My brain makes two immediate connections when I hear the words "ice cream": Eddie Murphy's ice cream skit from Delirious and a childhood memory of eating a Chipwich at a pirate-ship-themed miniature golf course.

As a child, I thought the Chipwich was the ultimate dessert: ice cream sandwiched between two giant cookies and rolled in chocolate chips. I thought my parents must have temporarily lost their minds when they actually let me have one, but I wasn't about to alert them to the problem. I still look at the ice cream sandwich as the ultimate indulgence, albeit for very, very different reasons.

These days, I like to use soy ice cream to create grown-up, vegan versions of the classic. Sometimes I will take the time to make my own soy ice cream, but when I'm busy (or just being lazy), I'll use Tofutti or So Delicious ice cream. By mixing a few ingredients into the ice cream, you feel like you're getting an extra-special treat.

For my coconut-ginger ice cream sandwiches below, I used vanilla Tofutti and mixed in 1/4 cup of shredded coconut and 1 tsp. of coconut extract. Things got very messy, so here are a few tips to make the process a little easier for you:

• After mixing the coconut and coconut extract into the ice cream, place it in the freezer until it's very firm.

• When baking the cookies, do not overcook them! They need to be very soft, not hard or crunchy. If they are too hard, then all the ice cream will just ooze out the side of the sandwich when you try to bite into it.

• Use a measuring cup to aid in the assembly of the sandwiches. Place one cookie in the bottom of a 1/2 cup measuring utensil, fill it with ice cream until level with the top of the measuring cup, and then place the second cookie on top.

• Wrap the finished sandwiches in plastic wrap and freeze for about 30 minutes before eating.

My entire weekend was spent lounging, relaxing, reading, and baking. It was so relaxing that it felt more like a mini-vacation than your typical two-day weekend. After such a great weekend, I didn't even mind waking up very, very early this morning. So I decided to spread the joy to my coworkers—in a not-so-annoying way—by bringing in one of the many treats that I baked over the weekend.

After reading Danielle Vance's chef profile over the weekend—and daydreaming about having my own bakery—I decided to try her orange-cranberry scone recipe. The recipe was simple and super-easy to prepare, but the results were still delicious. The orange zest and the O.J. I used gave the scones a fresh taste—not too heavy, as scones can often be.

I decided that these would be the perfect treats for my peeps in the office, and after hearing everyone's reactions—lots of "awesomes" and "to die fors"—I knew I made the right choice.

It may be hard to believe, but Oreos are vegan. So, let's take the already-sweet classic cookies, combine them with a lot more sugar, and turn them into cupcakes! This is proof of my firm belief that a dessert can never be too indulgent.

To be honest, I wasn't really into desserts until I started baking them. Sure, I enjoyed cake and soy ice cream as much as the next person, but I never really craved them. Now, I enjoy the science involved in baking. The satisfaction comes from getting the delicate balance among all the ingredients just right—now that is what I crave.

The chocolate cake recipe below is from The Grit's own bakery, where I once worked. Don't worry—the recipe was published in The Grit's cookbook, so it's not like I'm giving away any secrets. These cupcakes are delicious, with a rich chocolaty flavor enhanced by the strong brewed coffee used in the batter. Another added bonus is that the recipe is almost impossible to mess up. Guaranteed success sounds like as good a reason as any to try a recipe, if you ask me.

To find more foods that, like Oreos, are accidentally vegan and easily found in your local grocery store, visit the VegCooking Shopping Guide.

I am on a mission to spread joy around the world by resurrecting classic childhood desserts that we once feared were dead to us. I'm imagining a world where swimming pools are filled with vegan Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Ho Hos. Guilt-free isn't exactly the phrase that comes to mind when thinking about swimming in pools full of desserts, but at least there's no cruelty involved.

Last weekend, I put my plan into action when I saw how badly my boyfriend wanted a vegan Ho Ho. They were mentioned every third sentence as he reminisced about how he would have them every day after school. The oh-so-subtle hint was noted.

Assembling the little cakes required a little bit of care, but it was worth the effort. I ended up reducing the amount of creamer used in the filling so that it would be a little thicker. I also refrigerated the squares for several hours before covering them with chocolate sauce, to avoid turning them into a gooey mess. After eating two in the course of about a minute, my boyfriend said they tasted just like the Ho Hos he remembers.

