Since Manhattan is one of the most vegan-friendly cities in the world, you know that your sweet tooth will be extremely happy while there. So when you are craving something sweet when you are in the Big Apple, luckily for you there are tons of options from donut shops, ice cream shops, bakeries and more. Here are some of the top vegan delectable desserts in Manhattan, from downtown to uptown and everywhere in between.
Urban Dessert Lab
Urban Dessert Lab opened their first brick and mortar location in the Lower East Side of New York City and since its debut, it has become a viral foodie destination and expanded to Los Angeles in February. Hailed as the world ’ s first oat milk ice creme™ shoppe, using their research and scientific expertise, co-founders and sisters Courtney Blagrove and Zan B.R. have delighted consumers with their artisanal soft serve and hard scoop ice crème, cookies and cakes. They recently debuted The Brûléesant™ (a cross between a croissant and crème brûlée) which is available both in New York and LA.
Seed + Mill
In NYC's famed Chelsea Market, Seed + Mill offers handmade artisanal halva, tahini and other seed-based foods. Started by three friends back in 2016 who shared a passion for travel, food and the way food enables us to experience other cultures and history, they have since expanded from just their kiosk to being located in over 1000 stores across the country. At their Chelsea kiosk, along with selling their delicious halva and other treats, it is the only location where they serve their tahini soft-serve, which is made with a mixture of oat milk, sugar and tahini. The creamy and indulgent dessert is topped with flaky halva crumbles and an extra drizzle of tahini.
16 Handles
With seven locations in Manhattan and 25 more in around the Northeast, 16 Handles serves (you guessed it) 16 different soft serve handles in each store dispensing a variety of flavors. Since 2008 the shops have expanded their portfolio to offer at least four vegan flavors at all locations permanently, with the most popular non-dairy flavors being the Oat Milk Iced Latte and Oat Milk Vanilla. Made with an Oatly oat milk base, their oat-milk lineup also includes rotating flavors like marshmallow, pumpkin spice and chocolate cake. Along with these flavors, they have fresh-fruit sorbets, like the mango flavor which is made with alphonso mangoes imported from India. They also offer a variety of vegan toppings, including fruit, granola, nuts, a variety of sauces and of course the popular vegan chocolate chip edible cookie dough topping.
Confectionery!
On the corner of E 9th St and Avenue A in NYC's East Village, Confectionery! is a co-owned space by Lagusta's Luscious chocolates and Sweet Maresa's baked goods. The completely vegan and woman-owned and operated business crafts all of their delectable treats are handmade in New York. Their most popular pieces are the Salted Galapagos Turtle from the Lagusta's Luscious Chocolates menu and their Italian Cookies (which range from soft chewy Marzipan Cookie to a chunky and decadent S'mores Cookie) from their Sweet Maresa's Baked Goods menu. Available for pickup or delivery, the shop even sells perfect little Dog Treats to share with your pooch.
Doughnut Plant!
Started by Mark Israel in his apartment in the Lower East Side in 1994, the artisanal doughnut shop has since expanded to a Lower East Side brick and mortar, Grand Central Terminal (Dining Concourse), as well as two in Brooklyn and one in Long Island City. Built upon Mark’s grandfather’s recipe, they handcraft original and innovative doughnuts using the highest quality all natural ingredients and making everything in-house from scratch. The popularity of their vegan sourdoughnut has grown to now expand their offerings with these four flavors: Dark Chocolate Sourdough, Vanilla Bean Sourdough, the new Salted Pecan Sourdough and the most popular being the Strawberry Sourdough.
Van Leeuwen
Since its humble beginnings as a yellow scoop truck on the streets of NYC in 2008, Van Leeuwen has expanded to 29 locations in Manhattan along with another 27 stores nationwide. Known nationally for creative seasonal flavors with a genuine focus on good ingredients, the brand also releases 1-2 vegan seasonal flavors along with their rotation of 7 staple vegan flavors. Popular vegan flavors include Banana Bread Pudding, Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb, Strawberry Shortcake and guests can also make ice cream sandwiches (dairy and vegan) or select from pints to-go.
Others receiving honorable mention include: Erin McKenna’s Bakery, Peacefood, LA Sweets NY, FIGO il Gelato Italiano, Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream, Rawsome Treats, Boy and Soul, Planet Bake and Plant Baked
Article by Jarone Ashkenazi
