Vegetables, Beans, and Fruits Are the Secret Ingredients in These 12 Decadent Desserts

Baking season is officially in full swing. Traditional baking normally calls for animal-derived ingredients such as eggs, butter, and cow’s milk but vegan baking, of course, omits these common ingredients. Plant-based baking presents a unique, but oh-so-satisfying challenge. And while animal ingredients are omitted, vegan baking itself isn’t inherently healthy. Sugar, for example, is prevalent in vegan baked goods. 

However, if you’re looking to whip up better-for-you sweets, these plant-based dessert recipes boast secret ingredients you’d never guess. 

RELATED: 28 Dairy-Free Chocolatey Recipes to Whip Up Now: Never Skip Dessert Again

Vegan dessert recipes made with vegetables, beans, and fruits

From black bean brownies to sweet potato celebration cakes, these desserts are made with healthy ingredients. We promise you won’t taste the veg! 

1Vegan Chocolate Chip White Bean Blondies

Tender white beans are the secret ingredient in this recipe from the Mostly Plant-Based cookbook. These good-for-you legumes not only add moisture and a surprising touch of fudginess, they also infuse these decadent dessert squares with plant protein and fiber.  
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Emani Corcran

2Vegan Chickpea Cookie Dough

As tempting as it may be, consuming raw cookie dough can lead to serious health complications. Even egg-free cookie dough poses the risk of salmonella infection. Luckily, edible vegan cookie dough is having its time in the spotlight, but if you’re looking for a better-for-you alternative, whip up a batch of this chickpea cookie dough from the Blk Vegan cookbook.
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3Silky Vegan Chocolate Avocado Mousse

For the most luxurious chocolate mousse, reach for Haas avocados. The almighty avo imparts healthy fats, extra creaminess, and the most divine silky texture to this dark chocolate mousse from the Plants First cookbook. 
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Alleko

4Four-Ingredient Chocolate Chip Oat Milk Banana Ice Cream

Potassium-rich bananas, not dairy, make up the base of this frozen treat. Best of all, this recipe from The Oat Milk Cookbook calls for just four ingredients you likely already have in your kitchen.
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Maya A. Howard

5Vegan and Gluten-Free Black Bean Fudge Brownies

You’ll never taste the protein-rich black beans in these extra fudgy brownies from the High-Protein Plant-Based Diet for Beginners cookbook. Plus, chia seeds add even more nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, B vitamins, and minerals (including calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium). Prefer an oil-free, protein-packed brownie recipe? Give this vegan recipe a go. 
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Dreena Burton

6Vegan Sweet Potato Cake

This celebration-worthy cake from the Dreena’s Kind Kitchen cookbook gets its mellow sweetness, moisture, and tender crumb from yellow sweet potatoes. The star tuber is also combined with coconut butter, milk, vanilla bean, and sugar to create the thick, creamy frosting that adds a festive final touch. 
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Dreena Burton

7Easy Vegan Double-Chocolate Zucchini Quick Bread

Zucchini bread may not be the most enticing snack for kids simply given its vegetable-forward name. However, this recipe from the Dreena’s Kind Kitchen cookbook adds cocoa, bananas, and chocolate chips (as well as protein-rich hemp seeds) to the classic snacking cake. If it looks like chocolate cake, and tastes like chocolate cake, it’s probably chocolate cake, right?
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8Fudgy Vegan Raspberry Brownie Bites

You won’t find any beans in this brownie recipe from the Love to Eat cookbook, but that doesn’t mean it’s missing good-for-you ingredients. Fresh, antioxidant-rich raspberries are lightly smashed and mixed into brownie batter for a slightly jammy and chocolatey treat you’ll keep coming back to. 
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9Moist Vegan Carrot and Banana Bread With Golden Turmeric Cream

This recipe from the Let’s Go Nuts cookbook boasts a trifecta of healthy ingredients. The loaf itself is studded with bananas and carrots, the latter of which is rich in beta-carotene, a nutrient that supports eye health and immunity. Plus, the cream topping is made with antioxidant-rich and anti-inflammatory turmeric. Serve yourself a slice for breakfast and enjoy with a turmeric latte.
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10Vegan Chocolate Brownie Doughnuts

Brownies, doughnuts, and zucchini bread are combined into one extravagant dessert in this recipe from the Cook. Heal. Go Vegan! cookbook. Dark chocolate, bananas, almond butter, chia seeds, and zucchini impart a touch of protein, omega-3s, antioxidants, fiber, and more to this healthy treat. 
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Gibbs Smith Publishing

11Silky Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Mousse

Out of avocados? This chocolate mousse recipe from the Living Crazy Healthy cookbook calls for sweet potatoes to create a truly tasty dessert. 
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So Vegan

12Vegan Sweet Potato Brownies

Sweet potatoes are a magical ingredient. From mousse to cake and even brownies, these tots add a delicious, healthful twist to any dessert. These gooey, fudgy brownies from the So Vegan in 5 cookbook provide even more proof. 
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Jocelyn Martinez is an Associate Editor at VegNews living in Los Angeles, CA.