Based upon his reaction to the Ho Hos, I think my plan just might work. Now on to those vegan Twinkies…

My sweet tooth comes and goes in waves, and it is definitely here right now. Last night, I enjoyed store-bought vegan chocolate chip cookies, but taking the time to make homemade desserts is really where it's at. The satisfaction of making a difficult dessert is almost as rewarding as the taste—almost.

Since I'm in a dessert-craze phase, I decide to compile a list of my top 10 favorite desserts of all time. Kind of a "my life wouldn't be complete if I never ate these things again" list. Most have some connection to my childhood, while others I discovered as an adult. And my favorites are…

1. Pecan Pie: The crunch of the pecan layer on top of the pie is perfectly complemented by the gooey filling inside.

2. Grasshopper Cake: Grit-style chocolate cake layered with mint icing and chocolate chips.

3. Glazed Doughnuts: Simple, classic, and delicious warm.

4. Brownie à la Mode: Top homemade warm brownies with store-bought vanilla soy ice cream. Get really crazy and top with chocolate sauce and cherries.

5. Chocolate Chip Cookies: Even better when you use two to make a cookie sandwich.

6. Strawberry Shortcake: This has been one of my favorites since the age of 3, when my entire birthday was Strawberry Shortcake—the doll, not the food—themed.

7. Anything Lemon-Blueberry: The flavor combination works well in a pie or in a cake with lemon-flavored layers and a blueberry topping.

8. Carob-Mint Cookies: I fell in love with these scone-like cookies at Real Food Daily in Santa Monica.

9. Pecan Pinwheels: Someone please veganize these!

10. Pralines: SusanV at FatFree Vegan Kitchen says to create this Southern staple by substituting Earth Balance margarine for the butter and Silk Creamer for the creamer or half-and-half in any good praline recipe.

What are your favorite vegan desserts?

For most of my life, my knowledge of figs was limited to the Fig Newtons I ate as a child. Not bad, but definitely not something great that stood out as a food I had to have again. That is, not until I had a ripe fig picked right off the tree at my friend CK's house.

We were enjoying an afternoon snack in his kitchen (which happened to be the location of Athens' infamous Barn Parties) of fresh tomato slices sprinkled with sea salt and pepper. CK disappeared for a few minutes and returned with fresh figs. They were quite different—and much better—than what I remembered the center of those cookies tasting like. Since then, I have obsessed over ways to use figs in a dessert, and I think I've now found the perfect recipe: figs poached in tawny port.

I was amazed at how well this recipe turned out. The flavors in the sauce were perfectly balanced, as was the consistency. The figs were served over thick slices of pumpkin bread (more on that later in the week), which added another rich layer of fall flavor to the dessert.

First, you crumble chocolate cookies—I use Oreos—into a fine mess. Drizzle in just enough vegetable oil to bring the crumbs together.

Next, you melt an entire pound of chocolate until smooth, then blend with silken tofu and peppermint extract until creamy.

Finally, pour the creamy chocolate filling into the crispy cookie crust. Top with finely crumbled peppermint pieces and chill.

Thanks to the Tomato Head Restaurant, you'll have a peppermint pattie-like pie that is surprisingly flavorful with so few ingredients. One bite of this pie brought back memories of my mom enjoying her favorite sweet treat, the peppermint pattie. She says they remind her of Christmas—her favorite holiday—and that's why she likes them so much.

Regardless of her good reasons, as a child I had to hate peppermint patties because she loved them—that is, until I was old enough to know better. How could a kid have the same favorite candy as her mother? That just wouldn't be cool. Now that I've seen the light, in the form of the chocolate-mint combo, I enjoy vegan peppermint patties, peppermint pies, minty-chocolate cakes—you name it, I like it. Mom would be so pleased.

There is something about fresh apples that brings me back to my childhood. When visiting my grandparents each fall, we would pack ourselves into the car and head to the cider mill for apple picking, fresh doughnuts, cider, and homemade applesauce. We would dip our doughnuts into the applesauce, and as silly as it sounds, to this day I still think that a doughnut eaten without applesauce just isn't a proper doughnut. By the end of the day, we were nearly drunk off apples.

