Vegan Dessert Recipes: 7 Vegan Desserts to Make at Home

Vegan dessert recipes incorporate natural ingredients with a range of health benefits. Rather than using added sugars and preservatives, vegan desserts use natural sugars, such as honey or maple syrup, to flavor sweet treats. Vegan baking recipes may use nuts, seeds, and fruit as flavoring instead of artificial sweeteners, which may help reduce inflammation and support immune health.

Many vegan desserts are also gluten-free, using alternative flours like sorghum that don’t contain gluten or proteins found in wheat products.

There are many easy vegan alternatives you can use to replace non-vegan ingredients. Many of the following alternatives offer a similar texture and taste as their traditional counterparts:

1. 1. Vegan milk: There are many great alternatives to animal milk products that suit a variety of tastes. In addition to plant-based options, like oat milk, hemp milk, and soy milk, there are several nut-based milks you can buy from the market or make at home with a handful of ingredients. Common nut milks include almond, cashew, walnut, macadamia nut, and coconut.
2. 2. Vegan butter: Vegan butter is a dairy-free alternative to regular butter or margarine. (While some kinds of margarine are completely vegan, many contain small amounts of animal products, like whey, a milk protein.) You can make vegan butter by mixing vegan buttermilk—plant-based milk curdled with a small amount of acid, like lemon juice or vinegar—with a combination of plant-based oils for stability and texture. Depending on your preference or dietary needs, these oils can include extra-virgin olive oil, refined coconut oil, palm oil, and canola oil.
3. 3. Aquafaba: Aquafaba is the water that comes from a can of garbanzo beans. In Latin, “aqua” means “water,” and “faba” means “bean.” When whipped, chickpea cooking liquid forms foamy, soft peaks, just like egg whites. Aquafaba is a common egg substitute in baking. You can substitute three tablespoons of un-whipped aquafaba for one whole egg, two tablespoons for one egg white, or one tablespoon for an egg yolk.
4. 4. Flour: Flour is a versatile and foundational vegan cooking ingredient. Aside from all-purpose four and wheat flour, you can incorporate numerous alternative specialty flours in different recipes. For example, buckwheat is a gluten-free flour with an earthy, savory taste, and 00 flour is a fine-grain flour, ideal for pasta and pizza making.
5. 5. Apple cider vinegar: Apple cider vinegar is a condiment derived from a bacterial fermentation of apple juice. You can use a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to liven up salad dressings, chutneys, or braises, or substitute it for any type of vinegar to observe how it changes the recipe’s final character. You can also use it as a main pickling agent, where it has a sweeter profile than white wine or red wine vinegar.

These vegan desserts are easy to make and have similar tastes to their non-vegan recipes:

1. 1. Almond milk ice cream: Almond milk ice cream is a dairy-free frozen dessert made with almond milk, sugar, and a form of fat, like coconut oil. You can flavor almond milk ice cream with a wide variety of ingredients or extracts—though you should take into account the underlying nuttiness of the almonds before making any additions. Common additions to vegan ice cream include cocoa powder for a chocolate flavor, tahini, and nut powder or almond butter to reinforce its nuttiness.
2. 2. Fudge brownies: Vegan brownies are a dairy- and egg-free version of the fudgy, chocolatey dessert. While traditional brownie recipes call for animal products like milk, butter, and eggs, vegan brownies use alternative ingredients like vegetable oil, vegan butter, applesauce, and flax seeds. Make this vegan dessert gluten-free by using gluten-free flour—like almond flour or rice flour—instead of all-purpose flour.
3. 3. Banana bread: Vegan banana bread is a quick bread that achieves a rich, moist crumb from ingredients like vegetable and coconut oil, vegan butter, and non-dairy milk, like almond, soy, or coconut. Incorporating maple syrup into the batter can impart a new dimension of flavor and add moisture to the quick bread. Standard toppings for vegan banana bread include peanut butter, a drizzle of vegan dark chocolate, and sliced almonds.
4. 4. Peach cobbler: Vegan peach cobbler is a rustic dessert consisting of a fresh peach filling with a semi-sweet vegan biscuit topping. Airy dollops of buttery dough cover the fruit in the cobblestone-like pattern that gives this summertime dessert its name. This recipe features ingredients free of animal byproducts, like vegan butter and dairy-free milk, for a yummy treat that people of all dietary preferences can enjoy. Sprinkle pecans on your vegan peach cobbler to add crunch and top with a dollop of vegan whipped cream.
5. 5. Chocolate chip cookies: Vegan chocolate chip cookies are an egg- and dairy-free variation of traditional chocolate chip cookie dough. The best vegan chocolate chip cookies have a similar taste and texture as a classic chocolate chip cookie. By using a binding agent, such as baking powder, tapioca starch, and flax eggs, and various sugars, such as coconut sugar, unrefined cane sugar, or liquid sweeteners like molasses, you can achieve the same chewy texture as a traditional cookie.
6. 6. Chocolate cake: This vegan cake is a rich chocolate dessert that pairs plant-based ingredients like soy milk, oils (either coconut or vegetable oils), and applesauce with rich cocoa powder and flour to create a moist, chocolatey crumb. Decorate your vegan chocolate cake with piped frosting designs, vegan dark chocolate chips, vegan-friendly sprinkles, chopped nuts like walnuts or pistachios, fresh fruit, like sliced strawberries or whole raspberries (dusted with gold leaf for special occasions), or a simple layer of powdered sugar sifted over the top.
7. 7. Pumpkin pie: Vegan pumpkin pie is a riff on traditional pumpkin pie—a dessert made with a spiced pumpkin custard filling layered inside a flaky pie crust and baked in a pie pan. Instead of eggs and heavy cream, vegan pumpkin pie features an alternate binding agent to thicken it, such as cornstarch, tapioca starch, or arrowroot powder, and a rich dairy-free cream substitute like coconut cream, which imparts a deep coconut flavor. Bakers typically make vegan pie crust recipes with vegan butter or vegan margarine made from plant-derived oils, which mimics the buttery flavor of classic homemade pie crust.

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