5 Decadent Vegan Desserts

One common misconception about a vegan diet is that it’s about depriving yourself. This doesn’t have to be true at all! It’s easy as (vegan) pie to whip up cruelty-free desserts that even your omnivore friends will drool over.

When I think “decadent dessert,” chocolate almost immediately springs to mind, so several of these desserts are deliciously chocolatey. When I tell folks that I’m vegan, they often marvel that I had the willpower to give up chocolate. In fact, many good-quality chocolates don’t contain any animal products at all. You don’t need milk to make dark chocolate, and there are even companies that make vegan milk chocolates, if that’s your preference.

There are lots of vegan chocolates out there, you just need to do a little bit of label-reading to make sure the chocolate you’re buying doesn’t contain milk, milk fat, butter fat, or other animal ingredients that chocolate makers sometimes sneak in. Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips are vegan, for example, and Endangered Species dark chocolate bars are vegan (and delicious!)

Does all of this talk about chocolate have you craving some dessert? Here are 5 recipes for delicious sweet treats that don’t call for animal ingredients!

>>Next: Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Vegan Baking

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Michele W.

3:33AM PST on Dec 2, 2011

Thank you

send a green star

Rhea P.

10:32AM PDT on Aug 7, 2011

PS... I forgot to mention that because I like my cookies crunchy and chewy, I double the quantity of the dried fruit and nuts on the recipe.

10:28AM PDT on Aug 7, 2011

From "The Kind Diet"... best vegan cookies ever!!!

1 C quick-cooking rolled oats
3/4 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 C vegan cane sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/3 C maple syrup
1/2 C safflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp molasses
1/4 C chopped dried plums
1/4 C chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine dry ingredients and mix well. In a separate bowl combine wet ingredients and mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Fold in dried plum and walnuts.

Using hands roll tablespoon size balls and place at least 2-3 inch apart. Press down slightly on the balls to flatten tops. Bake 12-14 min or until golden brown.

For variety, replace all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour, barley flour, spelt flour, or gluten-free baking mix (choose one that does not include baking soda or baking powder). You can also substitute dried plums and walnuts with any other dried fruit and nuts. I often use a raw unsalted trail mix blend and they turn out great.

This recipe is truly amazing. Everyone that I've shared these cookies with... vegan or not, has LOVED them!!!

Enjoy!!!

Peace & light

Past Member .

12:14PM PDT on Jul 13, 2011

thx:)

7:14AM PDT on Jul 13, 2011

Ruth S.

5:27AM PDT on Jun 26, 2011

Thank you for the yummy recipes!

Samantha A.

3:32AM PDT on Jun 23, 2011

It's always good to see vegan recipes up there. I just had a simple sweet snack just then dried fruit and nuts and org coconut - I'm being lazy today, but the other day I made veganloaf with white coconut gravy.if anyone wants the recipe i can give you my blog link, blessings

Janine K.

7:11AM PDT on Jun 20, 2011

If the brown sugar is not something made like "Florida Crystals" it is not a vegan recipe. Can anybody tell me why?

Gypsy W.

12:32PM PDT on Jun 19, 2011

This sounds amazing, i love making vegan sweets and sharing them with my non-vegan family..they absolutely love them and it makes me happy to see that i can convince them that vegan food doesn't have to taste like dirt!

12:20PM PDT on Jun 19, 2011

Where I'm at, it's a little hard to be a complete vegan. It seems people haven't a clue that they can eat anything other than what they already know. It's astounding, I am SO in the wrong place.
I observe the shopping carts and I see a LOT of CANCER-CAUSING things. Soda? Who drinks soda? Drunks? They abound! Prozac is something the little kids joke about and they are not even able to make an informed decision. It is so scary here, meditation 24/7 is about the only thing that works here. I am officially scared to death.