10 Delectable Vegan Desserts Made with Vegetables

If you can't get your family (or yourself!) to eat enough vegetables, you can try sweetening the deal — literally. By incorporating the orange-fleshed fall/winter veggies — carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, and winter squash into these vegan cakes, pies, muffins, and cookies, you'll be adding a dose of vitamins A and C to your desserts, and a host of antioxidants and fiber.

But you and yours won't taste any of those — just some lovely sweet flavors that will please everyone. (Trust me!)

Cranberry-Carrot Cake is festive and luscious, but with a minimum of fat and a plethora of fresh fruit (and a vegetable!) in the batter, not the least bit guilt-inducing. It’s a nice alternative to pumpkin pie as a Thanksgiving and Christmas dessert.

Carrots and orange juice concentrate pair up in these moist Carrot-Walnut Muffins. Make them in the evening; enjoy a warm muffin for your evening snack, then the next day for an on-the-go breakfast. Or, pack a couple in your or your kids’ lunch box with fresh fruit for a change of pace from a sandwich.

Alicia Simpson's Famous Sweet Potato Pie has made her the official sweet potato pie maker for her family. Try it and see why!

Just as the flavors of pumpkin (or other orange winter squash, especially butternut) and chocolate are surprisingly compatible, so are the flavors of sweet potato and chocolate. Moist and flavorful, Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cake will surprise your taste buds.

It all started with a leftover baked sweet potato that Carrie Forrest (of Carrie on Living) put in the food processor with some other ingredients including nut butter, pumpkin pie spice, applesauce, coconut flour, almond milk, and dried currants. The result was this yummy Sweet Potato Pudding.

Combining coconut milk, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, and sweet spices, Cathe Olson's Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream is a fall treat, on its own or served over a warm dessert. You can cook a fresh pumpkin for this recipe if you like, but canned works just fine.  

Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Hint of Chocolate is a version of pumpkin pie that offers a subtle chocolate twist with each bite. What a perfect way to finish a fall or winter dinner!

Warm, creamy, and comforting, Hannah Kaminsky's Pumpkin Bread Pudding is the perfect dessert to ward off those autumn chills while celebrating the season’s bounty. It’s a snap to customize depending on your preference; consider the spices as a mere suggestion, and a handful or two of nuts, chocolate, or dried fruit never hurt anything. 

You may think that pumpkin is reserved for consumption between the months of October and November. That is true, except when that pumpkin is going into Kristy Turner's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies — then it's perfectly acceptable to use it year round. The pumpkin acts as an egg replacer but also adds a lot of depth to the flavor.

Pumpkin or Squash Mini-Loaves can be made with pumpkin or butternut squash. They make a nice gift to bring when you visit friends and relatives over the winter holidays; they’re also an easy everyday treat, full of nutritious ingredients, to make and enjoy at home. A mug of hot cocoa is the very best companion for this treat, but tea is also quite good.