I will start out by saying that I am not a vegan and therefore I have not experimented much with vegan desserts or substitutions. I do have friends who avoid dairy and/or gluten and/or eggs, so I have dabbled a little bit with vegan swaps, but I am by no means an expert. So, for this post, I asked a friend for a few suggestions as to what vegan blogs she’s had success making baked goods from and what she knows about baking vegan desserts.
Vegan Blogs to Follow
In general, you will want to ask someone who bakes vegan desserts regularly for their preferred substitutes for vegan baking. Since I am not a vegan baker, the bloggers below may be a better option for questions and recipes that are already made vegan for you!
Minimalist Baker is a hugely popular blog that was formerly vegan recipes only, so there are lots of vegan recipes on the site, plus tons of gluten free desserts as well. Her recipes are low ingredient, which is definitely a bonus when vegan ingredients can sometimes cost a bit more. Here are some favorite vegan desserts from Minimalist Baker:
- Vegan Mini Key Lime Pies
- Vegan Banana Cream Pie
- Vegan Mini No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup Cheescakes
- 1-Bowl Vegan + Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake
Rainbow Plant Life is another popular blog run by a former lawyer turned full-time vegan blogger. Her vegan no-bake cookie dough bars are a favorite. The Rainbow Plant Life YouTube channel is informative and fun, so be sure to check it out!
The Korean Vegan – Joanne Molinaro is another vegan blogger who was formerly a lawyer and is very popular on Instagram. She makes beautiful vegan Korean food and is absolutely worth a follow. She doesn’t have as many dessert recipes, but she has a beautiful new book, The Korean Vegan Cookbook.
Gimme Some Oven is not a vegan blog, but her vegan, gluten-free carrot cake is definitely worth a mention. It’s delicious and worth a try.
The Little Blog of Vegan makes lots of has tons of lovely vegan desserts. While we haven’t tried any of her recipes, she makes gorgeous food (check her out on Instagram) and has a new book available for pre-order now.
Liv B. is another vegan blogger we follow on Instagram and while we haven’t tried any of her recipes, they do look amazing. She creates compelling videos on both Instagram and YouTube and is worth your follow as well.
One of my favorite cookbook authors, who creates gorgeous vegetarian and vegan food is Hetty McKinnon. Her latest book, To Asia with Love, is where I found the Vegan Mango Mousse.
Vegan Substitutes
What I do know is that in general—especially with classic recipes like mine—there are not always easy swaps to make a dessert into a vegan one. Often times I am asked what to substitute for butter or dairy or eggs in my recipes and not every recipe will work as vegan and the same vegan swap won’t work for everything. But, the experimenting is fun and often fruitful. Just keep in mind that it is an experiment and sometimes they fail. Don’t be afraid of that, but I would suggest starting with a half batch, just to make sure you love the results. AND, a trick from a pro, if it comes out different, but delicious, just give it a new name! 😉 If you do experiment with my recipes to make vegan desserts and you have success, please let me know by leaving a comment! I would love to know what you tried and how it went.
There are egg replacement products, and some vegan recipes call for “flax eggs” or “chia eggs” but those recipes have been tested with those ingredients, so I defer to those recipe developers as they are the experts on their recipes.
Most times, dairy milk can be swapped for soy, coconut, almond, or oat milk, but it doesn’t work every time and will sometimes change the flavor or texture of a recipe. Butter can often be swapped with plant butter (as in the Chocolate Pecan Pie recipe below) and can also be swapped for coconut oil, but do note that unrefined coconut oil will give a strong coconut flavor to your dessert. If you’d rather avoid that coconut flavor, go for refined coconut oil.
Below is a roundup of vegan desserts on my site. I hope you enjoy!
This is very timely for me – I was just wondering what kind of treat I could make for my vegan neighbor who watered my plants while I was away for the holidays! Thanks for this roundup. I think I’m going to try the chocolate cupcakes!
Have you worked much with Agar Agar instead of gelatin? If so, how do you find the substitution?
Hi Holly, Zoë has not used it herself, but here is a resource we found helpful about substituting agar agar.
Good morning, Zoe
I love your show Zoe Bakes. I have recorded the shows and watch and bake along with you. My question today is that I see that you use vanilla extract in a jar with whole beans. Is this a homemade vanilla extract and if so please share your procedures in making this extract.
Thank you so much and happy baking.
Dianna
Hi Dianna! So glad to hear you’re enjoying the show. Here is all the info you need to make Zoë’s homemade vanilla extract. Cheers!