The Valley’s vegan restaurants are known for serving all manner of savory plant-based dishes. But they have a sweet side, too. From decadent dark chocolate cake to soy-based ice cream treats, here are five favorites from around the metro.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
The Coronado
2245 North 12th Street
It’s unlikely one person could eat a whole piece of this dense, dark chocolate cake alone in one sitting – at least not without some epic gastronomic effort and literal intestinal fortitude. In addition to the chocolate and peanut butter and cake mentioned in the name, The Coronado piles on caramelized bananas (like, two whole sliced bananas per piece) and tops it with a ton of roasted peanuts. It feels like it weighs about five pounds. Lotta calories. But worth it.
Brazilian Brownies
Pomegranate Café
4025 East Chandler Boulevard, #28
When Brazilian Brownies from Pomegranate Café show up at a party, they don’t stick around for long. These gluten-free sweets are made with all raw ingredients, including cacao, walnuts, Brazil nuts, coconut, and dates. They’re not cheap – a dozen of these delectable treats will set you back about $70 – but they’re perfect for special occasions when you want to impress a crowd (and watch them fight over the last brownie).
Insomnia Cookies
Insomnia Cookies
116 East University Drive, #104, Tempe
The menu at Insomnia Cookies includes vegan and non-vegan cookies, but no one can tell or taste the difference. The trio of vegan offerings consists of chocolate chip, double chocolate chunk, and birthday cake, and each one has a perfect texture: crisp and slightly crunchy around the edges, warm and chewy inside. Each cookie is also packed with chocolate chips, and in the case of the birthday cake, studded with candy bits that resemble confetti.
Rad Razzleberry Pie
Bear and the Honey Bakery
1375 East Broadway Road
The red razzleberry pie from Bear and the Honey Bakery bursts with blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries below a buttery, flaky crust. Like all the pies at Bear and the Honey Bakery, it can be made vegan and/or gluten-free. It's the kind of pie everybody wants in their face.
A tSoynami, the organic “ice cream” treats that are a signature at Nami in Phoenix.
Evie Carpenter
Nami
2014 North Seventh Street
Nami knows how to make vegan ice cream treats that rival anything Dairy Queen could ever hope to do (Blizzard who?). The magic starts with a base of soy- and coconut milk-based ice cream made with organic unrefined cane sugar. From there, anything goes into the blender. Cookies and cream, s’mores, chocolate mint, “deconstructed peach cobbler,” and even a Captain Crunch-y cereal with strawberries can all be swirled into a tSoynami.
