“It’s great for your health!”, “It helps to reduce your carbon footprint”, “Giving up dairy is good for your skin” – Sure, you’ve heard loads of reasons about why you should be cutting back on animal products and eating more vegan foods, but what happens if you just can’t bear to give up your favourite snacks?
Well, it might be easier than you think – there’s a whole heap of tasty treats and naturally vegan foods out there.
(Disclaimer: biscuits may have eaten for the purposes of this blog).
Crumpets
This might be an obvious one to some, but a quick poll with our vegan and dairy-free friends shows many mistakenly believe crumpets contained dairy. Wrong! We’re happy to report that most store brought crumpets are vegan-friendly, and they go just perfectly with a thick slather of Pure dairy-free spread.
Dark chocolate
Chocoholics assemble! Unlike milk and white chocolate which (unsurprisingly) contain milk, dark chocolate is made only with cocoa butter. It’s the ‘cocoa butter’ term which throws people off, but it actually comes from cocoa beans, meaning most dark chocolate is dairy-free and vegan. Try some in our indulgent Chocolate Biscuit Loaf or mouthwatering Chocolate Brownies.
Cream crackers
Don’t be fooled by the word ‘cream’ in the name. Instead of referring to cream in the ingredients, it’s actually the name of the method when the mixture is ‘creamed’ during the manufacturing process. Now, where did we put the chutney?
(Some) biscuits
There’s usually fierce debate over the nation’s favourite biscuit. Don’t feel left out, you can fight for your favourite too with many classics completely dairy-free and vegan friendly. Oreos, Chocolate Chip Hobnobs, party rings and chocolate bourbons are our favourites. Even the Lotus Biscoff – the thin caramel biscuit often served with coffee – is completely vegan. Grab a cuppa and get dunking!
(Some) crisps
Twiglets, Skips, Doritos, Pringles, Hula Hoops, McCoys – there’s lots of vegan-friendly potato snacks out there and some are even ‘meat’-flavoured. Amazing. Smokey bacon, prawn cocktail, sizzling BBQ chicken and chargrilled steak are our go-tos when we’re making a crisp sandwich.
Ice Cream
Chunky Monkey, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Cookie Dough – yes, we are reciting flavours of Ben & Jerry’s. But not just any flavours; these are all part of the brand’s non-diary range which is 100% certified vegan. Also check out Magnum, Cornetto, Booja Booja and Jude’s for vegan-friendly offerings.
Pasta
Although fresh pasta is made by mixing an egg with flour, most dried pasta is made with durum wheat and semolina, making it perfectly fine for vegans to eat. Just take care with the chilled varieties because they’ll probably contain egg.
Peanut butter
Crunchy, smooth, however you like it – the majority of peanut butters are made from just ground peanuts and a bit of added salt or sugar. According to PETA, they occasionally have added honey so check labels but most are vegan-friendly. Pass a spoon, please.
Breakfast cereals
Cereal is a tricky area when it comes to vegan foods. You probably know Weetabix and porridge is OK, but what if you fancy something a bit more exciting? Well Shreddies are your friend, and not just any Shreddies (although the ‘normal’ Shreddies are vegan too). Enjoy the Coco, Coco Caramel and Frosted varieties. Cereal for dinner, anyone?
Custard Powder
Yes, you read that correctly. Bird’s Traditional Custard Powder is made only with maize starch, salt, flavouring and colour (annatto). Mix it with your plant milk of choice and pour over bananas for a retro, vegan dessert which is just perfect for autumn evenings.