6 Vegan Sweets You Should Try

Veganism is not only a culinary trend, but above all a way of life, which, one might say, is gaining more and more popularity in our country (and not only). Along with this, the number of vegan restaurants and plant-based alternatives to traditional products available in stores is growing. There are also more and more vegan sweets. Which vegans can choose?

Sweets can be made from a variety of foods - many traditional recipes typically contain neither milk nor eggs. However, most of the typical sweets available in stores are not vegan. Milk chocolate, most cookies and cakes, fudge, jelly, marmalade - all of them most often contain ingredients of animal origin. Fortunately, manufacturers are increasingly taking into account the needs of people on a plant-based diet. And they seem to be constantly growing - so you might suspect that the range of vegan products will expand dynamically! What vegan sweets are especially worth trying?

Non-Vegan Ingredients in Sweets - What to Watch Out For?

Before we move on to vegan sweets, it's worth listing the ingredients that are often found in sweets that should be avoided while staying on a plant-based diet. Some of them are not so obvious. By knowing them all, you can more effectively view product ingredients and make more informed consumer decisions without relying solely on manufacturer labels.

In addition to eggs and milk, non-vegan ingredients also include:

• albumen - a binder derived from egg white or milk (found in bakery and confectionery products);
• L-cysteine - protein from bird feathers or animal hair to improve the quality of white flour (contained in bakery and confectionery products);
• Padding - thickener, enzyme of animal origin (found in sweet desserts);
• pork gelatin - a protein obtained from cartilage, bones and tendons of animals, which has gelling properties (found in jellies and jelly).

As you can see, the nomenclature of animal ingredients is often quite obscure. It is worth remembering that they can also be hidden under the E label. Although we associate them with artificial additives, in fact, not all E are chemical components. However, they may be non-vegan ingredients. Therefore, knowledge and careful reading of labels is very important if you want to eat XNUMX% vegetables.

Remember that ingredients such as honey are also not considered vegan. People on a plant-based diet forego all animal products, and bee honey is one of them. However, there is a large group of people who do not follow such strict dietary restrictions, while making sure that honey comes from responsible local producers.

Vegan Sweets You Didn't Know About

There are several traditional Polish sweets with vegan ingredients, although they are not labeled as such. Today, with veganism in vogue, manufacturers find it beneficial to label their plant-based product with an appropriate label. However, there are well-known products for which veganism is only a "side effect". One of them, for example, Mieszanka Krakowska, is popular in Poland. Vegans who do not know the composition could refuse such a product on the go - after all, this is jelly in chocolate. However, it turns out that the jelly in Mieszanki is not based on gelatin, and the chocolate is devoid of milk and other animal products.

You can also find vegan products among instant gummies and chewing gums! Vegan is a popular Mamba available in a variety of flavors. Vegan jellies, on the other hand, can be found in the Haribo offer - although remember that not every product of this brand is made exclusively on the basis of plant products, so you need to carefully read the ingredients. If you're looking for vegan gummies, Fruit Gummi Bears (brands of Bitgits) can be a good choice in a variety of flavors - gluten-free, natural juices, and no chemical additives, which is quite rare in the case of jelly beans. .

Interestingly, jelly beans were originally a vegan product based on gum arabic. Later, manufacturers switched to gelatin, and then began to experiment with agar, a gelling agent of plant origin.

Other foods that are surprisingly vegan are the popular Oreo cookie. While it may look like there is milk in the filling, it actually isn't. Most of these cookies do not contain animals. The exceptions are chocolate covered or some limited editions. However, the classic versions (with white or brown fillings) are safe for vegans to eat. 

Delicious Vegan Sweets - Ideas for Sweet Moments Without Reproach

Chocolate does not have to contain milk - on the contrary, its "clean" (bitter) version usually does not contain milk. This is where the deep, slightly fruity notes of cocoa sound best. In some vegan chocolates, for example, from the Chocolate Story factory, cocoa mass makes up one hundred percent of the composition of the product. However, you can also find vegan chocolate on the market that mimics traditional white chocolate, with intriguing additions like spirulina to give the bar a bluish hue. Vegan chocolate may also contain various additives such as nuts, fruits, or chili flakes.

Vegan sweets, i.e. useful? Not always

You have to remember that being vegan does not always mean eating healthy. Some plant-based dieters try to avoid foods that cause suffering to animals in the first place. Whether vegan foods are healthy may be a side issue for them. Others, in turn, care primarily about the quality of their meals, choosing plant foods with a balanced composition. Still others are primarily concerned with responsible consumption without harming the environment. They choose products from trusted sources that do not contribute to increasing their carbon footprint, and therefore locally produced.

While you might think that a diet that doesn't use animal-based ingredients is devoid of inexpensive, widely available brand name sweets, it's actually relatively easy to find vegan sweets. When buying, it is worth checking the composition of the products, because you can be pleasantly surprised. Moreover, the list of animal-free sweets is constantly expanding, so you can easily find vegan sweets for yourself or a loved one.

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