Peas
Peas are a great way to inject colour and subtle sweetness into a dessert. With these baked vanilla and pea donuts, the green fun continues with a natural avocado and coconut sugar icing. But, should anyone object, a dark cacao or chocolate icing works, too.
Baked vanilla and pea doughnuts Source: Chris Middleton
Sweet potatoes
There's around of sweet potato, but it's not the nasty, sugar-hangover inducing kind. While sweet potato pies and pancakes spring to mind, there's a bounty of other ways to use it, like in this Muesli's crunchy big sister is a breakfast winner, speedy yoghurt topper and tasty dessert base. This sweet potato version skips on the syrup or honey of regular granolas and harnesses the natural powers of the mighty orange potato. It's every bit as satisfying and even more filling.
Sweet potato granola Source: Angelique Panagos
Beetroots
Root vegetables boast plenty of natural sugar to see them carry a sweet dish (usually per 100g), meaning you can skip or downscale other sweeteners. Coconut sugar works in tandem with the sweet, calcium and vitamin-rich beets to sweeten these moreish quinoa and chocolate muffins, but feel free to omit it completely. They're also gluten-free, and the quinoa adds bulk, making them the perfect lunchbox fillers, too.
Source: Amy Crawford
Carrots
Depending on the season and variety, a raw carrot can feature up to . This makes them perfect for sweetening baked goods, paving the way for you to use a lighter hand with other sugars. These crunchy carrot cake biscuits are our pick of the bunch.
Carrot cake biscuits Source: Chris Middleton
Pumpkin
It may be deliciously sweet, but fresh pumpkin is low GI, meaning it's less likely to send your blood sugar soaring. Try it in cakes and muffins with plenty of nuts and seeds, in pies, or in this light and spiced
Carrot, parsnip and cardamom loaf. Source: Smith Street Books