This silky smooth vegan Maple Frosting recipe uses slightly caramelized maple and agave syrup as it's base. This allows it to be 100% sweetened by these syrups, giving it maximum maple flavor and a velvety consistency with no sugar crystals. The agave syrup prevents the maple syrup from crystalizing after it's caramelized. The firmness of this frosting can be customized to your preference easily by caramelizing your syrups plus or minus 5F (3C) from the 235F (113C) caramelization temperature which is known as the thread stage. If you slather this on pancakes I promise not to tell anyone.

Real banana is blended into this Banana Cream Frosting which creates a rich banana cream with butterscotch overtones. This vegan frosting recipe utilizes the power of soy milk powder (not to be confused with soy flour) which adds extraordinary creaminess while still allowing the frosting to remain firm. It also takes advantage of caramelizing sugar to the thread stage of 230F (110C) where it contributes a smooth velvety texture. The firmness of this frosting can be customized to your preference easily by adding or subtracting 1 Tablespoon of water.

Crepes unlock huge brunch and dessert option potential depending on wether you make savory or dessert crepes. This Buckwheat Crepe recipe is pretty foolproof as long as you use the right pan described below. If making savory crepes fill them with things like tofu scramble, seitan and beans or wild rice and mushrooms. If making sweet crepes fill them with bananas, chocolate and coconut; peanut butter, maple syrup and walnuts or caramel, pecans and apples topped with a drizzle of Cashew Cream. Buckwheat lends an earthy, nutty richness to these vegan crepes, which are based on Easy Crepes but factor in buckwheat flour's ability to absorb slightly less liquid than all-purpose flour due to it's smaller amount of gluten.

In search for a truly decadent vegan Vanilla Frosting recipe that is also resistant to melting in warmer temperatures, I utilized the power of soy milk powder (not to be confused with soy flour). Soy milk powder adds extraordinary creaminess while still allowing the frosting to remain firm. This frosting also takes advantage of caramelizing sugar to the thread stage of 230F (110C) where it contributes a smooth velvety texture. Finally, I used vegetable shortening as the main fat due to it's affordability and availability.

The firmness of this frosting can be customized to your preference easily by adding or subtracting 1 Tablespoon of water. This recipe also works well as a reference frosting recipe that can be customized into an endless variety flavors by swapping out water-based ingredients for the water and/or adding extracts to suit your style.

Crepes unlock huge vegan brunch and dessert option potential depending on wether you make savory or dessert crepes. This Easy Crepes recipe is pretty foolproof as long as you use the right pan described below. If making savory crepes fill them with things like tofu scramble, seitan and beans or wild rice and mushrooms. If making sweet crepes fill them with bananas, chocolate and coconut; peanut butter, maple syrup and walnuts or caramel, pecans and apples topped with a drizzle of Cashew Cream.

I first became obsessed with crumb-topped bars when I discovered Whole Foods' caramelita bar, a decadent mixture of chocolate, caramel, pecans, sugar and butter. Definitely not vegan, and not all that good for you either. If made with real fruit, the jelly crumb bars at least hit one of the healthier food groups. This vegan version of the recipe takes advantage of the wonder that is Earth Balance and combines it with homemade cranberry jelly, dried cranberries and cashews.

Carrot cake is my all-time favorite dessert so I adapted it into a heartier sweetbread in the form of this vegan Carrot Cake Muffin recipe so I could justify having it for breakfast. It's pointless to resist carrot cake goodness in it's new sweetbread form so don't even try. A dollop of almond butter on top contrasts nicely with carrot cake flavor and adds extra nutritious oomph to power your day of world domination.

If pirates ate brittle (and you know they did) this Coconut Macadamia Nut Brittle would be the flavor and this is how they'd describe it:

Yaaar ya kitchen dwellin' landlubber! Coconut, caramelized sugar and macadamia nuts be tied together with a splash o' rum t' make this t' brittle o' t' pirate seas, matey! So whip up a batch and hand 'er over before ya be plank walkin'!

They might also marvel in the fact that this vegan brittle recipe uses coconut milk, coconut oil and shredded coconut for maximum coconut flavor, except it would be hard to hear yowled in that thick pirate accent.

Ever since the eighties when two people were walking down the street in opposite directions, one eating a chocolate bar, the other eating peanut butter out of a jar, we've known that the two go together really well. We know this because the two people allegedly collided exclaiming, “hey you're chocolate's in my peanut butter!” “My peanut butter's in your chocolate!” This has been documented as a true occurrence because I saw it in a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercial once. I'm so thankful they had TV camera's rolling to get that on film. But what was up with the peanut butter in those things? It always tasted like it was the leftover peanut butter at the factory that was too low quality to actually be put in jars. And the chocolate seemed like typical mass produced American chocolate fare, over-sweetened and chalky which barely qualifies as chocolate to this chocolate snob.

With this Peanut Butter Bomb recipe I captured the essence of fine, natural peanut butter, combined it with some lightly caramelized sugar and Regular Vegan Butter or margarine, then covered it in a dark chocolate exterior, completing an irresistible vegan chocolate bonbon.

There's nothing quite like home made bread. This hearty Easy Wheat Bread recipe is easy to whip up if you have a few hours and it's really simple. In bread baking, longer rise cycles at lower temperatures usually result in more flavor compounds that are generated due to the yeast extracting and break down more starches in the flour and converting them into sugars which will then get caramelized during baking. Some doughs call for an overnight rise in the refrigerator so optimum flavor can be developed. In this vegan loaf you have the option of doing an overnight slow rise in the refrigerator or a regular rise. The two first rise cycle is for the main fermentation of the dough where the yeast eats the most sugars and rises the bread with CO2. The last rise is called 'proofing' in where the dough rises after it's been molded into it's desired shape or placed in it's specific mold.

Pistachios paired with cardamom then kissed with rum makes this vegan Pistachio Cardamom Brittle recipe stand out. Cover it in melted dark chocolate to transform it into pistachio chocolate bark if you want to give it another flavor dimension.

One of the reason marzipan goes back ages is because it's extremely versatile. It can be used for anything from  cake decorations, fillings in cookies and pastries or in this case, a center in this vegan bonbon recipe. A touch of almond extract brings out some extra flavor so it can compete on the same level as the chocolate. This recipe uses a chocolate mold. If you don't have one, place the marzipan balls in the freezer for an hour or so, roll them in melted chocolate, then place them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet before returning them to the freezer for about another hour.

This Chocolate Orange Bomb bonbon recipe packs a seductive orange one two punch: They involve candied orange peel pureed with a kiss of Grand Marnier, mixed together with chocolate, then enrobed in a chocolate shell. This is a great vegan bonbon to have on hand when assembling your own box of chocolates for a special occasion.

Marzipan is almond meal that's been added to caramelized sugar which makes it similar to frosting in consistency. It's origins come from present day Iran or Spain according to theory but it's true origins, as well as where the term 'marzipan' originated from are shrouded in mystery. It's extremely versatile, making a fantastic filling for cookies and pastries, a center for chocolates or rolled into stollen. It can be colored, flavored and formed into candies or used in cake decorating. You can even use other nuts besides almonds like macadamia nuts, cashews or brazil nuts. Marzipan can also be mixed with fruit and served in squares. In the vegan recipe below I didn't remove the skins of the almonds so it came out a light brown.

Hazelnuts, also known as filberts, are toasted to give this Chocolate Hazelnut Bark recipe a great crunch. Frangelico, a hazelnut liqueur, ups the ante with the hazelnuts for a deep, rich flavor. This vegan brittle is further enhanced with orange zest and then smothered in chocolate.