15 of Our Top Plant-Based Dessert Recipes from 2023!

Life is truly sweet, and so was this year! Here’s this year’s roundup of our top recipes! These recipes had us drooling this year and satisfied our sweet tooth. Check out these amazing dessert recipes from 2023!

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1. Mint Melt Away Chocolate Tartlets

Source: Mint Melt Away Chocolate Tartlets

These Mint Melt Away Chocolate Tartlets by Carol Clayton are luscious, ultra-chocolatey filling, paired with a chewy no-bake crust, and are one of the best desserts you’ll ever taste! In the spirit of the season, I added mint to the ganache filling which is divided between mini tart pans for easy sharing. This recipe is also the perfect amount for 1 (9½ x 1½”) tart and freezes beautifully. I promise, your guest will love it!

2. Financiers

Source: Financiers

These Financiers by Philip Khoury are memorable for their nutty flavor. I use a mix of ground hazelnut and almond to make them nutty and supremely moreish. It is traditional to bake these in a little bar mold – the name ‘financier’ does after all refer to the shape of gold bars. You can buy specific financier molds made from silicone or traditional molded steel pans. Feel free to use a muffin mold too – just fill it up halfway.   Excerpted with permission from A New Way to Bake by Philip Khoury published by ‎Hardie Grant Publishing, September 2023

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3. Flancocho

Source: Flancocho

Flancocho is a custard that is baked on top of a chocolate cake. Flan is a popular dessert in Puerto Rico, normally made with condensed milk and sugar to make a custard. This Flancocho by Lyana Blount was a recipe I worked on for three months to perfect, and it is now a popular item on the Black Rican Vegan menu. This dessert is sweet, and the custard texture mixed with the moist chocolate cake makes it a perfect bite every time. You’ll need a Bundt pan for this recipe, so make sure to plan ahead.     Credit: Reprinted with permission from Black Rican Vegan by Lyana Blount. Page Street Publishing Co. 2023. Photo credit: Mariana Peláez.

4. Orange Upside-Down Cake

Source: Orange Upside-Down Cake

This Orange Upside-Down Cake by Charlotte Roberts is one of my favorite simple recipes for any occasion and I’m so excited to share it with you! A light and delicate sponge cake, infused with the vibrant tangy notes of orange, is perfect if you’re after something sweet but slightly lighter. By layering the oranges at the base of your cake pan, it creates this glorious, caramelized topping and allows all the divine syrupy juices to soak into the sponge.

Credit: Reprinted with permission from Decadent Vegan Cakes by Charlotte Roberts. Page Street Publishing Co. 2023. Photo credit: Charlotte Roberts.

5. Hawaiian Sunshine Crumble Squares

Source: Hawaiian Sunshine Crumble Squares

The flavors of this Hawaiian Sunshine Crumble Squares by Crystal Bonnet will make you feel like you’re in a tropical paradise on a beach. This is a fun recipe to enjoy for breakfast or a snack. Don’t omit the sunflower lecithin powder in this recipe; it’s key to the tropical cream’s creamy consistency.   Credit: Reprinted with permission from The Art of Raw Desserts by Crystal Bonnet. Page Street Publishing Co. 2022. Photo credit: Crystal Bonnet.

6. Scottish Shortbread

Source: Scottish Shortbread

The goal is a buttery texture that melts in your mouth but is soft and crumbly at the same time. This shortbread is best the day it is baked, so I like to cut and bake only as many as I need at one time, and keep the remaining dough refrigerated.   Excerpted from BReD by Edward Tatton and Natasha Tatton. Copyright © 2023 Edward Tatton and Natasha Tatton. Photography by Janis Nicolay. Published by Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

7. Tiramisu

Source: Tiramisu

Tiramisu is so legendary you could be forgiven for thinking it has been around forever, but it is a relatively new concoction thought to have emerged in the 1960s in Treviso, Italy. This Tiramisu by Philip Khoury maintains the simplicity the original is famous for, using simple plant-based ingredients. There is one big difference that I am recommending and that is to make a sumptuous and moist coffee sponge that doesn’t need to be soaked in the same way as the original, which makes it a lot easier to handle and to create lovely layers.

Excerpted with permission from A New Way to Bake by Philip Khoury published by ‎Hardie Grant Publishing, September 2023.

