The Best Plant Based Desserts For This Holiday Season

‘Tis the season, and it’s about time!

Some days it feels as though 2020 has lasted forever, yet it can also feel as though it passed in a blink of an eye. Either way, somehow, it’s just about the holiday season.

There are a few different holidays that people will be celebrating around this time of year; Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Orthodox Christmas, and many, many more.

While the holiday get-togethers may not look like they usually do this year (hello, COVID-19), the festivities must go on. Zoom parties are beginning to seem less weird, we’ve all stocked up on comfy “home clothes” by now, and the average time to receive a delivery is just a few days. Doesn’t sound too bad when we say it like that, right?

One thing that won’t change about the holidays, no matter what, is the food. And by food, we mean feast. No matter the holiday you’re celebrating this year, these special occasions are always accompanied by a marvelous feast. Everyone has their favorite part: the main course, the wonderful array of appetizers beforehand, your favorite drink in hand, or dessert.

Personally, we love dessert the most. We’re just dessert people, what can we say? Sugar and spice and everything nice.

“Guilt-free”

“Guilt-free” is in quotations for a reason: it’s a silly concept. “Guilt-free” may even be a paradox in itself. When you use this label, there’s a lingering element of something “weird” or “bad” because it tells us there’s still some sort of justification that needs to be made for what you’re eating.

Let’s stop calling desserts “guilt-free.” Better yet, let’s stop calling anything “guilt-free.” If this is too big of a step, then at least consider that this is 2020. 2020, for goodness sake. If there’s ever been a time to cut yourself some slack, it’s now.

That being said, if there’s anything that’s allowed to be called ~ guilt-free ~ this holiday season, it would be plant-based desserts. Everything should be guilt-free, but hear us out on this one.

Plant-based desserts are allowed to be called guilt-free because, in a way, they help save the world. These desserts from the earth have a lower environmental impact, are cruelty-free, and are better for our health. If that doesn’t count as guilt-free, we’re not sure what does.

Choosing plant-based desserts this holiday season helps support a more sustainable, responsible, and humane human food system—nothing to be guilty about here.

Plant-Based For The Holidays

Trying to navigate people’s dietary restrictions these days is no simple task; everyone seems to be on some type of plan, diet, or program. Vegetarian, lactose-free, gluten-free, vegan, you name it—to each their own, cheers as always.

Over the last 15 years, there has been a 300% increase in the number of Americans who follow a plant-based diet—woohoo! Chances are, however you’re celebrating this year, there’s likely to be a vegan in attendance. Fear not, vegans are nowhere near as some people make them out to be.

News flash: vegans are just as merry and enjoy dessert too.

Must-Try Plant-Based Desserts

Plant-based desserts are probably more wonderful than you’d expect. If you’re new to the whole plant-based thing, a delicious dessert may be the perfect introduction.

Here are some fantastic plant-based desserts to try this Holiday season. They all bring an abundance of joy in their own unique, special, and scrumptious way.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. So, of course, we have to start this off with an extra special ice cream suggestion.

Cookie Butter Ice Cream is the triple-whammy of all your hopes and dreams. Imagine a velvety river of vanilla sweetness, golden cookie chunks, and cinnamon swirls. This ice cream is a stand-alone product that is more than capable of winning you over on its own, but it’s also simple enough to be paired with other sweet treats. Try adding a scoop on top of a baked cookie, into a milkshake, or as a side to warmed gingerbread.

This plant-based ice cream of the first of its kind; it’s completely indistinguishable from dairy ice cream. Eclipse ice cream is made for people who don’t love dairy but don’t want to make any sacrifices on taste, texture, or consistency. Nutritionally, this ice cream is also on par with premium indulgent ice creams (in fat, sugar, calories, protein, and calcium).

This Cookie Butter Ice Cream is at the top of our list because it is 100% delectable, 100% in the holiday spirit, and supports a happy planet. Less water, less land, and fewer greenhouse gases are emitted in the production of this ice cream compared to conventional dairy. Basically, it’s less of the bad stuff and more of the good stuff.

