If you avoid milk-based products, you probably think it’s slim pickings when it comes to desserts. Time to moo-ve those thoughts aside, because the world of dairy-free sweets is just as chocolaty and satisfying as those heavy cream-steeped treats your friends are eating. Just keep in mind that “dairy-free” doesn’t necessarily mean “vegan,” so if you stick to a specific diet, check the recipe ingredients.
1. Fig, Cocoa, and Almond Cookies
These chocolaty fig and almond cookies are a dairy-free marvel. Chewy and super satisfying, they make a perfect snack along with a cup of tea. Good luck eating just one.
2. Vanilla Caramel Doughnut Holes
These doughnuts need neither dairy nor frying oil. Whip together a mixture of oats, add dates and soaked nuts to bind everything together, and roll into balls. Freeze the baby doughnuts, then dunk in a vanilla glaze. Finger licking not optional.
3. Peanut Butter Cookies
Look in your kitchen cabinet. If you have nut butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, salt, and flour, you’re ten minutes away from cookies that taste so buttery you’ll think it’s a joke that they’re dairy-free. But we wouldn’t lie to you!
4. Roasted Wine-Soaked Stone Fruit
If you can’t have dairy, why not add a little wine to your fruit? This riff on peaches and cream uses fresh fruit right from the farmer’s market. The whipped “cream” is actually aquafaba, also known as chickpea water (it’s a thing). If you’re not about this garbanzo bean whip, you can easily use coconut whipped cream, vegan yogurt, or any other dairy-free alternative.
5. Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
If you’ve never used olive oil in baked goods before, we strongly recommend you pick up a bottle (or just use the one sitting in your pantry). An alternative fat to butter or canola oil, its savory flavor also pairs perfectly with chocolate. Eggs make the cake light and airy, and a shower of salted maple almonds on top gives a satisfying crunch. Go ahead, get out that cake pan—who cares if it’s not your birthday?
6. Chocolate Chunk Nut Butter Blondies
Nut butter and chocolate are at it again—and we’re not mad about it. Combined with eggs that give these bars their fluffy texture and coconut sugar for that touch of sweet, these blondies really do have more fun. Use nut butter in place of a richer fat (the darker the butter, the more caramel-colored the blondie!) and super-dark chocolate for a bar to pack for lunch… or to munch on after you pass through the kitchen.
7. Rainbow Carrot Cake Muffins
These carrot muffins are so rich and cakey they might as well be cupcakes. And what’s the point of eating carrot cake without a tall smear of cream cheese frosting? (Answer: no point.) Dairy-avoiders need to try this cream cheese-free frosting—it tastes like the real deal thanks to cashews, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and maple syrup.
8. Mint-Cayenne Mango Gelato
Instead of focusing on what you can’t have when you’re dairy-free, embrace the fruity, spicy, and creamy elements of this gelato. Blend frozen mango and coconut cream with mint and a dash of cayenne. Squeeze in some lemon to balance the pepper and fruit.
9. Dark Chocolate Avocado Mousse
Dairy-free chocolate mousse isn’t just something you dreamed about last night. With a little help from avocado, a lighter-than-air chocolaty dessert is in your near future. And while we wouldn’t necessarily encourage eating dessert for breakfast, this recipe is so good for you we’ll let it go just this once…
Want More? Healthy Non-Dairy Milk: 7 Brands That Taste Amazing