Now that I have oh-so-refined tastes, I like to enjoy freshly picked apples in a rustic tart—and I always use the leftover apples for applesauce. This way, I get to enjoy all the elements that I enjoyed on our cider mill trips—the apples, the pastry, the spices, the sugar—rolled into one. So maybe my tastes aren't as refined; maybe I'm just more resourceful.

Anytime I taste a tropical flavor, I think of my elementary school years, when I would sing along to the Cocktail soundtrack on my Walkman. If I taste macadamia nuts, I think of the film's setting in the Caribbean. If I taste coconut, I think of "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys, one of my favorite songs from the film. The connections are unstoppable—and possibly made worse by the fact that I still own, and listen to, the soundtrack.

With the days getting cooler, I decided this would be the perfect time to bust out Tropical Banana Muffins, a.k.a. "Cocktail" Muffins, to bring me back to a beachy setting. Nothing warms up the house more then the smell of fresh baked goods, right out of the oven. Especially when they have a tropical twist: coconut, macadamia, and banana.

Try mixing in all the coconut for more texture, or top the muffins with 1/4 cup of the coconut. Both versions are delicious.

And while I have your attention, this Thursday, October 18, VegCooking will host its first-ever guest blogger, Almost Vegetarian! The popular food blogger will share her thoughts on, well, being almost vegetarian and what it's like to have a family who's along for the ride. I've had a little sneak peek at the post, and I hope all of you will love it as much as I did! Almost every vegetarian, or vegetarian in the making, out there will certainly be able to relate.

So don't miss it this Thursday!

Today's post is a review of treats so sweet that my teeth are aching just from looking at the pictures. Both reviews have been provided by Ashley, whom I envy at this moment for being lucky enough to taste all the sugar-laden confections below. Enjoy.

Vegan Treats Bakery

On my first visit to Vegan Treats Bakery in Bethlehem, Pa., the woman working behind the counter was forced to display saint-like patience while interns Min Hee and Shawn and I spent a full half-hour gawking at the decadent bakery case before we could muster the composure to place our orders.

Not that we could have possibly gone wrong. When you are choosing between such mind-blowing vegan options as an Oreo-crème filled donut, a strawberry shortcake coated with a chocolate shell, and a caramel-nut brownie, there is no such thing as a wrong decision. The best part is the cheesecake—the case with rows of elaborately decorated miniature cheesecakes packs more dazzle than the display case at Harry Winston. They come in tons of flavors—ranging from key lime to chocolate-mint to coconut—and are topped with anything from fruit to gold leaf to chunks of brownies.

And I would be letting my fellow vegans down if I didn't mention that Vegan Treats is famous for its "bomb" cakes, the favorite being the chocolate-peanut butter bomb, a chocolate layer cake with a monster blob of creamy peanut butter frosting on top.

Sticky Fingers Bakery

Tell any vegan that you live in Washington, D.C., and the first words out of his or her mouth won't have anything to do with the White House or the Lincoln Memorial—all he or she will want to know is how close you live to Sticky Fingers Bakery.

With painted chocolate dripping down its pink walls and the aroma of pastries in the air, Sticky Fingers Bakery is a shrine to sweet, carb-laden vegan comfort food. From Frisbee-sized sticky buns and rich layer cakes to Hostess Suzy Q-style "Devil Dogs" and s'mores cheesecake, the goodies at Sticky Fingers entirely live up to the bakery's motto 'The only thing crunchy about us is our cookies."

In addition to desserts, Sticky Fingers offers pre-made sandwiches like the awesome tempeh BLT as well as entrées like mac and "cheese" and seitan barbecue with mashed potatoes. Sticky Fingers has veggie dogs that can be loaded up with chili and soy-cheese sauce, and the vegan "sausage, egg, and cheese" breakfast sandwiches are so popular that your chances of snagging one if you decide to sleep in on a Saturday are laughably slim.

Get started making your own vegan treats at home, with a little help from our dessert recipes here on VegCooking.

