17 Vegan Desserts for the Memorial Day Cookout
Memorial Day cookouts can leave dessert as the thing people remember only after the grill is full. These 17 vegan recipes keep the sweet side covered with cookies, bars, cakes, brownies, pie, pancakes, and chilled options that can work around a busy outdoor meal. Most of the list leans on familiar cookout formats, including sheet cake, hand-held cookies, sliced bars, and make-ahead desserts that travel better than something fragile. The range gives the table enough variety without pushing the cook into a second full menu.
Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
Kept cold until serving, Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake Bars take 3 hours and 15 minutes and make 18 small bars. The crust uses Biscoff cookies and vegan butter, while the filling blends vegan cream cheese, dairy-free yogurt, vegan heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla. Strawberries get tossed with lemon juice and maple syrup right before serving. These fit a Memorial Day cookout when dessert needs to be sliced ahead and topped at the table.
Get the Recipe: Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
Vegan Chocolate Orange Marble Bundt Cake
Baked in a bundt pan, Vegan Chocolate Orange Marble Bundt Cake takes 1 hour and serves 10. The batter uses vegetable oil, non-dairy milk, orange juice, all-purpose flour, cacao powder, and orange zest, then bakes for 45 to 50 minutes. Powdered sugar can finish the cooled cake. It works for a cookout dessert table because slices hold their shape, and the orange-chocolate swirl gives people something more interesting than another plain cake.
Get the Recipe: Vegan Chocolate Orange Marble Bundt Cake
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Built for easy grabbing, Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies take 25 minutes and make 12 servings. Ground flax meal and hot water stand in for eggs, while vegan butter, sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, vanilla, and vegan chocolate chips form the dough. The cookies bake in about 10 minutes, then cool on the tray before moving. Bring them when the cookout needs a dessert that can sit on a platter without utensils.
Get the Recipe: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Banana Chocolate Cake
Made as a loaf-style bake, Banana Chocolate Cake takes 55 minutes and serves 10 slices. Ripe bananas, coconut sugar, coconut oil, soy milk, vanilla, gluten-free flour, baking soda, and vegan chocolate chips make up the batter. The cake bakes for 40 to 45 minutes, then cools before slicing. It fits a Memorial Day spread when the dessert table needs a chocolate option that can be cut ahead and wrapped for travel.
Get the Recipe: Banana Chocolate Cake
Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Made with almond flour, Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies take 30 minutes and make 18 cookies. Peanut butter, flaxseed meal, water, stevia or monk fruit, almond flour, baking powder, vanilla, roasted peanuts, and coconut oil create a sturdy dough. They bake for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the texture wanted. These are useful for a cookout because cookies are simple to plate, pass, and pack up afterward.
Get the Recipe: Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Vegan Apple Pie
Classic for a holiday table, Vegan Apple Pie takes 1 hour and 10 minutes and serves 8. Two vegan pie crusts hold sliced apples cooked with lemon juice, vegan butter, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and vanilla before baking. Non-dairy milk brushes the top crust, then the pie cools before slicing. It belongs in a Memorial Day dessert lineup when the table needs something familiar besides cookies, bars, and cake.
Get the Recipe: Vegan Apple Pie
Orange and Pecan Bundt Cake
Finished with orange glaze, Orange and Pecan Bundt Cake takes 1 hour and 5 minutes and serves 12. The cake uses sugar, vegetable oil, almond milk, orange juice, vanilla, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, chopped pecans, and orange zest. It bakes for 40 to 50 minutes before the glaze goes over the cooled cake. Bring it sliced or whole when the cookout needs a centerpiece dessert without frosting work.
Get the Recipe: Orange and Pecan Bundt Cake
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Thick and easy to share, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies take 25 minutes and make 24 cookies. Creamy peanut butter, vegan butter, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, soy milk, flour, baking soda, vegan chocolate chips, and sea salt flakes build the dough. Each tray bakes for 12 to 15 minutes, then the cookies cool before serving. They work well for cookouts because the batch count stretches across a larger dessert table.
