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Our Top 21 Comforting and Healthy Baking Recipes

By Lisa Esile, MS,

Last Updated:

Whether it's in the simplicity of a blend-and-pour recipe or the exertion of a kneading marathon, many people find peace through baking. It can be a meditative process—plus, there's nothing like the satisfaction of seeing your creation emerge from the oven.  This collection of 21 whole-food, plant-based recipes includes muffins, loaves, cakes, cookies, brownies, and rolls. They rely heavily on pantry staples. Featuring wholesome ingredients such as black beans, oats, applesauce, and other fruit, they're healthier than typical vegan desserts. Grab your apron!

Peanut Butter-Banana Brownies

Banana and Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

The peanut butter in these scrumptious chocolate treats give them a rich, nutty depth. Serve with sliced bananas for a fresh, almost creamy topping.
Spelt Banana-Walnut Bread mini loaves wrapped in parchment paper with a green ribbon bow

Spelt Banana Bread with Toasted Walnuts

Sweetened with dates and ripe bananas, these moist, subtly sweet mini vegan banana bread loaves are healthy without sacrificing that divine banana bread flavor.
Pioneer Gingerbread with a dollop of aquafaba whipped cream on a gray ceramic plate

Pioneer Gingerbread

This chewy gingerbread can be made gluten-free if needed. Most of the ingredients are pantry staples. Heat up that oven!
Vegan Easter Dessert Double Chocolate Instant Pot Cake

Vegan Double Chocolate Instant Pot Cake

If you haven't tried baking in your multicooker then prepare to have your world changed. This incredibly moist vegan Instant Pot cake is chocolatey and delicious and steams in a 6×3-inch springform pan inside a multicooker.
Vegan Lunchbox Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lunchbox Chocolate Chip Cookies

The smell of these vegan chocolate chip cookies wafting through the house is reason enough to make them. Almond butter gives the cookies a perfectly chewy texture.
vegan brownies

Raspberry Truffle Brownies

The tartness of raspberries combined with rich, chocolatey flavors and fudgy texture make these vegan brownies extra special.
Healthy Brownies

Outrageously Healthy Black Bean Brownies

Moist and chocolatey, these black bean and rolled oat brownies are the healthiest brownies you'll come across. Not that you'd know it!
vegan biscuits

Mom’s Baking Powder Biscuits with Almonds

With no added sweetener these golden almond meal cookies are mild-tasting and incredibly moorish. Added bonus: They only have six ingredients and are ready in 20 minutes.
Wholesome Vegan Oat Snackles

Wholesome Oat Snackles

Savor the flavor of these scrumptious cookie bites. Featuring orange zest, rolled oats, and raisins, they're a lovely combination of zesty-sweet and satisfying.
vegan blueberry muffins

Vegan Blueberry Muffins

Ground cardamon, lemon zest, and fresh or frozen blueberries are the stars of the show in these tender vegan blueberry muffins. Make plenty as they freeze well.

Crunchy, bite-sized, and dusted with cinnamon these crunchy vegan snickerdoodle-like cookies are deliciously addictive.
apple maple cinnamon rolls wordpress

Apple-Maple Cinnamon Rolls

These heavenly Apple-Maple Cinnamon Rolls are as comforting to eat as they are to make. They take just under four hours from start to finish and are the perfect project if you've got some time on your hands.
vegan carrot cake

Perfect Vegan Carrot Cake

Carrot cake is typically a pretty oily affair. Not so with this beauty. Rich, moist, and fragrant with spices, this vegan version has no added oil. The frosting is optional and is made with dates and cashews.

Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf

Take pumpkin puree, almond butter, applesauce, vegan chocolate chips, and a bunch of pantry staples and you've got yourself a dense, chocolatey, moist loaf.
Almond Poppy Seed Cake topped with strawberries on a slate serving tray

Almond Poppy Seed Cake

Serve this scrumptious cake plain or with Lemon Frosting. You'll grind millet and oats for some of the flour, adding a hint of nutty, earthy flavor.
Vegan Jelly Doughnut Holes for new site

Jelly Doughnut Holes

These are so much fun to make. Jam is piped into each one after they've been baked for a sweet-tasting treat.
Chewy-Lemon-Oatmeal-Cookies-300kb

Chewy Lemon-Oatmeal Cookies

Loaded with goodness and fragrant with lemon zest, these chewy cookies taste divine and are incredibly satisfying.

Cranberry-Orange Biscotti

Grab in-season oranges (or store-bought OJ) and dried cranberries and make a batch of this scrumptious, citrus-scented vegan biscotti.
These little cranberry orange vegan pumpkin muffins are moist and delicious, not too sweet & reminiscent of the cranberry orange bread my Mom used to make.

Cranberry Orange Pumpkin Muffins

These flour-free muffins are made with a base of rolled oats. They're an enchanting mix of incredibly moist and fruity, and feature ripe bananas, pumpkin, date paste, and orange zest.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Bliss Balls

Ready in 35 minutes, these chocolate chip treats are fabulously easy to make. Just blend, roll, and bake!

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Making cupcakes is always fun, as they're so darn cute. These vegan chocolatey cupcakes can be made gluten-free.  The rich fudgy frosting is made with dates and cocoa powder.

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About the Author

Headshot of Lisa Esile, MS

About the Author

Lisa Esile, MS

As an author, Do Nothing meditation instructor, and wellness coach, Lisa Esile combines her love for food and nutrition with her mental health background and delights in helping people find a stress-free way to make lasting lifestyle changes. Esile has a master’s degree in human nutrition and is the co-author/illustrator of Whose Mind Is It Anyway? Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life. Learn more at lisaesile.com.
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