Best Vegan Summer Desserts - 20 EASY Dessert Ideas

Best vegan summer desserts recipes

When I think of summer desserts, my mind goes to fruity, vibrant and light recipes. But you might be thinking what can vegans have for desserts. But you might be shocked to hear that there are in fact a lot of variety to choose from. That are undetectably vegan and gluten-free.

In the heat, I don’t like anything heavy. But I still want flavor!

Summer is the perfect time to take advantage of all the amazing fruits that are in season and create a colourful and appealing dish that is bursting with flavour. 

I’ve put together 20 vegan summer dessert ideas. Of the best desserts that just scream summer. From healthy vegan summer desserts, simple vegan summer desserts, raw vegan summer desserts, easy vegan summer desserts, gluten free vegan summer desserts, vegan desserts without butter and just overall the best summer vegan desserts.

Breakfast

French toast

French toast is such a delicious breakfast, but not one everyone can enjoy when it comes to allergies. So I’ve developed the best recipe for vegan french toast that’s eggless, gluten-free and dairy-free!

Let’s be honest french toast is the perfect dessert/breakfast all year round but in the summer in my opinion they’re even better. With a few chopped strawberries to the top and a dollop of whipped cream – vegan of course.

This recipe for eggless french toast is completely vegan, gluten free, and nut free. If however, you’d prefer these not to be vegan there’s an ingredient substitute list below labeled ‘non-vegan alternative’ so you can make this easy gluten free french toast recipe non-vegan.

Lemon Curd

This is the best recipe for lemon curd that’s completely vegan and looks and tastes just like the real thing. It’s super smooth, zesty and creamy just as you’d expect a lemon curd to have.

This curd pairs beautifully on a slice of toast for a breakfast or snack. Or for the filling of a tart or cake! Nothing beats a classic tart with lemon curd in my opinion. 

There are also some ingredient substitutes if you wanted to make this a healthy vegan lemon curd by making it refined sugar free.

Blueberry Jam

This is the easiest recipe for blueberry jam. And can be topped on top of toast or mixed into your favorite desserts.

This no pectin blueberry jam recipe just requires 3 staple ingredients and water (if you can call that an ingredient) and less than 15mins of your time! 

Raspberry banana bread 

This is the fluffiest raspberry banana bread cake recipe you’re going to find. This plant-based banana bread recipe is vegan and gluten-free and packed with berries, you’re going to love it.

In this recipe, I’m going to walk you through how to make banana bread with 1 banana. And how to achieve that fluffy sponge every time.

Scones

You won’t believe how simple this vegan gf scones recipe is! In this post, I will go through all the tips and tricks to get these scones queen Elizabeth approved. 

Why you’ll love this vegan gf scones recipe

• It’s completely vegan and gluten-free
• It’s a scone 4 ingredient recipe
• Perfect for a breakfast, picnic, or tea party

Party/Celebration

Classic Strawberry Shortcake

• This is an absolute classic if you're looking for the perfect summer picnic cake this recipe for mini victoria sponges is wanted you need! 
• I love the addition of strawberries and cream; it adds a burst of freshness. Perfect for a hot summer's day.
• The sponge is made up of less than 10 ingredients! And they’re all regular ingredients you’ll find in your food cupboard. 
• From sugar, milk of choice, and oil.
• Add a little strawberry jam - homemade or shop-bought. I'm not judging 😉 
• Top with some whipped cream - plant-based of course if you wish (it's sold in nearly every grocery store now!) and more strawberries for decor and taste!

Blueberry mousse tart

• “Blueberry dessert” is what over 14k people search on google for every year during Summer. And for good reason blueberry flavoured desserts are superior. And this tart is no exception. 
• This blueberry dessert with cream cheese is a cross between tart and cheesecake. I also refer to this tart as my ‘blueberry mousse cheesecake’. The cream cheese adds stability and creaminess to the tart. 
• Making it a tart tin makes it perfect for parties and events. Vegan or not, this tart is a fan favourite among many friends and family. It is just SO smooth and delicious!

Pavlova

• Crisp pavlova with whipped cream (vegan of course) and fruit. It’s one of my all-time favorite summer desserts. It’s light, pretty, and always a crowd-pleaser. 
• This recipe uses layers of thin meringue piped or dolloped onto your baking tray and baked and cooled in your oven.
• As if you’re making it into a pavlova cake, you’ll start with a meringue layer and smooth over some creamy vegan cream, followed by grilled berries and fruit of choice.  
• Repeat these layers three times, finishing with a pile of fruit and lashings of honey over the top.

Picnic

Strawberry Cupcakes

• Nothing says summer like a strawberry cake and turn that into cupcakes, you have little individual cakes perfect to bring on a picnic/BBQ. 
• To be honest, I eat strawberries all year round, but they’re no way near as sweet and delicious when they are in season. Making these cupcakes is a great way to celebrate the summer months. 
• The super soft and moist cupcake has strawberry jam rippled through it as it bakes to soak up all that delicious strawberry flavour. 
• For the frosting, you will be adding more strawberry jam, vegan butter - the block or spreadable kind and icing sugar, beating it until it’s completely smooth and fluffy - using my epic vegan buttercream guide. 
• Finally, these cupcakes are decorated with a small strawberry on top of the buttercream to garnish!

Lemon Drizzle Cake

• A good cake is a hit year-round. But this recipe really amplifies what we love about summer. 
• The cake is fluffy and moist, and the pop of lemon is perfect against the light cake. 
• With a warm slice and a little drizzle of lemon icing, this cake is hard to resist.

