![Carrot Cake](http://cdn3.veganbaking.net/slideshow/carrot-cake.jpg)
![Buttery Vegan Shortbread Cookies Buttery Vegan Shortbread Cookies](http://cdn1.veganbaking.net/2015/thumbnails/buttery-vegan-shortbread.jpg)
I’m pretty picky about my shortbread. I believe it should be a celebration of the flavor of butter. Any other flavors present need only be there to play a supporting role. As you bite in, it should yield with a snap and infuse the senses with buttery richness. But this is vegan baking. How do you do all these things as well as showcase butter?
![Toasted Coconut Milk Toasted Coconut Milk](http://cdn1.veganbaking.net/2015/thumbnails/toasted-coconut-milk.jpg)
Why confine toasted coconut to coconut flour? By making coconut milk out of toasted coconut flour, we’re able to apply this rich, complex creamy toastiness to a much wider array of vegan baking applications. Ice creams, cakes, puddings, cream sauces, pancakes; any food that uses a large proportion of liquid can take advantage of toasted coconut milk in place of regular non-dairy milk. You can even put it in your breakfast oatmeal where it’ll add a rich, savory maltiness. But how does this flavor come to be?
![Vegan Shortening - Cocoa Butter Base Vegan Shortening - Cocoa Butter Base](http://cdn1.veganbaking.net/2014/thumbnails/shortening-cocoa-butter.jpg)
![Spreadable Olive Oil Vegan Butter Spreadable Olive Oil Vegan Butter](http://cdn1.veganbaking.net/2014/thumbnails/spreadable-olive-oil-vegan-butter.jpg)
This firmness inhibits the butter from being enjoyed on a completely different level: being spread onto toasty pieces of hearth breads, smeared on steamy biscuits and dabbed on pancakes fresh off the griddle. In these cases, butters that are optimal for baking tend to sit on the food, desperately depending on the residual heat to allow them to melt so they hopefully spread out as they ooze along. Then while you’re eating, hopefully you’ll eventually get to the part with the melted butter on it. What a treat that’s going to be! It shouldn’t have to be this way.
![Best Oils for Vegan Baking Best Oils for Vegan Baking](http://cdn1.veganbaking.net/2014/thumbnails/canola-oil.jpg)
![How to Veganize a Cake Recipe How to Veganize a Cake Recipe](http://cdn1.veganbaking.net/2013/thumbnails/carrot-cake.jpg)
But now you’re vegan and that german chocolate cake that your grandmother bought you up on is strictly verboten by the vegan police. Or it might not be, but you’re trying to eat less of it as you transition your diet to one that involves less animal products. You could just find a cake that’s been designed to be vegan from the ground up, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to measure up to Grandma’s cake. What a crisis! What are we going to do?
![Vegan Toasted Coconut Cake Vegan Toasted Coconut Cake](http://cdn1.veganbaking.net/2013/thumbnails/toasted-coconut-cake.jpg)
![White Truffle Vegan Butter White Truffle Vegan Butter](http://cdn1.veganbaking.net/2013/thumbnails/truffle-vegan-butter.jpg)
![Vegan Black and White Cookies Vegan Black and White Cookies](http://cdn1.veganbaking.net/2013/thumbnails/black-and-white-cookies.jpg)
![Vegan Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies Vegan Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies](http://cdn1.veganbaking.net/2013/thumbnails/toasted-coconut-chocolate-chip-cookies.jpg)
![Vegan Green Tea Cupcakes Vegan Green Tea Cupcakes](http://cdn1.veganbaking.net/2013/thumbnails/green-tea-cupcake.jpg)
![Easy Vegan Buttercream Frosting Easy Vegan Buttercream Frosting](http://cdn1.veganbaking.net/2013/thumbnails/easy-buttercream-frosting.jpg)