Healthy, Easy, Dairy-Free Desserts You Can Make in Your Blender – One Green Planet

No matter if you’re allergic or just trying to avoid it, ditching dairy is a good thing. Let’s put aside that it’s been linked to cancer and diabetes, along with multiple digestive problems. And we’ll even take a moment to halt the focus on the fact that milk from another species just isn’t necessary (or normal!) and that the entire dairy industry is pretty cruel, even those that promote themselves as humane. For now, we’re going to focus on edible reasons why dairy just isn’t needed for making delicious food.

When it comes to food, we needn’t subject animals to cruelty or subject ourselves to possible health risks associated with animal foods, like dairy. We have so many versatile plant-based options for meals, snacks, and yes, even desserts too. When you think of desserts, you probably think of sweet and creamy, right? Maybe rich, decadent, whipped, and elegant too. Whatever the case and whatever you deem as dessert-worthy, we’d like to show you how to take your typical recipes to dairy-free in an instant.

The best part? These are so easy, you can make them all in your blender, save yourself some dishwashing time, and oh – let’s not forget – eliminate the problems that come from lumpy mixes. Your blender will take care of that, while we take care of the dairy-free delights.

Here are 10 dairy-free desserts to make in your blender ASAP!

1. Cakes

Making cake batter in your blender is a cinch. Toss everything in, turn the switch, and ta-da! You’re done. No lumpy mixes, no floury bits at the bottom. Just a rich, silky cake that’s divine. Another benefit of blending your batter instead of mixing it by hand is that it mixes everything quicker and more evenly which prevents you from over-stirring the batter and unconsciously making it tough without knowing it. If you have a tough textured cake, over-mixing is usually one reason. Blending takes care of that and eliminates those spoons and hand mixers. Try these healthy options: raw Double Chocolate Cake, Raw Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes, Vanilla Raspberry and Peppermint Cream Cake With Cacao Truffles, or Carrot Cake with Creamy Cashew Lemon Frosting.

See all of our vegan cake recipes here.

PS- Just don’t forget: Mix your frosting separately and leave out any items you want to add texture, such as berries, nuts, seeds, chocolate, or cacao chips, and stir those in by hand. This Oat and Pecan Cake With Ginger Vanilla Frosting is a favorite and a must-make to try first!

2. Pies

Pie is quite honestly, such an innocent dessert. It appears pretty simple, but tastes oh so incredible! Whether you go for a simple chocolate cream, or a more indulgent Mississippi mud pie, everyone who enjoys and makes pie knows that the creamier and fluffier the filling, the better. Your blender can help get you there and no, you do not need heavy cream with options like coconut milk, beloved cashews, pumpkin, or even avocados- who knew?! Some people even whip tofu to make it creamy, so if you’re brave, give that one a try too. For now, try some of these options: Sugar and Oil-Free Pumpkin Pie, Mostly Raw Lemon Cream Pie, Sugar-Free Frozen Banana Bourbon Pie (for those health eaters that need a little extra something, something!), or Raw Fig Pie.

See all of our pie recipes here.

3. Puddings

Pudding is one of those desserts that can go either way – into a sugary bomb of fluffy indulgence, or a just as exciting, creamy, fluffy, and naturally sweet pudding. We’ll go with the latter, thanks! No JELL-O pudding mixes needed here when we have options like Raw Chocolate Berry Pudding (look at that creamy factor!).  Pudding is one of the best desserts to make in your blender because the air actually whips the pudding into shape and eliminates a ‘flat’ texture or lumps you might miss when stirring by hand. Oh, and skip those eggs and egg whites needed in traditional puddings. Try these options instead: Chocolate Chia Breakfast Pudding, Nutrient-Dense Chocolate Raspberry Pudding, Blueberry Breakfast Chia Pudding, French Toast Chia Power Pudding, and this magical delight- Nearly Fat-Free Chocolate Vegan Pudding.

See more pudding delights if you’re still hungry here.

4. Cupcakes

 

Cupcakes just make life better, and until we all get a Babycakes around our neighborhood (and when all other dreams come true), then we’ll have to make our own at home. Lucky for us, with a blender and some vegan ingredients, the possibilities are endless. Now, sure, you can definitely make cupcakes without a blender, but as you’ll see with cake batters, cupcake batters come out more consistent when blended versus stirring by hand (unless you’re a cupcake pro). You have a lot of healthy options when it comes to cupcakes. Instead of regular (refined) flour, use gluten-free or wheat-free options instead, such as coconut flour, almond flour, or even chia and flax. See more tips for gluten-free baking here.

You can also use bananas, date puree, applesauce, or dried fig puree instead of sugar, or go with baking stevia in place of sugar. Egg-free options include: pumpkin, bananas, applesauce, and egg-replacers, while dairy can easily be replaced with dairy-free milks, dairy-free yogurts, or simple cashew or coconut cream. Try these Grain-Free Tuxedo Cupcakes or Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate “Buttercream” Frosting as two great examples of healthier cupcakes, or put a healthy spin on any of our regular cupcake recipes.

5. Fudge

Fudge is a great thing to make in your blender because it has to be set properly to turn out as best as possible. And since many fudge ingredients are heated beforehand, you want to ensure you’ve mixed everything properly before it starts to cool. Even if you make raw fudge, mixing everything in your blender first will still ensure that the flavors are dispersed evenly. This is also helpful if you’re mixing nut butter into fudge that isn’t the same temperature as the heated mixture is.

If your fudge requires you to heat it before cooling, be sure your blender holds up to high heat well (most do), and then after blending, pour it into your pan of choice to cool. Be sure to add ingredients with texture (like walnuts or cacao nibs) last so they don’t get pulverized during blending).

