Your Christmas Guests Will Absolutely Love These 5 Non-Traditional Vegan Sweets

Whether you’re feasting on plant-based turkey or a slew of delicious side dishes, the holidays are the time to eat way too much. However, as professional vegans, we always make sure to save enough room for dessert. And, yes, we love cookies and cakes, but we also love impressing our friends with non-traditional vegan sweets not often found at Christmas gatherings. With this in mind, we’ve scoured the internet to find everything from cruelty-free beignets to peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough that’s ready in five minutes. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

1. Beignets
If you ask us, there’s no better non-traditional treat to bring to a holiday gathering than southern-fried beignets. We love Bay Area Bites’ recipe, which calls for yeast, sugar, salt, egg replacer, and coconut milk. The best part about this recipe is that you don’t need a special fryer to cook the beignets, as you can easily use your frying pan. The most important ingredient for this recipe is powdered sugar because nothing says “beignets” like extra sweetness.

2. Doughnut holes
We’ve heard that many non-vegans enjoy Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and we figure it’s time to understand what all the hype is about. To accomplish this, we look to Nerdy Mama’s recipe for a veganized version of this popular treat. You’ll need to make the dough the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. And, similar to the beignet recipe, a frying pan and a stove work perfectly for frying these yummy desserts.

3. S’mores
What’s one way to make Christmas even more enjoyable? S’mores, of course! Not only is this a delicious treat but they’re so simple to make! Just buy Dandies marshmallows (which you can find at many health food stores or on Amazon.com), Nabisco Grahams Original (which you can purchase at Walmart), and dark chocolate of your choice. Toast the marshmallows on the stove to get them black and gooey, microwave the chocolate for 15 seconds with the graham crackers, and you’ve got yourself an amazing Christmas snack.

4. 5-Minute Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
The holidays are a hectic time, so naturally we had to include a recipe that takes five minutes to make. There are literally two instructions from Blissful Basil. First, into a medium mixing bowl, whisk together oat flour, coconut sugar, rolled oats, and sea salt until combined. Then, add ¼ cup almond milk, nut butter, and vanilla. Add chocolate chips and other desired ingredients. Once you completed these two steps, you’re ready to eat out of the bowl or roll the cookie dough into balls. How easy is that?

5. Avocado brownies
Vegans are always interested in trying new things, which might explain why we love Gimmie Some Oven’s recipe for avocado brownies. The fact that these desserts take 30 minutes to make doesn’t hurt, either. As mentioned on the blog, these brownies are fudgy, chewy, and filled with enough chocolate to satisfy anyone with a sweet tooth. The avocado isn’t noticeable, either! Surprising, right?

Rebecca Sykes is a writer in San Diego who is a passionate vegan for the animals. Her hobbies include going to animal sanctuaries, finding new vegan restaurants, and educating others on the vegan lifestyle.