Opinion Vegan Christmas dessert recipes to satisfy every sweet tooth

Decadent plant-based recipes for gingerbread, Christmas puddings, cookies, mince pies, fruit cakes, cheesecake, chocolate truffles, peppermints, meringues & more!

Looking for an indulgent vegan dessert recipe that’s guaranteed to impress your friends and family this festive season? 

We’ve rounded up all of our absolute favourite, tried-and-true recipes – including some plant-based versions of traditional Christmas recipes, as well as some deliciously creative twists on the classics.

Set the table for sweetness and cheer with these festive vegan desserts:

Gingerbread, Shortbread & Christmas Cookies

Dutch Spiced Gingerbread Log 

This delightfully spiced gingerbread log is inspired by a classic Dutch treat called gevulde speculaas. A delicious mouthful in more ways than one!

Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies 

Rich, fudgy, and infused with Christmassy notes of peppermint, these snow-dusted crinkle cookies are ideal treats for the festive season. 

Vegan Gingerbread Cookies 

These festive gingerbread cookies are perfectly crisp on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside. If you plan on adding some decorative details, try this vegan-friendly cookie icing.

Vegan Shortbread

It’s super easy to make melt-in-your mouth plant-based shortbread. Just swap out the dairy for readily available plant-based butter instead!

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

We didn’t think it was possible to improve on a classic shortbread … until we tried choc chip shortbread and our eyes were opened. It’s a match made in heaven! 

Traditional Puddings

The Ultimate Vegan Christmas Pudding 

Making a fruity, boozy Christmas pudding from scratch might sound a bit daunting, but the hands-on time is actually pretty minimal… and the payoff in bragging rights is huge 😉

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Another take on a beloved English classic – this one adds an extra festive layer of richness by soaking the dates in coffee as opposed to water. Game-changer!

Sticky Date Pudding 

A classic for a reason! This delectable sticky date pudding is best enjoyed fresh out of the oven, so toasty warm that it melts your scoop of dairy-free ice cream within minutes. 

Decadent Tarts & Pies

Vegan Mince Pies 

There’s nothing quite like the warmly spiced, fruity scent of mince pies to fill your house with Christmas cheer, and this vegan-friendly take hits all the right notes. 

Dark Chocolate Tart with Spiced Figs 

 

This dark chocolate tart is so rich and decadent, no one would ever suspect it’s dairy-free! If you’re not a fan of figs, you can swap them out for raspberries instead.

Vegan Banoffee Cream Pie

Picture a crunchy almond, pecan, and cacao crust, topped with gooey salted caramel, sliced banana, and a mountain of billowy, whipped coconut cream.

Fruit Cakes & Cheesecake

Vegan Christmas Cake

This fruitcake is delicious fresh, but it can also be made up to 6 weeks in advance and stored in an airtight container. You just need to ‘feed’ it with a drizzle of rum or brandy every week or two!

Vegan Biscoff Cheesecake 

As if cheesecake needed to get any better – try pairing it with a biscoff-infused filling, biscoff spread on top, and of course crumbled cookies to decorate!

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Rich Ganache 

Treat yourself to some festive decadence with this rich chocolate fudge cake – thickly frosted with the most delectable chocolate ganache.

German Fruit Cake with Custard

Fruit cake, not fruitcake! This refreshing German classic features soft vegan sponge cake, dairy-free custard, and fruit toppings as bright and sunny as a springtime meadow.

Lemon & Apple Olive Oil Cake 

If you’re looking for a light, fluffy fruit teacake, you can’t go past this delightful recipe – lemon and apple pair so beautifully together. 

Raw Blueberry Macadamia Cheesecake

From the nutty coconut base to the creamy layers of blended macadamia and berry filling, every inch of this blueberry cheesecake is divine – a perfect summer-Christmas treat. 

Lamington Loaf 

Easy to make and super nostalgic. It should be illegal to celebrate any occasion in Australia without at least one lamington-themed dessert! 

Toffee, Truffles & Peppermint Chocolate

Coconut Cherry Truffles 

The ideal balance of fresh, fruity, and indulgent, these chocolate-dipped cherry truffles are just what the festive season ordered.

Christmas Peppermint Slice 

Just a warning – this Christmas peppermint slice recipe is utterly addictive. We highly recommend making a double batch, or it’ll disappear as quickly as a snowflake in the sun!

Vegan Toffee 

Packed with roasted nuts and topped with vegan chocolate, every bit of this multi-layered vegan toffee brittle tastes like the cosiness of Christmas.

Spiced Chocolate Christmas Truffles

A more traditional, deep-flavoured truffle recipe – it doesn’t get more chocolatey than this! The warming spices add a slight hint of gingerbread flavour.

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark

This dreamy dark chocolate peppermint bark – with a layer of white chocolate, and a crunchy topping of crushed candy canes – is 100% vegan, gluten-free, and delicious. 

Assorted Sweet Treats

Mini Pavlova Cups

You can make these cute little egg-free pavlova cups with a magical ingredient called aquafaba. It’s the liquid hiding in your cans of beans, and it whips up just like egg white!

Mango Passion Fruit Eton Mess

Another nifty recipe that uses aquafaba – but this time we’re crumbling those meringues up and sprinkling them between layers of yoghurt, mango, and passionfruit. 

Kombucha Berry Trifle 

These pretty trifle cups are ridiculously quick to make. Just 5 minutes of prep, 15 mins to let the flavours infuse, and you’re ready to assemble your lovely, layered dessert.

Spicy Chilli Maple Nuts 

If you like your sweets with a bit of a kick, these nuts are a spectacular blend of the two. Plus, many of the spices are the same you’d find in gingerbread, which really adds that festive flair! 

Need more recipe ideas for your Christmas menu? 

VegKit’s here to help with all the holiday meal inspiration you could ever need – from ‘meaty’ vegan main courses to side dishes, platter ideas, plant-based cheeses, pasta dishes, ‘seafood’ alternatives, and even festive drinks.

You can buy festive vegan food in stores, too!

There are heaps of plant-based products available in major supermarkets and online these days (including pre-made desserts!) that are perfect if you’ve already got a lot of dishes on the go and are keen to cut down on some food prep. 

Check out our full list of vegan Christmas products for recommendations and stockists.

Happy cooking, friends, and here’s to a food-filled festive season!