4 Delicious Vegan Dessert Ideas
Few things help bring closure to a meal like a decadent and rich dessert. From ice cream and pastries to cakes and more, the possibilities are endless—even on a vegan diet. To help ensure that you always have a sweet treat when you want it, explore these delicious vegan dessert ideas!
At Willow in NYC every dish is homey and familiar, then elevated with unique flavors and upscale presentation. We’re taking relatable American bistro food and turning it on its head—then making it vegan!
Common Vegan Dessert Alternatives
Many non-vegan recipes can be converted to fit a plant-based diet with a few key ingredient changes. This allows you to explore a wide variety of recipes while still adhering to a vegan diet.
For desserts, some of the most common ingredients are eggs, milk, and butter. Learning vegan alternatives to these ingredients will allow you to alter your favorite recipes.
Eggless Baking
In baking, eggs provide structure, texture, and color to recipes, as well as leavening. However, eggless baking can be accomplished by substituting ¼ cup of unsweetened apple sauce per egg, a tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water, ripe bananas, or even tofu.
Milk Alternatives
Milk offers moisture and softening effects to your recipe. This can easily be replicated in a vegan dish by utilizing one of the many plant-based milks available, such as oat or coconut milk.
Butter Alternatives
Butter gives tenderness and structure to desserts. There are many plant-based, vegan butters available—but you can also use applesauce, vegan yogurt, or mashed bananas when making your vegan desserts.
4 Vegan Dessert Ideas
Finding vegan alternatives can be a great way to expand your cookbook. However, you can also explore new vegan recipes, including these four vegan dessert ideas!
Peanut Butter Cookies
This melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter cookie recipe uses ground flax as its binding agent in place of eggs. Butter is replaced with coconut oil for a seamless mixing agent, and a mixture of cane sugar and brown sugar replaces plain sugar for additional richness.
The flavor originates from the use of peanut butter, vanilla extract, and sea salt. Creamy peanut butter is the best choice to ensure uniform cookies with no lumps. Mix your ingredients, roll into small balls, and press with a fork for the easiest, tastiest vegan dessert recipe yet!
Peach Crisp
This recipe features a summer-favorite fruit: peaches. This is a great recipe for leftover produce that may have become too soft to enjoy on its own.
Cornstarch helps the peach juice thicken into a sweet, decadent syrup, while a combination of rolled oats, walnuts, and almond flour (which you can substitute with buckwheat) create a crispy crunch. The sweet flavor of the peaches can be brought out with a combination of brown sugar, cane sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
This dish is both vegan and gluten-free, allowing it to become a staple vegan dessert no matter the occasion or dietary needs. You can also serve it with a scoop of vegan ice cream for an extra sweet treat!
Vegan Ice Cream
Simple and sweet, ice cream is great either as a side to another dessert, such as the peach crisp featured above, or on its own. Plus, it’s easy to make!
Using your choice of plant-based milk along with maple syrup, vanilla extract, cane sugar, and a pinch of sea salt, you’re only a few hours of freezing away from scoopable ice cream to top and eat however you like.
Pistachio & Oat Bars
The best desserts are those that you can eat for breakfast. Pistachio and oat bars can be sweet—with a maple syrup drizzle—but mild enough to enjoy on the go as a snack or for breakfast. On 350 degrees, it only takes around 20 minutes to prep and bake this dessert.
Get Your Vegan Dessert Fix at Willow Bistro
Whether you’re looking to finish your dinner with a decadent vegan dessert or looking to take your favorites on the go, consider indulging at Willow Bistro! Our dessert menu includes delicious vegan treats like:
- Vanilla Bean Cashew Cheesecake. Crumbled chocolate chip cookie crust, coconut yogurt, hot fudge, chocolate coconut truffles.
- Bananas Foster Cake. Caramelized bananas, rum flambé sauce, strawberry coulis, vanilla ice cream.
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet. Peanut butter sauce, roasted peanuts, sea salt, chocolate ice cream.
- Ice Cream. Chocolate or vanilla.
Willow is a cozy vegan bistro offering an innovative twist on classic American food. We elevate traditional bistro comfort dishes—including decadent desserts—with high-quality plant-based ingredients and upscale presentation for a memorable meal and experience. Dine in with us, or place your order for delivery or pick up!