Try these fudge recipes: Clean Eating Pumpkin Pecan Fudge, Healthiest Vegan Fudge Ever, Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge. or Healthy Avocado Fudge. See other fudge recipes here.

6. Ice Cream

When all else fails, there’s always ice cream. And who can resist the sweet, cold indulgence this dessert brings with every spoonful? Honestly, ice cream is one of life’s greatest pleasures, so why not make your body feel better after eating it, versus suffering some digestive issues from regular versions?  Ice cream is easy to make in the blender, even with just non-dairy milk. Even if you don’t have an ice cream maker, a high-speed blender (and some regular blenders) can still whip frozen fruits, almond milk ice cream,s, and other vegan ingredients into instant ice cream in a flash.

Try these healthy options, all worthy of just as much indulgence as the kind you grew up loving: Effortless Nut Butter Ice Cream,  Easy Banana Cacao Ice Cream, Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream, or turn that ice cream into a sandwich with Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches. See more delicious ice cream recipes here if you’re still hungry.

7. Dessert Muffins

Yes, muffins can be an easy breakfast item, but they don’t hold you over so well. They’re much more fun to eat for dessert instead! Then you can think of them like a healthier cupcake but without the frosting. Muffins can be packed out with just about anything. Try these Strawberry Chocolate Chip Buckwheat Muffins, which are so sweet and nutty, or go for these Zen Fusion Carrot Cakes With Cashew Frosting. To make these in your blender, just add all the batter ingredients, but leave out ingredients you want to add texture to your muffins, like fruit, nuts, seeds, or chocolate chips, and stir those in once the batter is blended. Then, just pour in a muffin pan as usual and bake away!

8. Brownies

Sort of like fudge, but a bit less intense, brownies are a classic that no other can rival but are still a great dessert to be creative with whenever possible. For instance, don’t just stick with box mixes; add something special to your brownie recipes. While you needn’t deter from their cake-like texture, you can still emphasize healthier ingredients with a rich, fudgy flavor. Cocoa and cacao powder are two of the most brilliant baking ingredients ever. They’re a replacement for flour and they add fatty flavor without much fat at all. They also mix perfectly together with other flours like coconut, almond, or even wheat or quinoa-based flours. For sweetness, go with some applesauce, bananas, date puree, vegan vanilla yogurt, or fig puree. Of, if you need something sweeter, go with some baking stevia, and to keep things really healthy, go with raw brownies (a favorite here), that are easy to make in your blender too.

Making brownies in the blender is a cinch, much like cakes and cupcakes. This is especially true if you’re using nut butters since blending (versus stirring) will help them cream up easier and still add a beautiful swirl to your recipes! Here are 10 Easy Brownie Recipes or try these options: Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Brownies, Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Brownies, Raw, Vegan and Gluten-Free Peppermint Chocolate Brownies, Totally Raw Brownies With Pecan Nuts, Raw Vegan Chocolate Brownies, and Very Chocolaty Chocolate Vegan Brownies. 

9. Frozen Yogurt

Migel/Flickr

 

Quite possibly one of the easiest recipes to make, vegan frozen yogurt takes less than almost no effort and absolutely no frozen yogurt maker. Grab your favorite vegan yogurt (or make your own), and add it to your blender with either some frozen fruit or other mix-ins you like. Even if you just use vanilla extract, cacao chips, or items like cacao powder, bananas, nut butter, goji berries, or coconut shreds, vegan yogurt is quick and easy without a yogurt maker. Either blend all the ingredients together first and then freeze in a glass container for two hours, or blend everything and place into ice cube trays, freeze, and blend for a thicker texture. (This does work better with high-speed blenders, mind you.)

 

Jerry/Flickr 

You can even make your yogurt thicker before freezing by straining it with a cheesecloth for a few hours, or just leave it in the container it comes in, and freeze for 2-3 hours. And there you have it; you’ve got instant frozen yogurt with hardly any effort at all. If you’re not into yogurt or want to add yogurt to some fruit sorbet, make these options: Green Juice Sorbet, Strawberry Banana Sorbet, and Mango Sorbet with Banana and Pineapple.

10. Homemade Chocolate and Caramel Sauce

You can’t have dessert without a rich, fudgy, or caramel topping, right? These are also easy to make healthy and in your blender. To make fudge sauce, just mix some warmed coconut oil or warmed coconut butter (which will harden when it cools at room temp or refrigerated) with some raw cacao or cocoa powder. You can also blend it with a healthy sweetener like date puree or stevia. For caramel sauces, dates are a great vegan hack to take advantage of. Soak the dates (which have a natural caramel texture) and blend with some warm coconut butter or warm coconut oil (which will harden when cooled) and a tsp. maca powder. Maca has a natural caramel flavor that blends perfectly with soaked dates. The warmed coconut oil or butter will help these blend more easily and will ensure they all set better when cooled. Blending everything together is easier than heating it all and stirring in a pan, which is an easy way to burn your ingredients.

Try these sauce recipes on any of the ice cream recipes above, or in a vegan sundae. You can also try these flavors out in Almond Cacao Coconut Cookies with Salted Maca Caramel or Raw Chocolate Coconut Balls.

Now, who’s got room for the pricey milk, cream cheese, butter, dairy ice cream, and frozen yogurts? Not us!

Also see: 10 Incredible Dishes You Can Make in a High-Speed Blender and How to Use Your Blender to Whip Up So Much More Than Smoothies. What are your favorite dairy-free treats to eat?

Learn How to Cook Plant-Based Meals at Home

Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental well-being, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health, and more! Dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, and prostate cancer, and has many side effects.

For those of you interested in eating more plant-based we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App — with over 20,000 delicious recipes it is the largest plant-based recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals, and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Here are some great resources to get you started:

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