Today’s plant-based cooking and baking ingredients make every dessert taste delicious. You can still enjoy a sweet treat if you don’t eat dairy for health reasons. Some of us eat a vegan diet for our health or that of the planet. Thankfully, there are plenty of conscious ways to enjoy your favorite dessert recipes.
Source: Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock.com
Our list of non-dairy dessert ideas features yummy dairy substitutes and luscious vegan chocolate. While they’re fun to make, they still taste like your favorite traditional treats. Impress yourself and your guest list with a new dessert! You’ll feel like an expert plant-based baker or chocolatier.
- Vegan Dark Chocolate Mousse
Everyone loves a vegan dessert with a creamy chocolate taste. Vegan dark chocolate mousse is lightweight and luxurious, featuring plant-based baking chocolate and everyday favorites like vegan oat milk. DIY whipped aquafaba will elevate your mousse recipe instantly. All you need to make vegan mousse at home is a hand mixer and a double boiler.
Be sure you have a whisk attachment to whip the aquafaba into stiff peaks. Combining rich dark chocolate ganache and aquafaba creates a cool, airy texture. Chill the mousse for a few hours before serving, and then top with white chocolate shavings or garnish with mint.
- Chocolate Protein Cookies
If you don’t eat animal ingredients, you might want to add nutrients to your diet. No-bake chocolate protein cookies will help give you an extra protein boost while satisfying your cravings. Grab your favorite protein powder and get in the kitchen! We recommend vanilla-flavored powder to add depth of flavor. Rolled oats are the other star of this recipe. Also known as old-fashioned oats, they help to give protein cookies their chewy texture.
If you’d like, you can add natural peanut butter. Unsweetened soy or oat milk is perfect for protein cookies, but almond or cashew milk will give them a nuttier flavor. Freshly ground nutmeg adds a spicy flavor and aroma to make your cookies nutritious and irresistible. Don’t forget the vanilla extract with minimal added sugar.
- Vegan Chocolate Donuts
Why are donuts one of the best sweet treats? They satisfy any time of day! Vegan chocolate donuts make breakfast a little more guilt-free but are also the perfect snack for the afternoon or evening. It’s not difficult to make plant-based donuts in the comfort of your kitchen; gather the baking ingredients in your pantry.
Vegan chocolate donuts feature baking staples like all-purpose flour and cocoa powder. Unsweetened plant-based milk and vegan butter allow for a chocolatey, moist donut without animal products or dairy. Make a chocolate glaze to go on top, complete with coconut oil and bittersweet baking chocolate.
- Non-Dairy Cheesecake
One of the biggest regrets of those who don’t consume dairy is that they can’t enjoy desserts like ice cream or cheesecake. With new and tasty vegan ingredients, you can let remorse be a thing of the past. To make a non-dairy cheesecake, you need dairy-free cream cheese. Do your research to find quality vegan cream cheese without added water so the recipe stays creamy after baking.
More essential ingredients for your non-dairy recipe include sugar, cornstarch and dairy-free milk. Incorporate lemon juice into your cream cheese and sugar for that signature cheesecake “tang,” along with vanilla extract to make the cake extra-tasty. Pour your finished mixture into a vegan graham cracker crust and enjoy your cheesecake’s beauty in simplicity.
- Plant-Based Drinking Chocolate
You don’t need dairy products to enjoy hot cocoa! If you prefer to sip your dessert, you can warm up a mug of hot drinking chocolate. Bittersweet drinking chocolate is plant-based dark chocolate that is ground up into fine crumbles. When you heat it on the stove, it melts into a creamy chocolate mixture, perfect for making everything from dairy-free hot chocolates to mochas.
You’re in luck if you want to make hot cocoa without dairy milk. You can drink your chocolate crumbles on their own or with some sugar. Switch out cow’s milk for dairy-free alternatives like almond or oat milk. Vegan drinking chocolate also tastes excellent with soy or coconut milk.
Some chocolate lovers like to add spices like ground cardamom or ginger. Other unique additions include ground turmeric and black pepper. Combine chai tea with bittersweet chocolate for a dirty chocolate chai concoction you’ll want to drink every evening. We also like topping our drinking chocolate by adding vegan chocolate shavings or dairy-free whipped coconut topping.
- Vegan Tiramisu
Tiramisu is a delicious Italian dessert with a distinct coffee flavor. While it has an unforgettable and delightful flavor and texture, the original recipe is packed with animal ingredients and dairy. To make this recipe dairy-free, you must substitute ingredients like mascarpone cheese. It’s helpful to find a quality recipe with ingredients that help make this dessert taste like the real thing.
To make the creamy layer, you’ll switch out mascarpone cheese and eggs with silken tofu and coconut milk. Instead of ladyfingers, you can use plain vegan biscuit cookies with some added sugar. Make the tiramisu your own with your favorite brand of coffee. We like an Italian blend with rich chocolate notes. Adding amaretto or coffee liquor is optional but can add to the decadent tiramisu flavor. Chill your recipe for at least an hour or overnight if possible.
Enjoy Guilt-Free Non-Dairy Desserts
It’s easy to avoid animal products by substituting with non-dairy ingredients instead, so get cooking or baking! Now you know how simple it is to make everything from dairy-free chocolate mousse to plant-based cheesecake. Enjoy a decadent chocolatey treat or create a creamy classic. Whether you prefer moist donuts or hot drinking chocolate, you’ll find a recipe that makes you feel good inside and out. It’s exciting to enjoy luscious desserts without dairy, so grab the ingredients and try a recipe for yourself!
