People turn vegan for various reasons: lactose-intolerance, animal life, meat allergies (yes, this exists!), they were born into it, and etc. Being vegan puts a lot of restrictions on what you can consume. People assume that just because a vegan can't eat meat or any dairy products that their lifestyle changes to being healthy. I just want to make this clear right now: just because something is labeled as "vegan" doesn't make it healthy. Everything we eat has a certain effect on our bodies.
If you've ever tried going on a diet, you know for a fact how hard it is to resist the temptation, especially if you're a food lover and have a sweet tooth. Personally, I have an obsession with milk and white chocolate, so if you take them away from me I will be extra grumpy.
My dad has been vegan for more than 20 years, and it's always interested me how he controls the urge to eat sweets. I decided to take on a challenge and find desserts that are not only vegan, but also nutritious and healthy. On average, a female who's 19-25 years old should be eating around 1,700 calories a day, if she has a slightly active lifestyle. If you're a male in the same age range and around the same body type, then your calorie intake is almost 2,000.
#SpoonTip: In this article, you can calculate a healthy amount of calories you should consume in a day based on your height, weight, and activity level. By no means am I saying that you must be consuming these exact numbers (talk to your doc if you have questions!).
Before I get to these healthy vegan dessert recipes, let's talk about what exactly healthy means. Many think that calories are the heart of it all, but few people know that sugar and fats are the main healthy decision makers. A healthy intake of sugar ranges from 25g to 37.5g per day, while the targeted fat-calorie range is 400 to 700 calories (or 44 to 78 grams).
What makes a healthy vegan dessert is low cholesterol and saturated fats, as well as no trans fats. All of the healthy vegan desserts mentioned in this article contain less than 250 calories (or 27.8 grams of fat) and less than 20g of sugar, which keeps them in the recommended healthy range.
So for all of my newbies out there, here are 15 healthy vegan dessert recipes that are actually delicious!
1. Vegan Key Lime Pie Nice Cream
Who doesn't love key lime pie? Lime is actually one of my favorite fruits. I add it to almost everything: water, tea, pies, cheesecakes, not to mention ice cream. So when I stumbled upon this key lime pie nice cream recipe, I couldn't resist including it on this list. This nice cream has a crunch to it thanks to the graham crackers, yet it's soft like any other sorbet.
2. Hummingbird Cupcakes
Cupcake recipes are sometimes one of the hardest recipes to find for a vegan. However, this hummingbird cupcake recipe combines healthy ingredients that not only taste great, but that also trick your brain into thinking you're consuming a regular cinnamon-y cupcake. I don't know about you, but I'm obsessed with cinnamon and bananas!
3. Açaí Bowl
Açaí bowls are totally new to me. I've never heard of or tried them. Upon further research, I realized that I've been missing out. This is a high-calorie food, but it's a great substitute for a traditional breakfast. I recently became obsessed with liquids (other than soup) in bowls and was looking for alternatives for smoothie bowls.
4. Mini Vegan Banana Popsicles
Not gonna lie, anything that includes "mini" in the title instantly catches my attention and I can't stop thinking about it. When I saw mini vegan banana popsicles, I knew my prayers were heard! It's a four-ingredient recipe that changes up the basic taste of bananas. Not to mention the popsicles look really cute.
5. Vegan Caramel Apples
I noticed a pattern with all of the desserts I've been finding; all of them included fruits in one way or another. I guess it makes sense, but I feel like it's easy to get tired of consuming the same fruits over and over again. And when I said to myself "no more fruits in my list of healthy vegan desserts," I found a whole article on apple desserts. Personally, I'm fighting the urge to make the caramel apples with walnuts and chocolate.
6. Chia Seed Pudding
Chia seeds blew up on the internet when smoothie bowls became a sensation. It's one of the most common toppings, but I've never seen the recipe that was created around the seed. This chia seed pudding tastes like an orange creamsicle and uses just four ingredients.
7. Ice Cream Sandwiches
Every time I ask my vegan friends what they miss the most from their meat-eating days, the majority of them respond: ice cream sandwiches. This vegan ice cream sandwich recipe tastes of your favorite childhood sandwiches, while still being low on calories and sugar.
8. Berry Salad
This is the definition of healthy vegan deserts! There's not much to say about berry salad, other than it's totally delicious. It's low on sugar and calories, and it's one hell of a colorful dish.
#SpoonTip: Don't forget to substitute regular honey with vegan apple honey or maple syrup!
9. Smoothie Bowl
Of course I couldn't leave smoothie bowls out of a healthy desserts list. Smoothie bowls are my everyday breakfast, and even though I'm not vegan myself, I enjoy every bite of my morning smoothie bowl.
#SpoonTip: Smoothie bowls double as breakfast and dessert.
10. Banana Pancakes
Pancakes, the most classic dessert of them all (or breakfast, whichever you want!). We all loved them as kids, but regular pancakes definitely don't take vegans into consideration. Don't worry, this banana pancake recipe has you covered. It combines the taste from the childhood with bananas and cinnamon. It doesn't get sweeter than this.
11. Chocolate-Dipped Apricots
I feel like a lot of people will be confused about these chocolate-dipped apricots. I love apricots and I am proud of that! Ever since I was a kid, this fruit has been my favorite midnight snack. For some reason, everyone around me hates apricots with a passion. So this is a perfect recipe for anyone who doesn't really like apricots, but still wants to incorporate them into their diet. The taste of the dark chocolate will overpower the apricot so it feels like you're eating Bounty chocolate bar.
#SpoonTip: Make sure you use vegan chocolate for this recipe.
12. Mango or Blueberry Ice Cream
Yet another ice cream is on the list. There are hundreds of vegan ice cream recipes, but most of them are extremely unhealthy if consumed in large quantities. These vegan ice cream recipes aren't an exception, but what makes them better than other recipes is that the sugar intake is minimal.
13. Dark Chocolate Avocado Truffles
Avocado and dessert in one sentence...say whaaat? You'll be surprised how many vegan desserts actually contain avocados. They're a great source of protein and combining them with dark chocolate creates a unique taste. These avocado truffles are little bites from heaven!
14. Chocolate Raspberry Protein Balls
Fruit always goes perfectly with dark chocolate, especially raspberries. Their sweetness and combined with the bitterness of the chocolate makes for a mind blowing dessert. You definitely need to try these chocolate raspberry protein balls.
15. Fruit Popsicles
I know I know, it's not popsicle weather right now, but hey, it's summer somewhere. These vegan fruit popsicles are a light and refreshing dessert and are a great alternative to ice creams and sorbets.
All of these healthy vegan desserts are great not only for seasoned vegans, but for meat eaters as well. If you try one of the recipes, share it with us using #SpoonFeed. I'm sure you'll not want to go back to basic cakes and ice creams!