You’ll Never Believe These 10 Thanksgiving Desserts Are Totally Plant-Based
It’s not how you start the meal that’s important; it’s how you finish it. Yes, we’re talking about dessert. Because after downing a few plates of rich, savory, and salty foods, you’ll be grateful for some sweet relief.
When it comes to making plant-based desserts, you don’t have to shy away from traditional dishes. It’s surprisingly simple to make pie fillings, crusts, mousses, and cobblers without using any sort of dairy or eggs. Non-dairy milk, soaked cashews, coconut cream, and vegan cream cheese and butter can all be used in one way or another to recreate those smooth, creamy, and gooey textures that we all adore with our desserts.
To come up with this list, we tried sticking with classic fall flavors but presented them in a slightly unconventional way. Instead of the typical pumpkin, pecan, and sweet potato pie, we have recipes for maple pecan bread pudding, vegan pumpkin cheesecake, and Mexican chocolate sweet potato pudding. Hungry yet? This Monday, start dreaming of the ultimate plant-based Thanksgiving dessert platter.
Brown Butter Peach Cobbler
This mouth-watering peach cobbler from Rainbow Plant Life hits all the right notes. The filling is made from a combination of peaches, blueberries, coconut sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cardamom, and is spooned directly onto the cake batter before the whole thing is baked until golden brown and bubbling. For the Brown Butter Peach Cobbler recipe from Rainbow Plant Life, click here.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse
No oven necessary for this no-bake dessert from Blondelish. Dates, coconut milk, and peanut butter create the smooth and creamy foundation of the mousse, while dark chocolate chips and vanilla extract round out the flavor. For the Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse recipe, click here.
Cranberry Cream Pie
Pie is the unofficial dessert of Thanksgiving, but that doesn’t mean you have to stick with the classics. This gluten-free cranberry cream pie from My Quiet Kitchen is light and airy, yet packed with cranberry flavor. The pie gets its mousse-like texture from a combination of soaked and blended cashews, sugar, corn starch, a cup of whipped topping, and whole-berry cranberry sauce. For the Cranberry Cream Pie recipe from My Quiet Kitchen, click here.
Creamy Coconut Pumpkin Pie
This recipe for pumpkin pie from Loving It Vegan gets its extra decadent flare from a can of full-fat coconut milk. Fold in some brown sugar, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice, and a little bit of cornstarch, and you’ve got yourself the ultimate Thanksgiving dessert. For the Creamy Coconut Pumpkin Pie recipe from Loving It Vegan, click here.
Flourless Tahini Brownies
What does tahini — a smooth and nutty paste made from sesame seeds — have to do with Thanksgiving? Well, nothing in particular. But it’s a delicious ingredient to add to your repertoire, providing a toasty note to both sweet and savory dishes. These plant-based brownies from Making Thyme for Health are rich and fudgy, thanks to a blend of tahini, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. For the Flourless Tahini Brownies recipe from Making Thyme for Health, click here.
Maple Pecan Vegan Bread Pudding
Make sure you tell your guests to save some room for dessert, because they’re not going to want to miss a bite of this luxurious vegan bread pudding from Connoisseurus Veg. The key to achieving that perfectly creamy texture is to mix a can of full-fat coconut milk with a little bit of non-dairy milk and cornstarch and simmer until it’s a pudding-like consistency. The final step is to top your bread pudding with a crumble made of pecans, brown sugar, and vegan butter. Then bake until bubbly. For the Maple Pecan Vegan Bread Pudding recipe from Connoisseurus Veg, click here.
Mexican Chocolate Sweet Potato Pudding
If you’re a fan of flavorful desserts that aren’t overly sweet then you must try this Mexican chocolate sweet potato pudding from The Vegan8. As far as desserts go, this one is definitely on the healthier side. The base of the pudding is—you guessed it—sweet potato, but it also has some sugar, non-dairy milk, maple syrup, and unsweetened cocoa powder. But the big flavor comes from its spice blend, which includes cinnamon, sea salt, and cayenne pepper. For the Mexican Chocolate Sweet Potato Pudding recipe from The Vegan8, click here.
Pumpkin Pie Bars
These pumpkin pie bars from Vegan Richa are a fun spin on the classic Thanksgiving dessert. The crust is made from a combination of almond flour, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, salt, and brown sugar, while the pumpkin layer is made primarily from pumpkin purée, soaked cashews, and maple syrup. For the Pumpkin Pie Bars recipe from Vegan Richa, click here.
Vegan Caramel Apple Pie
Yum. Yum. Yum. This recipe for vegan caramel apple pie from Make It Dairy Free is everything you could possibly want from a Thanksgiving dessert. Creamy vegan caramel made with plant-based butter, a crispy crust using vegan shortening, and a warm cinnamon maple apple filling should be enough to convince you to give this decadent dessert a shot. For the Vegan Caramel Apple Pie recipe, click here.
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Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
It’s Thanksgiving, which means there’s no such thing as too much pumpkin. That being said, this dairy-free pumpkin cheesecake from Karissa’s Vegan Kitchen is a nice variation on the traditional pumpkin pie. So how do you make cheesecake without any cheese? Easy, just use vegan cream cheese, corn starch, and some pumpkin purée, along with some sugar and other fall-themed spices. The result is smooth, decadent, and oozing with Thanksgiving flare. For the Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe from Karissa’s Vegan Kitchen, click here.
Click here for more Meatless Monday recipes. When posting pictures of recipes to your social media network, tag @MeatlessMonday use #MeatlessMonday to show the plant-based community your creation.