Still not over Halloween, even after my weekend bash, I decided to make more sweets to celebrate today's holiday. It was time for the obligatory cutesy cupcakes, and of course, they had to be chocolate. I used the recipe I posted a few months back, but this time cutting it in half. I must have been high on cupcake goodness when I said that recipe makes only 36 cupcakes. The actual number is a little closer to 48. After baking, the chocolate cupcakes were slowly transformed into ghosts, pumpkins, graveyards, and spider webs—all more cute than creepy.

But the sweets don't end there. People around the country are still stocking up on treats to dish out tonight. I'll be giving out my favorite vegan candy—Now and Laters, Chocolove Chocolate, and Sweet Tarts—because I'm sadly too old to go out and participate in the fun. The last time I went trick-or-treating, my best friend, my sister, and I dressed as Bell Biv DeVoe—I kid you not. Maybe my age is sparing some child from the most frightening Halloween of his life.

Find out more about candy that is surprisingly vegan, and happy Halloween!

Scones should be golden brown and firm on the outside, with a soft crumbly texture hidden inside—a little treasure, of sorts, for your mouth. They can be savory or sweet and served for breakfast or dinner. I know, this sounds like the most perfect little quick bread in the world.

Scones appeal not only to my palate but also to my fantasy-prone mind. Even though they are extremely easy to make, they somehow feel like a fancy treat that I—a character in a Jane Austen novel, maybe a long-lost Dashwood sister—am enjoying on a dreary day in the British countryside. When eating them, I am likely to bust out my best British accent, just as Jack does while on the phone with family. Both are quite amusing.

The recipe I used for my chocolate chip scones was adapted ever so slightly from one posted on About.com, and the result was delicious. Crispy outside, soft inside, sweet, and accent-inspiring—perfect.

A few months ago, I wrote about a fantasy involving a swimming pool filled with vegan Twinkies. That fantasy may soon become a reality, thanks to Vegan Honey, the Brooklyn-based bakery that offers up mouthwatering treats online at Etsy.com.

Vegan Honey sells pies, pastries, doggie treats, and more and even has a "Fauxstess" line, which features chocolate-covered vegan Twinkies! Just about every dessert I can think of is available on the site, and lucky for you, you now have a chance to win some of them.

Vegan Honey has been kind enough to donate a $40 gift certificate to Etsy.com that will go to one lucky winner. All you have to do for a chance to win is leave an interesting comment about your favorite vegan dessert—we'll keep it simple. The most unique, witty, inspiring, or delicious comment wins.

The contest ends on November 27, and the winner will be chosen and by November 30.

Just so you know…by giving us your details here, we're taking that as acknowledgment that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy. And by commenting, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

What would make my list of requirements for the perfect cookbook? Let's see…

•Tasty, reliable recipes, obviously.

•Tips throughout that explain all those small steps that most cookbooks assume you already know how to do.

•Beautiful pictures that rival the artistic photography in even a Charlie Trotter cookbook.

•But not just pretty pictures, also part instructional text—think a toned-down version of a CIA textbook.

•Oh, and all the recipes are vegan.

If I were writing a cookbook, these are all the elements I would want to include to make the perfect book. Luckily, I've already found a book on baking that has all of the above.

The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks' Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is by far one of the best vegan cookbooks I've come across. Don't be fooled by the "average Joe" cover, because there are culinary treasures to be found inside the book.

It is loaded with reliable recipes for classics such as chocolate chip cookies, lemon bars (see the recipe below), pumpkin pie, and caramel popcorn—but the author ventures away from the norm as well. Colleen mixes it up a bit with recipes for Mexican horchata, melonpan (a Japanese cookie bread), and chocolate babka (Polish bread). I can honestly say that I was not disappointed by one single recipe in the book—and I tried many.

I must admit that I am very much a cookbook junkie—let's just say "connoisseur." I look at not just the recipes and photos but also the quality of the paper, the font, the binding—I look at it all. Sadly, many vegan cookbooks just aren't up to par with where vegan food is. The books sometimes look like children's homemade Christmas presents for their parents—not exactly an accurate portrayal of the best vegan recipes there are to offer. But that is not the case with The Joy of Vegan Baking. It's a beautiful book with delicious recipes, and I give it the "Amy, Cookbook Connoisseur" seal of approval.

