula or 2
• 1 whisk
• 1 teaspoon
• Piping bag
• 1 or 2 baking dishes
• Parchment paper

How to make them:

Separate the yolks from the whites, making sure the whites are completely free of yolks. Even the tiniest trace can ruin this recipe. This is the bit that got me worried. That’s why it’s best to have more eggs than you need, and to use a separate clean bowl to put each white while separating them.

Divide the sugar into two equal parts. Put one in one of your bowls and the other half set aside.

Add the egg whites to a squeaky clean bowl. Use your clean electric mixer to beat them up until you get stiff peaks. Halfway through that process, you can slowly incorporate the sugar a little at a time, while you keep beating. Your whites should be so stiff that if you were to move the bowl or flip it upside down they wouldn’t move.

To the bowl with the sugar, add the egg yolks and the vanilla. Beat them up using your electric mixer. This should take under 5 minutes. The texture should be creamy and thick.

Combine the two delicately, folding the egg whites mixture into the creamy egg yolks bowl, but do it delicately using a spatula and in three parts. Fold using slow and light motions.

Then, you are going to add the sifted flour into the bowl with the eggs, and use a hand whisker to gently incorporate the flour. Do that for a few times, and move back to using your spatula. I did 4 to 5 folds with each tool.

Line your baking dish/es with parchment paper. The experts advise on putting a drop of cookie batter in each angle under the paper to keep it put.

Transfer the mixture into your piping bag and pipe your lady fingers on your dish. The length should be around 8 cm long (3 inches) and you want to live about 2 fingers width between each one, and between each row. I didn’t do this because I don’t like using a piping bag and I was worried the mixture would get even more liquid.

Preheat your oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 180 °C (350 °F).

In the meantime, dust the lady fingers with sifted powdered sugar (yes before they go in the oven). The experts say that this gives them a crispier texture. And I can confirm. I would even sprinkle some granulated sugar to make them even crispier.

Let them rest for 5 minutes, and then bake them for 8 to 10 minutes. Check them and if you think they need it, keep them a little longer but not longer than 12 minutes in total.

When they come out of the oven, you need to dust them again with the sifted powdered sugar. I actually skipped this step.

Let them cool and try one!

If your lady fingers didn’t solidify into a cookie, or stayed mushy, it means your whites were not completely clean from yolks.

In that case, use store-bought lady fingers to make your tiramisu, or perhaps you can find them fresh at a local Italian bakery.

I made the main tiramisu with the store bought lady fingers, and made my coffee free version with the homemade savoiardi. The biscuits turned up so good we decided to eat them on their own!

I made this small tiramisu cup with vegan Greek yogurt and my homemade lady fingers dipped in matcha latte instead of espresso. That’s how I normally make my healthy yogurt tiramisu.

More Healthy Italian Recipes

Did you love this recipe?

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If you’d like access to more of my healthy day to day recipes, I share most of those inside my newsletter – Buona Settimana. You can join by signing up through one of the boxes on this page. Once you do, you’ll start receiving my Sunday newsletters, and most of them include one of my recipes.

In the meantime, you can also try the other recipes on my blog.

Here’s a selection for you:
Healthy Banana Bread With Chocolate Chunks
Healthy Lasagna Soup (Wholesome & High in Protein)

Thank you so much for reading, friend.

A presto,
Alessia