Get the Recipe: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Raw Vegan Carrot Cake Bites
Chilled instead of baked, Raw Vegan Carrot Cake Bites take 30 minutes of prep and make 16 servings, with freezer time needed to firm the frosting. The base uses raw almonds or almond flour, shredded coconut, shredded carrot, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange zest, and ginger. A cashew frosting adds raw cashews, plant-based milk, coconut oil, maple syrup, lemon juice, and vanilla. Serve chilled when the cookout needs a make-ahead dessert.
Get the Recipe: Raw Vegan Carrot Cake Bites
Raw Vegan Chocolate Cake
Set in the fridge, Raw Vegan Chocolate Cake takes 4 hours and 20 minutes and serves 12 slices. The crust combines dates, nuts, shredded coconut, and coconut oil, while the filling uses cashews, dates, coconut milk, raw cacao powder, maple syrup, and vanilla. A coconut milk ganache finishes the top. It fits a Memorial Day cookout when dessert can stay chilled until slicing and come out near the end.
Get the Recipe: Raw Vegan Chocolate Cake
Sugar-Free Sweet Potato Brownies
Cut into 15 pieces, Sugar-Free Sweet Potato Brownies take 40 minutes and use sweet potato puree, Medjool dates, coconut oil, almond milk, almond flour, tapioca flour, raw cacao powder, baking powder, and orange zest. The brownies bake for 25 to 30 minutes, then cool fully before slicing. They fit a cookout dessert tray when you want a chocolate square that can be stacked with parchment between layers for transport.
Get the Recipe: Sugar-Free Sweet Potato Brownies
Vegan Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Naturally cookie-table ready, Vegan Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies take 22 minutes and serve 12. Almond flour, sugar, baking powder, sea salt, non-dairy milk, oil, dark chocolate chips, and vanilla make a short ingredient list. The cookies bake for about 12 minutes until the edges are firm. Add them to a Memorial Day dessert board when you need a gluten-free option that still feels familiar next to classic chocolate chip cookies.
Get the Recipe: Vegan Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Almond Pancakes
Better suited to brunch than dessert, Almond Pancakes take 25 minutes and serve 3. Almond flour, gluten-free flour, vanilla, baking powder, ripe banana, almond milk, ground flaxseed, and optional cinnamon make the batter, which cooks in a pan for 2 to 3 minutes per side. For this Memorial Day dessert post, treat these as a fruit-and-syrup sweet option or consider replacing them with a true dessert if available.
Get the Recipe: Almond Pancakes
Vegan Amaretti Cookies
Rolled in powdered sugar, Vegan Amaretti Cookies take 1 hour and 10 minutes and make 35 cookies. Blanched almond flour, powdered sugar, granulated sugar, aquafaba, salt, lemon zest, and amaretto liqueur or almond extract create the dough. A 30-minute chill helps the cookies hold shape before baking for 18 to 20 minutes. These fit a cookout well because a big batch can fill a platter without extra serving work.
Get the Recipe: Vegan Amaretti Cookies
Vegan American Flag Cake
Made for patriotic holidays, Vegan American Flag Cake takes 45 minutes and serves 16. Almond milk, apple cider vinegar, vegetable oil, sugar, vanilla, flour, baking powder, and salt form the cake, while powdered sugar and lemon juice make the icing. Strawberries and blueberries create the flag design on top. This is the strongest Memorial Day fit in the list because it matches the holiday visually and serves a crowd.
Get the Recipe: Vegan American Flag Cake
Vegan Apple Cookies with Oatmeal
Soft and easy to pack, Vegan Apple Cookies with Oatmeal take 25 minutes and serve 12. Coconut oil, brown sugar, vanilla, flaxseed meal, flour, cinnamon, rolled oats, diced apple, and oat flour make cookies with more texture than a plain sugar cookie. They bake for 12 to 15 minutes and cool fully before moving. Add them when the cookout needs a less messy hand-held dessert for kids and adults.
Get the Recipe: Vegan Apple Cookies with Oatmeal
Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Finished as frosted sandwich cookies, Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting take 50 minutes and serve 10. The frosting uses vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vegan butter, while the cookies include flax egg, vanilla, brown sugar, shredded carrots, vegan butter or coconut oil, almond flour, quick oats, walnuts or pecans, cinnamon, and maple syrup. They are better kept chilled until serving, making them a good cooler dessert for the cookout.
Get the Recipe: Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