I'm willing to bet that most people have heard of—and many have tried—the traditional pineapple upside-down cake. I remember thinking as a child that it was just about the coolest thing that my mom ever made—and I loved stealing the extra pineapple rings from the can. But most people, myself included, don't look beyond pineapple for the ingredient that will go on top (or is it the bottom?) of the cake.

After a friend made this Apple-Cinnamon Upside-Down Cake for me, I decided to research more interesting recipes for the flip-flopping cake. Very slowly, I came across recipes for cakes (and muffins) that cried out to be veganized. Here are a few of the highlights: Banana-Maple Upside-Down Cake, Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake, and even a Broccoli-and-Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake.

And here are a few that are already vegan: Peach Upside-Down Cake and Cranberry Upside-Down Cake.

Let me know if you have a recipe or an idea for a creative—or just plain weird—upside-down cake.

By playing it cool over the last couple of weeks, I've been able to hide my obsession with all things Christmas. Christmas music? Love it. Christmas tree? Already decorated. Singing Rudolph doll with a light-up nose? Already in my living room.

Like many adults, the holiday items I love most are those I remember from my childhood, especially the songs and desserts. So, to kick off my holiday baking this year, I blasted the Chipmunks' Christmas song and got out the cookie cutters to make classic sugar cookies.

Of course, I loved making Christmas sugar cookies as a child—it's a canvas you can then eat—but I still love making them as an adult, too, because they're nostalgic and easy. Decorating can be made practically stress-free by buying icing, gels, sprinkles, and candies from your local grocery store instead of trying to make them on your own.

With these reliable recipes that I found for perfect sugar cookies and icing as your base, and with your store-bought decorations, you'll have time just to have fun decorating cookies, not worrying about how they'll taste.

P.S. If you have time, enter one of these (American Apparel or Almost Vegetarian) great contests. And if you are like me and haven't even begun to think about shopping for Christmas presents yet, you can just give the prize as a gift!

Just because I'm vegan doesn't mean I'm not mildly obsessed with the Food Network, like many of you out there. Now if only they'd hold a vegan Iron Chef competition, I think my life would be complete.

In the meantime, I can pick and choose which recipes I want to veganize, and today's winner is a rice pudding created by Giada De Laurentiis and featured on the Food Network's vegetarian Christmas menu. (Psst…I'm also featuring another item from the menu in a guest post on Almost Vegetarian sometime before Christmas. I can't tell you which one, but be sure to check it out.)

Rice pudding has long been a traditional holiday dish worldwide. Wikipedia's rice pudding page describes variations of the dish that can be found in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas and gives the history of the dessert. Some of the recipes are already vegan, like the Puerto Rican version, which is made with coconut milk, and the others can be easily veganized.

Giada's recipe is one that fell into the "easily veganized" category, because I only had to substitute the soy milk. Once this creamy pudding started simmering on the stove and the smell of vanilla and orange zest filled the air, I knew that Christmas is almost here—and that I had found the perfect dessert to finish off my holiday meal.

To ring in the new year, I will most likely be on a dance floor surrounded by friends and screaming out my countdown to midnight. But that will only be after I have an early evening cocktail party that focuses on finger foods. I have to do something somewhat sophisticated and adult-like before getting crazy later in the night.

A New Year's Eve party is the perfect time to put out a spread of indulgent appetizers, mini entrées, and desserts all at once. There are no hard rules on the rights and wrongs of what to serve on this holiday, so get crazy with it!

Chow.com offers up ideas on creating a Japanese spread focused on mochi or starters such as curried carrot soup served in cute shot glasses. This is also the time to splurge on the bubbly and on specialty cocktails, such as Food Network's champagne punch. You can try the Triple Threat Twinkies or Mushrooms Rockefeller below, or be creative and create your own finger foods.

The point is to be creative and celebrate the way you want. After an often stressful holiday season jammed full of traditions, it's necessary to let your hair down, celebrate, eat, and drink your way.

And I want them now! Sure, you can find Oreos everywhere, and many store-brand cookies are vegan, but sometimes you want that extra-special cookie. Well, you're in luck because finding great vegan cookies is now a cinch.

Here are some of my favorite brands:

•Liz Lovely: My favorite is the soft chocolate chip "Cowgirl Cookie."

