5 Easy Vegan Easter Dessert Recipes

All of the vegans in your life will thank you for preparing one (or more) of these 5 easy vegan Easter dessert recipes, and you will appreciate that they are all easy to make with ingredients you can find in nearly any supermarket.  Even though Easter is a traditionally egg-centric holiday, there are plenty of Easter desserts that you can make without the use of eggs, dairy or other animal products. Remember to check the labels of all ingredients to be sure they do not contain any animal-derived products.

Ambrosia Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 20-ounce cans of pineapple chunks
• 2 11-ounce cans of mandarin oranges
• 1/2 cup maraschino cherries
• 3 large bananas,sliced
• 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
• 2 6-ounce cups of vanilla or strawberry-flavored soy yogurt
• Coconut to taste
• Cinnamon to taste (optional)

1. Drain the canned fruit well and place into a large bowl.
2. Mix in the yogurt, being careful not to crush the fruit.
3. Stir in the chopped nuts.
4. Sprinkle with coconut and cinnamon (if using) just before serving

Stuffed Dates

Ingredients:

• Medjool dates
• Natural peanut butter or almond butter
• Agave nectar

1. Cut a slit down the side of each date and remove the pit.
2. Fill the pit cavity with nut butter.
3. Drizzle stuffed dates sparingly with agave nectar.

Strawberry Cobbler

Ingredients:

• 6 cups strawberries: washed, hulled and sliced
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cup flour, divided
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup (one stick) vegan margarine
• 2/3 cup soy milk mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine strawberries, 1/4 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar and lemon juice in a 9 X 13 inch baking dish and mix well.
3. Combine the remaining dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Cut in the vegan margarine with a pastry mixer or two forks.  The mixture will resemble large crumbs.
4. Add the soy milk/lemon juice mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until well mixed.
5. Spoon dough over the strawberries in the baking dish. The mixture will be very thick, but try to cover most of the strawberries.
6. Bake in preheated oven 30-35 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Let cool 10 minutes before cutting.

Vegan Birds' Nests

Ingredients:

• 1 10 oz. bag vegan chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon shortening
• 1 5-ounce bag fried chow mein noodles
• Vegan pastel egg candies

1. Melt chocolate chips and shortening over low heat in a double boiler.
2. When chocolate is entirely melted, pour noodles into the chocolate and stir to coat all of the noodles, being careful not to break them.
3. Drop noodles by spoonfuls onto waxed paper, then immediately use the back of the spoon to make a nest-like indentation on top of each one.
4. Immediately place three vegan pastel egg candies in each nest.
5. Allow nests to dry fully before attempting to move.

Decadent Vegan "Cheese" Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 8-ounce containers of vegan cream cheese
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 vegan graham cracker crust (check ingredients or make one from scratch)
• Fresh fruit for the topping (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice in large mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed 1-2 minutes or until mixture is smooth.
2. Beat in cornstarch.
3. Pour the mixture into the graham cracker crust.
4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the cheesecake becomes puffy all around (it will go down as it cools).
5. If desired, add fresh fruit to the top of the cheesecake once it reaches room temperature.