There’s a surprisingly good selection of wholesale vegan sweets on the market these days, but relatively few recipes for homemade treats.
Swirly rock lollipops, Swizzels chew bars and several bulk bags of Kingsway jelly sweets are all vegan-friendly, and there are many more besides.
But if you want to know how to make vegan sweets at home, it can be hard to find recipes that aren’t for baked goods like chocolate crunch cereal bars.
Here’s our pick of some genuine recipes for vegan sweets, rather than for vegan cakes and baked goods.
Vegan Chocolate Truffles
Chocolate lovers can make simple vegan chocolate truffles by combining melted chocolate with mashed avocado and a little vanilla extract.
Refrigerate until slightly firm, roll into balls and dust with cocoa powder or chocolate sprinkles for some of the easiest vegan sweets you can make at home.
Vegan chocolate truffles make a great gift – whip up a batch the week before Christmas and package them in cute cardboard boxes for a crowd-pleasing present. Or, if you’re particularly proud of the results, you could even try selling them yourself!
Vegan Jelly Sweets
Dissolve agar powder in fresh fruit juice and simmer until the mixture thickens. Sweeten with agave syrup if needed.
Pour into jelly sweet moulds (or silicone ice cube trays for slightly bigger sweets) and refrigerate until set.
Agar jelly sweets aren’t quite as chewy as gelatine sweets but the soft gummy texture has its own charm and works perfectly with the fresh fruit flavours.
Vegan Peanut Butter Cups
Go American with vegan peanut butter cups. Stir peanut butter and melted coconut oil together, spoon into a paper-lined muffin tray and freeze until solid.
Alternatively, half-fill each cup and freeze for 10-15 minutes, then add a spoonful of jam before topping off with more peanut butter mixture, for a PB&J twist on the classic.
If you’re a fan of chocolate, you can add a layer of your favourite vegan cooking chocolate to the top or bottom of each cup, as a further variation on the basic recipe.
Vegan Cinder Toffee
A vegan homemade sweet for Halloween and Bonfire Night. Line a baking tin with greaseproof paper ready to pour your vegan cinder toffee into it.
Melt golden syrup, caster sugar and a little water together until the mixture darkens. Add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and whisk quickly as bubbles form.
Pour into your lined tray and allow to cool, then break into irregular pieces and enjoy your homemade vegan honeycomb!
Get Stuck In!
Whether it’s baking with mashed banana or avocado, or substituting vegan golden syrup or agave into recipes that use honey, there are plenty of ways to try creating your own recipes for homemade vegan sweets.
Our selection listed above is deliberately basic for beginners to try, but as you develop your skills, you can progress to more ambitious recipes to recreate much-loved candies from childhood.
They might not always turn out perfect, but that’s the charm of cooking at home – and you can always keep a stock of your favourite wholesale vegan sweets from Kandy King on hand as a backup!