•Alternative Baking Company: This was the first brand of pre-made vegan cookies I ever tried, and it's still a favorite to this day. "Explosive Espresso Chip" is hands down my favorite.

•Uncle Eddie's Vegan Cookies: I've got to recommend the "Oatmeal Chocolate Chip." Are you guys seeing a pattern here?

•Lucy's: These low-calorie crispy cookies can be purchased in a 12-pack sampler.

•Nana's: Who can resist a dessert called "Nana's Fudgy Wudgy Cookie Bars"? You have to try one.

•Sun Flour Vegan Cookies: The delicious and filling "Banana Nut" cookie is practically a meal in itself.

As I said, there's no need to worry about how you're going to get your hands on these delicious treats—which I must admit are listed in order of preference. You can find these online, at health-food stores, and at some major grocery stores, such as Whole Foods. And if you have tips on where to find other yummy, pre-made vegan cookies, please share in a comment below!

Grab a towel before clicking on the link to the Allison's Gourmet Web site, because the pictures of gourmet desserts are going to make you drool. The boxes of chocolates are just like those my dad gave me for Valentine's Day when I was a little girl—except they're better because they're vegan.

Now is your chance to win the six-piece vegan chocolate assortment of truffles and caramels and the organic vegan peanut-butter cups. Even better, Allison's Gourmet is going to ship them to your door in time for V-Day, so you can give them to that special lady friend or man in your life—or just protest the holiday and eat them all yourself.

All you have to do to win is leave a comment below describing your favorite vegan Valentine's Day food. It can be a candy, a dessert recipe, a decadent savory item—anything goes! The most intriguing comment—as determined by me—wins the prize.

The contest ends February 10 at 12 noon, and the winner (one person will receive both the six-piece assortment and the peanut-butter cups) will be notified immediately.

Don't forget to check out all the delicious offerings at Allison's Gourmet. Good luck!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and many of us are searching for that perfect gift that will surprise and excite. These truffles, with the combination of chocolate and chilies, will do just that.

This super-easy recipe has just a hint of chili powder and a lot of chocolate. Both are known aphrodisiacs and will certainly help with that "excitement" you're seeking. And depending on your threshold for pain, or some might say pleasure, you can kick up the heat by adding more chili powder or using fresh chilies simmered in the "cream."

I will admit that I've never tried a Milano cookie. I am definitely more of a homemade-cookie kind of girl, but when my friend Mylie sent me this recipe for a vegan version of the Milano, I realized I could have the best of both worlds. A homemade vegan version of Pepperidge Farms' number one selling cookie could be mine.

The Milano recipe Mylie sent to me is from the creators of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and is featured on their blog by the same name. I would say that just about every recipe they create is amazing, and this was no exception. Sure, I have no clue what real Milanos taste like, but these were definitely a hit with my Sunday afternoon, basketball-watching visitors. I did make one slight adjustment to the recipe by reducing my cooking time to 10 to 12 minutes, not the 12 to 14 they suggest. I tried the longer time with my first batch of cookies, but after cooling for only 20 minutes, they were already rock solid.

Let me know if these Milanos taste like the original or if you have veganized any other classic cookies. Enjoy!

Chow.com recently posted a recipe for St. Patty's Day Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes, and immediately I knew that they needed to be veganized because it would allow me to indulge in both my love for dark beer and my love for baking.

The first step in veganizing the cupcakes is to replace the Guinness, which is not vegan-friendly, with another Irish stout or coffee. Next, replace the milk with soy milk and the eggs with Ener-G brand egg replacer. Finally, replace the sour cream with the vegan equivalent, or if you are like me and don't have any on hand, use Vegenaise. I swear this was good and led to super-moist cupcakes that even my brother, who seems to be deathly afraid of all things vegan, approved of.

To get a nice light dusting of cocoa powder, try placing a small amount on a spoon and then blowing it onto the cupcakes. Of course, you don't want to do this if you're baking something you're going to sell or, say, giving the cupcakes to a complete germaphobe, but it is a neat at-home trick.

Enjoy the cupcakes with a strong Irish coffee, and you'll have a buzz, not just from sugar, to last throughout the day.