Eating healthy can be easy. Read our ultimate guide to vegan dessert ingredients and recipes to motivate your inner plant-based chef.
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Eating healthy doesn’t have to be a hassle. With just a few ingredients and a little elbow grease, you can whip up show stopping dishes that don’t take an entire day in the kitchen. If tackling a dessert for the vegan in your life is causing you trepidation, don’t fret. We’re giving you a guide to some basic vegan baking ingredients and techniques plus rounded up five of our favorite lazy vegan desserts. They’re easy to whip up and can be accomplished in just 45 minutes of kitchen time. So set a timer, put on some good tunes, and pull together those ingredients. Prepare to be the MVP of the dinner party (or your own night in) by the time you’re done.
When cooking vegan desserts, there are a few ingredients you’ll see popping up regularly. To give you a head start on vegan baking, we’ve listed a few below.
Vegan Ingredient Guide
Aquafaba
One of the most difficult parts of vegan baking is finding a viable egg replacement. Please welcome aquafaba to the room. This leftover liquid from a can of chickpeas acts as both a binding agent in baking recipes and can also be whipped into soft peaks reminiscent of whipped egg whites. Don’t worry, the chickpea flavor bakes off.
Cashew Nuts
With their high fat and oil content, raw, unsalted cashew nuts have the ability to be blended into a creamy, smooth replacement for many dairy products. Pre-soaking the nuts in water and then blending them results in a creamy, nutty ingredient that is both raw and the perfect rich, vegan substitute for desserts such as cheesecake, tarts, and ice cream. If you don’t have time to soak overnight, they can also be quick soaked by gently simmering in water for about 20-30 minutes.
Coconut Milk
Similar to cashew nuts, the solidified cream at the top of coconut milk is full of fats, oils, and flavor. When the can separates, the solidified part of coconut milk can be whipped into a frosting or folded into batters. Alternatively, the entire can of coconut milk can be added to recipes in place of milk. The fact that coconut cream sets when cold also makes it ideal for raw desserts. Ideally, full fat coconut milk cans are the ones to look for when shopping for vegan dessert recipes.
wildCREAMERY Cream Cheese
Our wildCREAMERY Cream Cheese alternative is a tasty, dairy-free source of flavor and texture when creating vegan dishes. Featuring only natural, raw, whole-food ingredients, it’s a great way to give your baking that luscious, cream cheese flavor you and your friends crave.
wildCREAMERY Butters
Dairy-free, vegan, and creamery buttery goodness is what you’ll find from our wildCREAMERY Butter alternatives. You’ll find both an Oat Butter and a European Style Butter that are both cultured with wildbrine’s ferments. Healthy and delicious, feel free to use them where you would normally use butter.
Lazy Vegan Dessert Recipes
Light, bright, and sweet, this lemon bar recipe boasts the addition of live probiotics thanks to the addition of wildbrine Organic Kraut blended into the filling. This dairy-free dessert gets its creaminess from raw cashews that are soaked overnight. Coconut cream adds richness and maple syrup sweetens. Due to the raw nature of this dessert, it is also high in magnesium, copper, vitamin E and riboflavin (B2). Basically, it’s a healthy dish disguised as dessert. Pair it with some chilled glasses of lemonade on a patio in the summer for a sweet treat that delivers health on the side.
This creamy, baked vegan cheesecake is as decadent and elegant as you can get. The use of a food processor and blender make this recipe simple to pull together in just 45 minutes (plus some chilling time!). You can attribute the creamy, dairy-free richness of this dessert to wildCREAMERY Cream Cheese and Butter. Soak a seasonal fruit (we love cherries or peaches!) in a bit of wine and sugar while it bakes for garnish. Once chilled in the fridge, pour your fruit over the top and serve whole at your table for guests to slice into. It’s a dish sure to impress even the most vegan-phobic person around.
Scrounged from Jessica Murname’s book, One Part Plant, this recipe could easily double as a granola bar to pack out to your favorite camping or hiking spot, or serve alongside a cup of espresso for breakfast. Featuring only six ingredients and spending about 10 minutes in the oven, it’s truly a quick and lazy vegan dessert for those that want maximum flavor for minimal effort. Plus, you now have a dessert that doubles for breakfast AND snacks. What could be better? Top with a drizzle of melted vegan white chocolate to up the decadence factor and serve alongside rich sips of espresso for an after-dinner nibble.
We couldn’t give you a list of lazy vegan desserts without including one from The Lazy Vegan Baker. The name says it all. We love the moist richness of her One Bowl Chocolate Cake that moves from bowl to oven in just 10 minutes. Choose from three of her favorite vegan frostings to top it with. If you’ve never used Aquafaba, don’t let it scare you away. It’s simply the unused brine in a can of chickpeas. Waste not, want not. That’s our motto.
This gluten free and vegan dessert is, as the name says, made of just three ingredients and whips together faster than you can say YUM. The geniuses behind Love & Lemons combine full fat coconut milk, maple syrup, and tahini to create a toasty, nutty sesame ice cream. The tahini is subtle and imparts creamy, rich texture to the ice cream. The flavor base of this ice cream can be dressed up in a wide assortment of ways, so feel free to add additional spices (we love the idea of cardamom or chai) and toppings (who wouldn’t want to add vegan dark chocolate or some toasted sesame seeds and coconut for texture?).
We hope this inspires you to add at least one lazy vegan dessert recipe to your rotating list of go-to dessert dishes. Happy baking!