8. Coffee Lovers Caramel Drip Cake

Source: Coffee Lovers Caramel Drip Cake

As you can guess from the title, this cake is dedicated to all the coffee lovers out there, including me! This Coffee Lovers Caramel Drip Cake by Charlotte Roberts has two layers of moist coffee-infused sponge cake that are gloriously sandwiched together and coated with a vanilla coffee buttercream frosting and a generous drizzle of homemade coffee caramel sauce.

Credit: Reprinted with permission from Decadent Vegan Cakes by Charlotte Roberts. Page Street Publishing Co. 2023. Photo credit: Charlotte Roberts.

9. Carrot Cake Sticky Toffee Pudding

Source: Carrot Cake Sticky Toffee Pudding

I awoke with a jolt one morning. The reason? In my mind, sticky toffee pudding and carrot cake should become one. It makes so much friggin’ sense. They have a lot of the same ingredients, but when I tell you adding carrots to a sticky toffee pudding was a good idea, I am vastly understated what is happening here. The marriage of dates and carrots with the toffee sauce will forever be burned into my brain as one of the best desserts I have ever had and this Carrot Cake Sticky Toffee Pudding by Lauren Boehme is worth making.  Credit: Reprinted with permission from Delicious AF Vegan by Lauren Boehme. Page Street Publishing Co. 2023. Photo credit: Lauren Boehme and Julie Grace.

10. Chocolate Chip Cookies

Source: Chocolate Chip Cookies

The perfect vegan chocolate chip cookies. These incredible Chocolate Chip Cookies by Caroline Doucet are soft in the middle with slightly crispy edges. Plus, there’s no chilling required!

11. The Best Vegan Coconut Cake

Source: The Best Vegan Coconut Cake

This Vegan Coconut Cake by Charlotte Roberts makes somewhat of a bold statement, but I do believe that this is the best vegan coconut cake that I’ve had the pleasure of eating! I’m obsessed with anything coconut-flavored, so the recipe is a favorite of mine!

Credit: Reprinted with permission from Decadent Vegan Cakes by Charlotte Roberts. Page Street Publishing Co. 2023. Photo credit: Charlotte Roberts.

12. Basbousa

Source: Basbousa

While basbousa is originally Egyptian, it can be found throughout virtually all of the Middle East. To bess in Arabic means “to dredge,” which is where this dessert gets its name because it’s made by massaging butter into semolina granules before adding the rest of the ingredients. Creating a vegan version of Basbousa by Noha Elbadry-Cloud that had the same rich-yet-light flavor and solid-yet-crumbly texture was tricky, but after much recipe testing, the result is breathtaking. Every bite is buttery, melt-in-your-mouth good, and bursting with the gorgeous floral flavors of the soaking syrup. Fun fact, because of its sweetness, basbousais used as a term of endearment between loved ones.   Credit: Reprinted with permission from The Vegan Middle Eastern Cookbook by Noha Elbadry – Cloud. Page Street Publishing Co. 2023. Photo credit: Noha Elbadry – Cloud.

13. Marble Bundt Cake

Source: Marble Bundt Cake

This Marble Bundt Cake by Michaela Vais makes a decadent dessert that will impress any guest!

14. Edible Brownie Batter

Source: Edible Brownie Batter

This Edible Brownie Batter by Mitch and Justine Chapman is rich, decadent, and full of intense chocolate flavor. Made with minimal plant-based ingredients, it takes just 10 minutes to create! Enjoy this treat on its own, or use it as a dip!

15. Marble Oatmeal Banana Bread

Source: Marble Oatmeal Banana Bread

Words cannot express how good this Marble Oatmeal Banana Bread by Jillian Glenn is and how impressed everyone will be when you bake a batch. It looks almost too good to eat, but it’s deceptively simple and has some healthy hidden ingredients inside! It’s free of white sugar, uses minimal oil, and includes overripe bananas and maple syrup for sweetness and moisture. We substitute some of the flour for oats in this recipe, making it much more filling while giving it a light and fluffy texture. Bake this loaf for your family and be prepared for everyone to be amazed!

Credit: Reprinted with permission from Healthy Vegan Breakfasts and Lunches by Jillian Glenn. Page Street Publishing Co. 2023. Photo credit: Jillian Glenn.

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