Lemon and Poppyseed Muffins

These quick vegan lemon poppyseed muffins require less than 10 pantry staples and come together in just 30 minutes!

This eggless lemon muffins recipe makes 12 well-risen lemon muffins. Perfect to bring to a picnic!

These easy vegan lemon muffins are so soft and spongy. Speckled with poppyseed and sprinkled with almond flakes for crunch. And lightly sweetened with a zesty lemon drizzle. This vegan lemon poppy seed muffin recipe is perfection.

Quick

Peach Cobbler

• Peaches are delicious. Come summer, they go in everything from cobblers, and cakes to traybakes. 
• This is the perfect recipe for one of those summer nights that has a slight chill. The kind where you need a light blanket over your legs.
• Using an oven-proof skillet, mix your sliced peaches with some sugar, cinnamon, and top with a super simple crumble.
• The crisp topping is a simple mixture of flour, oats, brown sugar and butter. The whole thing can come together in just 15 minutes!

Pistachio and raspberry cheesecake bites

My no bake mini cheesecake bites. They’re smooth, light, refreshing, indulgent, these vegan truffles are awesome!

These raspberry cheesecake truffles are perfect little tiny treats to make as a snack or something extra to add to your party table that’s really quick and easy to whip up.

What’s amazing about these easy no-bake truffles is that they only require 5 ingredients! Raspberry biscuits, vegan cream cheese, vegan chocolate, pistachios.

S’mores cookies

This vegan s’mores cookie recipe is quite possibly the best recipe I have ever developed! They’re gooey and chewy with a crusty exterior and filled with chocolate and marshmallows! It’s the perfect treat to bring to a gathering/BBQ or just everyday baking. They look fancy enough for any celebration.

What’s great about this vegan s’mores cookie recipe is how versatile it is. By adding just a touch more plant based milk to the batter these cookies turn into the most delicious s’more muffins!

These are seriously the best vegan gf smores cookies.

Lemon drizzle cookies

These vegan lemon drizzle cookies are the perfect cookies all year round but possibly even better enjoyed in the spring and summer. Just like a classic lemon drizzle cake, these cookies are also drizzled with a zesty lemon-infused icing for more flavor.

These vegan gluten free lemon sugar cookies are soft and slightly chewy with a crusty exterior! It’s the perfect treat to bring to a gathering/BBQ or just everyday baking. Best of all these are undetectably eggless, dairy-free, nut-free, and gluten-free making these suitable for everyone to enjoy. 

This easy recipe for lemon cookies is made in just one bowl and requires very little chill time. Coming together in less than ½ hour from start to finish!

Although these are oil free vegan lemon cookies I’ll also be sharing with you how to make these lemon cookies with oil instead of butter.

Some extra time

Blueberry cheesecake 

This gluten free blueberry cheesecake recipe is a combination of blueberry cheesecake and a streusel. The perfect comfort dessert, to enjoy all year round. 

This no-bake blueberry cheesecake recipe is composed of a classic cheesecake base made vegan and gluten-free. Layered upon smooth, creamy cashew and cream cheese filling with blueberries scattered throughout and finally sprinkled with a super easy 3 ingredient crumble!
If you’re looking for more cheesecake recipes to add to your baking list check out my No Bake Cheesecake With Strawberries  and Super Simple No bake Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake

Lemon Tart

• I’m more drawn to lemon tarts for their colour. Of course, they taste amazing! But that bright yellow is just so sunny and happy. 
• The crust for this tart is a wonderfully sweet and buttery shortbread (vegan of course). 

Back to the lemon…

• The lemon filling is a simple mixture of plant-based milk, cornflour, sugar, lemon juice, and a pinch of turmeric. Though it can be easily refined sugar-free by opting for maple syrup in place of sugar!!
• Decorate with simple lemon spirals and sliced strawberries and if you want to go the extra mile, add some pastry butterflies to the top using some of that extra pastry.
• Or you can just leave it as it is and let the beautiful lemon colour do the talking

Strawberry and chocolate cheesecake

You cannot go wrong with cheesecake and strawberries. It is the ultimate combination and the perfect spring/summer dessert.

However, it can be quite difficult to find yourself some vegan and gluten-free cookies/biscuits and chocolate that are completely free from too. However, I have come across a brilliant whole food shop that supplies organic vegan ingredients.

Strawberry and chocolate mousse tart

You cannot go wrong with chocolate and strawberries. Which is why this vegan chocolate mousse tart is topped with a strawberry flavored ganache. The ultimate combination and the perfect spring/summer dessert.

This is the perfect tart for parties and events. Vegan or not, this tart is a fan favorite among many friends and family. It is just SO smooth and delicious!If you’re looking to add more vegan tart/dessert recipes to your baking list, try this No Bake Cheesecake With Strawberries or this Bakewell Tart Inspired Almond Cake

Peanut butter and jam tart

The best vegan peanut butter tart recipe you’ll get your hands on.

This layered vegan tart is composed of a light smooth peanut butter cheesecake mousse. Layered upon a refreshing raspberry jam. A buttery biscuit base and a thin decadent chocolate layer. And of course topped with fresh raspberries and pomegranate for balance and texture.

This vegan peanut butter and jam tart has it all.

This layered peanut butter dessert has the consistency of a cheesecake but in a much lighter form. Due to the vegan mousse tofu filling.

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