With the rise of plant-based desserts, from Alpro's dairy-free pudding range to Ben & Jerry's vegan ice cream trials, vegan alternatives to our favourite sweet treats are now in closer reach than ever. And while a pre-made dessert is a godsend to many, sometimes a day of home-baking is as rewarding as enjoying the treat itself. Here are ten plant-based desserts that will hit your sweet spot.
1) Chocolate Beet Cake.
You might not expect beets to feature as part of a chocolate cake recipe, but, viewed slightly differently, it makes for a healthy alternative to red velvet. This recipe is a creative upgrade on the much-loved chocolate cake, using coconut oil and flax eggs in the place of traditional eggs and butter. The result is a moist and aesthetically-pleasing cake, guaranteed to appease your cravings with (hopefully) less of the bloating.
2) Rainbow Ice Cream.
This dessert is a showstopper—it has the colour, beauty, and explosion of flavour we all crave. The banana makes this dessert creamy, while the fruit adds sweetness. If you're looking for something less complicated, scrap the rainbow structure and opt for a double quantity of your favourite flavour. Aside from tasting delicious, this vegan nice cream, avoids the artificial flavours and fattening ingredients found in most store-bought ice creams (yes, even vegan ones). While eating this dessert, you know that you're not only fixing a craving, but actually rewarding your body with ingredients that will nourish it.
3) Chickpea Cookie Dough.
You read that right—this is a no-bake cookie dough recipe starring garbanzo beans, also known as chickpeas, and can actually be substituted with other white beans. The process is fairly simple and involves using your food processor to imitate the cookie dough texture. This recipe is great for peanut butter fanatics and is also a seriously quick dessert-fix for those who have little time on their hands.
4) Blueberry Flax Muffins.
This recipe proves that flax is a secret star when it comes to plant-based desserts. With flax featuring prominently in a range of vegan desserts, it show its versatility in imitating its dairy counterparts. These blueberry flax muffins have the added bonus of being gluten-free, and they're fruity enough to pass as a breakfast snack.
5) Cranberry Cider Pie.
Consider this vegan pie a fun weekend baking project—particularly in the colder months. Along with cranberries, this pie is filled with homemade apple cider, sweetened with cinnamon, and given a citrus kick with some orange zest. This dessert is definitely more time-consuming than others on this list, but if you use baking as a way to unwind, making that lattice top will offer you some well-needed stress relief and give you a dessert that's both tasty and beautiful.
6) Vegan Avocado Pudding.
For the Snack-Pack-lovers out there—this is for you. Along with tofu, avocado is a dairy-free alternative to cream-based products that helps to create a silky smooth texture in vegan desserts. Avocado has the benefit of minimal flavour, allowing the cocoa and sweetener to take the reins on your palate. This pudding replicates the volume of your favourite chocolate mousse and even sneaks in some five-a-day to treat you while you treat yourself. Another fun part of this recipe is experimenting with toppings to add extra colour and flavour.
7) Vegan Gingerbread Men.
Not just for Christmas, these gingerbread men are made using spelt flour and ground flax, along with a warming mixture of winter spices. The combination of flax and molasses gives this dessert a nutritional kick and helps to avoid the sluggishness brought on by the dessert's dairy original. These are also delicious when dunked into an oat-milk-infused cup of tea and can be decorated with optional vegan frosting.
8) Rosemary Fig Scones.
This eyebrow-raising combo works surprisingly well in terms of its flavour-profile. If you've been watching Bake Off, you've probably seen a few teams insisting on adding herbs to their desserts. This recipe supports the claim that herbs do belong in sweet treats, and the addition of dried figs makes these scones equally healthy and satisfying. The end-product is 100% gluten-free and uses all plant-based ingredients. It also looks super fancy and slightly resembles a dessert pizza, which makes us love it more.
9) Vegan Banana Bread.
This banana-based sweet treat switches eggs for a creative chia seed replacement (which works surprisingly well to lift the bread) and incorporates desiccated coconut for added texture. The addition of dark chocolate prevents this dessert from being too sweet, and also has a hint of spice. It shows that you don't need dairy products to whip up a fluffy-textured (and delicious) sweet bread.
10) Carrot Cake Waffles.
This dessert catch is a two-in-one, combining decadent carrot cake with fluffy waffles, so you can enjoy dessert for breakfast (or breakfast for dessert). Did I mention it's also gluten-free? The recipe uses beloved flax seeds along with pineapple, carrot, and gluten-free flour to revamp one of the most widely-loved desserts. These can also be upgraded with a heap of frosting, or enjoyed in its bare form.
If you find yourself in a dairy-free dessert slump, consider these tried-and-tested vegan recipes—guaranteed to impress your friends and to give you a break from the predictable store-brought goods. You could even experiment with your own dairy-free toppings and create a unique concoction of plant-based sweetness.