Seriously though, this ice cream is so creamy, even the cows are jealous.

Soft Baked Peppermint Bark Cookies

That’s right. Soft Baked Peppermint Bark Cookies. Which part catches your attention the most? “Soft Baked?” “Peppermint Bark?” “Cookies?” There’s no wrong answer to this question; it all sounds mouth-watering.

These festive cookies come from an allergy-friendly baking company devoted to creating treats that are safe for everyone. These treats focus more on what they don’t contain; all of their products are free of gluten and 14 other common allergens.

Crispy mint and gooey chocolate make up the flavor profile of this sweet treat. Rich cocoa, chocolate chips, and real peppermint candy pieces come together to make these certified vegan cookies. Pour yourself your beverage-of-choice and give them a try (and a dunk).

We may have to be on our best behavior this holiday season, but no one ever said anything about our desserts. These Naughty Cookies get the free pass this year, and we aren’t mad about it.

Chocolate chip, s’mores, peanut butter chocolate chip, and triple chocolate chunk make up the array of cookies that come in this eight-pack of joy. These plant-based cookies pass the test of being absolutely delicious as well as being indistinguishable from “regular” cookies. (Translation: your non-plant-based friends won’t be able to tell!)

Feeling a little adventurous? Try heating up these cookies and adding a scoop of ice cream on top. For a next-level dessert masterpiece, go ahead and throw that scoop of ice cream between two cookies for an ice cream sandwich from heaven.

Vegan Vanilla Jars

Is putting food in jars another trend of 2020, or has this been a thing for a few years now? Soups, salads, dressings, and apparently dessert now too. Everyone loves aesthetic, but without a smashing taste to go along with it, we won’t want it.

Except, these vanilla jars pass both the aesthetically-pleasing and stomach-pleasing test, so they’re all good in our books. We’re talking about a jar beautifully layered with fluffy vanilla cake, vanilla icing, and rainbow sprinkles. The color scheme may not match traditional holiday colors, but this year isn’t traditional anyway, remember?

Maybe it’s just us, but this is probably another treat that would go well coupled with… you guessed it, ice cream. The next question is, which would be better on top, vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream?

Chocolate Cheesecake Cuties

Chocolate Cheesecake Cuties that are plant-based too? This sounds too good to be true, yet here we are.

Chocolate Cheesecake Cuties have actually been named Chicago’s finest, but the only taste test that really matters is yours. These cheesecake bites are slow-baked using local ingredients to bring you the perfect flavor and texture. They come topped with hand-decorated designs and the perfect dusting of cocoa powder.

Cheesecake is probably the first thing on this list that we wouldn’t jump to recommend pairing with ice cream, but how about a warm mug of hot cocoa instead? Find the perfect holiday movie, put on your favorite pajamas, and cozy up with some hot chocolate and cheesecake cuties.

Figgin’ Delicious Ice Cream

Figs are friggin’delicious. Cue, Figgin’ Delicious Ice Cream.

How was that for an introduction to this last, but very not least, plant-based dessert suggestion? Fantastic, probably.

Figs are a staple for any dried fruit and nut display. Nut trays wouldn’t be the same without them, and after trying fig pudding, it’s hard to imagine a world without it. Figs enter new territory with this dessert and bring us something we didn’t even know we needed (but we definitely do): fig ice cream.

This is another treat from Eclipse Foods, which means it’s another treat that supports a happy planet. Friggin’ Delicious is crafted by three chefs who bonded over two shared passions: the ways in which responsible and sustainable food practices impact collective health and the Chinese-American dishes they grew up loving to eat.

These chefs believe that the choices we make about the things we eat, where ingredients come from, and how dishes are prepared have a direct and deeply-felt impact on the health of individuals and communities as a whole. What makes this treat extra, extra special is that all proceeds from Friggin’ Delicious benefit Save Our Chinatowns, a fund supporting Chinatown restaurants in San Francisco and Oakland.

This ice cream isn’t just going to make your tummy happy; this ice cream gives back. Giving feels good, and with Friggin’ Delicious ice cream, it tastes darn good too.