What Do Vegans Eat: Top 10 Sweet TreatsBy Angelica Malin

It’s a big time for healthy eating in London and I’m hear to tell you that restricted diets aren’t as restricting as you might think; you might be surprised by what you can eat as a vegan – it’s not all falafel, mung bean sprouts and humous you know.

What Do Vegans Eat: The Newbies

It’s a very exciting time for vegans, vegetarians and gluten-free foodies; the success of health bloggers such as Deliciously Ella have created a cult-like trend for healthy food and taking photos of smoothies. Suddenly a new awareness for diets means companies are working harder to introduce ‘free-from’ into their foods, and new food brands really get a look in.

There’s a whole host of young food brands popping up around London that prove that invention really is the mother of necessity. If you need something sweet, here’s some healthy vegan treats it’s about time you tried…

1. The Best Vegan Oat Bar

Nom Foods: Raspberry and Cacao Oat Bar

What: An 100% organic oat-based bar made with virgin coconut oil, agave syrup and a sprinkle of love, these babies are pumped full of antioxidants and healthy fat. Forget your dry granola bar, we couldn’t quite believe how soft the bars were.

Healthy Points: Free from refined sugar and dairy-free too. Put down the Nature Valley bars, friends, there’s a new kid in town.

£1.49 for 54g – buy

2. The Best Dairy-Free Yogurt

CoYo: Vanilla CoYo

What: If you haven’t tried CoYo, now’s the time. Nutritionist Bethany Eaton has stumbled on something truly amazing with her totally dairy-free yogurt; made with whole coconut, it’s rich, creamy and (best of all) guilty-free.

Health Points: Each serving provides the goodness from a whole coconut and they’ve got a range of flavours for a sweet fix. We love the vanilla with whole bean vanilla pod. Delicious stuff.

£2.10 for 125g – buy

3. The Best Dairy-Free Milkshake

Rebel Kitchen: Chocolate Mylk

What: This foodie start-up has created something rather special with their tiny milkshake-inspired healthy coconut drinks. Supposedly they’re for kids, but we adults like the chocolate flavour too; it reminds us of a fancy version of our school lunchbox. The Matcha Milk is a winner too!

Healthy Points: Using unrefined date nectar, coconut milk and cacao, at only 99p a carton, they make healthy affordable.

£0.99 for 200ml – buy

4. The Best Crunchy Cereal Bar 

9 Bar: Organic Bar

What: There’s one thing for sure, these bars will keep you going. Made up of 9 different kinds of seeds, they’re the perfect vegan treat for the time-poor Londoner.

Health Points: Full of pumpkin, sunflower and hemp seeds, they’ll deliver lots of Omega-3, as well as Vitamin B2 and anti-oxidants. By the by, they are also just really yummy.

£4.20 for 6-pack – buy

5. The Best Coconut Water

Unoco: Raw Pink Coconut Water

What: Unoco is a totally raw coconut water. It’s bottled straight out of the nut, and there’s no tampering involved. They use a high-pressure treatment rather than heat (which kills the goodness) and the result is delicious.

Health Points: Low in fat, calories and sugar, it’s got zero additives and plenty of potassium

£2.25 – available in Itsu

6. The Best Soft Cereal Bar

Rude Health bars: Beetroot Bar

What: There’s something kind of magical in a bar that tastes sweet and more-ish, but is made out of vegetables. The Rude Health bar is sweetened with dates, combined with almonds and sunflower oil, to give it a nutty, rich flavour.

Healthy Points: Packed with beetroot and gluten-free, it’s also damn good for you too.

£1 for 35g bar – buy

7. The Best Dinner Party Treat 

Pudology: Banoffee Chocolate Pot

What: We’re going to let you into a secret, there’s no dairy in the Pudology chocolate puddings. But you’d never know. We’ll let you in on another secret; pop one in the microwave for 30 seconds and eat with Vanilla Coyo. You can thank us later.

Health Points: The little pudding pots are truly decadent; layers of gluten-free biscuit crumb, soya toffee and banana and dark chocolate, given a great richness with added coconut milk, they are also healthier than most pre-made puds on the market.

£3.59 x 90g – buy

9. The Best Dairy-Free Ice Cream

Bessant & Drury: Mango Swirl Coconut Ice Cream

What: Dairy-free ice creams can be a total nightmare; often icy, watery and nothing like their dairy-rich cousins. But this one’s an exception; made with coconut milk rather than soya, it’s got that indulgent quality you crave in ice cream, without the lactose. You can find its non-frozen version (coconut milk yogurt with mango puree) in Itsu nationwide.

Health Points: Low cholesterol, dairy, gluten, soya and GMO free. No artificial additives, colours and preservatives. Winning.

10. The Best Dairy-Free Sorbet

Frozen Fruit Co.: Strawgo

What: Michael and Victoria, the brother and sister double-act behind Frozen Fruit Co, are quite the innovators. The duo are the proud owners of a Good Food bursary award and a damn good product with their fat-free, guilt-free sorbet desserts; our favourite flavour is the Strawgo, a mango-infused strawberry mix, which contains alphonso mango and natural fruit flavours.

Health Points: There’s no false additives, colours or extra water – they just let the fruit do the talking. Heavenly.

£5.99 x 500ml – buy