yawn! i usually don’t post on saturday morning, but as of today, there are finally vegan donuts in los angeles and that is so worth writing about at this dreadful hour! intelligentsia in silver lake has started selling dee’s nuts donuts and i can’t get enough.

dee's nuts vegan donut with chocolate frosting and purple sprinkles. yum.

it’s about fucking time vegan donuts made their way to los angeles. i mean, jeez, we have a gazzilion vegan restaurants, vegan cupcakes, vegan cookies, and (my fave) vegan twinkies, but no vegan donuts. …UNTIL NOW.

today, it seems that dee’s nuts donuts, a vegan donut brand has shot up overnight and started offering a line of baked goods at the very popular intelligentsia coffee shop in silver lake. dee’s nuts is a one-woman, animal-free donut company (she doesn’t advertise her goods as vegan, because the v word makes flesh-eaters recoil in horror) who has has been getting quite the buzz in the vegan community and causing a stir among herbivores on twitter.

dee’s nuts treats have been available for private order through her website for quite awhile. but today for the first time, they made their debut on the los angeles restaurant scene. since silver lake seems to have the most vegan restaurants per capita, it seems fitting that vegan donuts would first show up at a trendy sunset junction coffee shop.

intelligentsia is known for its superior coffee, tea, and pastries. how awesome is it that thanks to dee’s nuts, vegans from all of la county have a huge reason to visit there now.

vegan donuts at intelligentsia. $2.50 each.

glazed and chocolate-coconut are both delicious.

dee’s nuts creates a line of super fresh donuts, baked right in our own downtown los angeles, that taste authentic and sinful just like the real thing. plump, porous, juicy cake deep fried and covered in thick and creamy frosting make for absolute decadence. and at only $2.50 a pop, they are very reasonably priced, and give you an excuse to buy several.

because they aren’t advertised as vegan, i know that SO MANY omnivores will order these donuts and think they are “real.” muahahahahhahahahahahaha.

la vegans, get over to intelligentsia and buy some donuts. right now they only have one dozen per day. i got my silly ass there at 6am on a saturday and heard that other people had been calling about them as well. considering there are no other vegan donuts in town, i’d act fast and buy ‘em whenever the fuck you can.

i was so stoked when i heard about these vegan donuts, that i couldn’t even wait for them to become available in stores. lucky for me, deanna of dee’s nuts invited me to her kitchen yesterday and gave me a quick tour, as well as a piping-hot donut fresh off the press. you can order your own batch through her website, and i highly recommend doing so, even if its just to be able to taste a donut moments after its been made. check out this cell phone picture i snapped of the vegan donut maker:

this is where vegan donuts come from.

i know, i know. i am very lucky.

dee’s nuts donuts also made a smaller debut today at fix coffee in echo park. fix has already been offering cookies baked by dee’s nuts, and as of today they will be selling donuts too. if you can stomach it, i would recommend getting to fix and trying the cookies out as well. there is a freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie that is melty and out of this world, along with a thick spongy sugar cookie slathered in creamy frosting. these treats are also not advertised as vegan, and they are tasty enough to fool anybody.

vegan sugar cookie. $2.50 and vegan chocolate chip cookie. $2.25

i will keep you posted as these baked goods and donuts become available in more locations. now that i’ve had vegan donuts in la, i definitely don’t want them to go away.

oh yeah, and dee’s nuts! lol.

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ever since i found out the soy cheese at zpizza in west hollywood isn’t vegan friendly, i have been pretty much avoiding that part of town. what can i say, it brings back bad memories. well now, i have a whole new reason to go back to weho. you see, an awesome burger joint called o!burger, has been serving up healthy, organic alternatives to fast food with plenty of vegan options for quite sometime. i recently checked them out, and i think i’m addicted.

i’ve never had a vegan meal that scratches that dirty, guilty fast food itch, but at the same time tastes unique and reassuringly healthy like the scrumptious o!veggie burger.

the classic o!veggie: a homemade patty with spinach and corn. $7.99

the o!veggie is insane, unlike anything i’ve ever tasted. most burgers use soy protein or some kind of meat substitute when they go vegan, but at o!burger, they make the veggie patty with just downright genuine ingredients. their website states, “the veggie burger is made in house, filled with vegetables, oats, and corn — it’s vegan and dairy free.” i was reticent to try o!burger when i spotted it once as i cruised by on santa monica blvd. i figured they used some kind of garden burger or other unsafe patty for their veggie option. boy, was i missing out. the unexpected blend of spinach, corn and other vegetables made for an awesome surprise. i couldn’t believe how tasty it was. un-bloody-real.

also, it came served up on a delightfully grilled bun with a huge heap of sauteed onions and cucumbers instead of pickles. a whole new experience. the patty, presentation, and additional vegetables were all spot on. i cannot believe i waited so long to try this place.

we also grabbed an order of the o!fries, which were delicious and served up in a brown paper bag, proper fast food style. they weren’t too baked, or overly greasy. i’d say they were just right…and crinkle-cut! like when i was a kid!

o!fries. $2.99

but that’s not all, o!burger also caters to vegans like me with a voracious appetite for sweet things. first off, they have vegan cookies, which are absolutely delicious!

o!vegan cookie. $1.75

when i got this cookie home, it had started to melt a bit and the chocolate chips were moist and soft. seriously, it was incredible. this fast food treat didn’t even taste vegan. normal cookies: look the fuck out, this one is coming for you.

lastly, we rounded everything off with a pleasant milkshake. we got the vegan chocolate with oat milk, and it was delish. my only qualm was that it cost $4.50! that seems like a lot for a shake…what is it with everyone driving up prices on milkshakes lately? sheesh!

o!vegan shake. $4.50

o!burger has definitely conquered the intersection of delicious and healthy. everything they serve is organic, and their vegan food is out of this world. plus, they serve it up old school burger joint style. i really feel like i’m gettin’ some down and dirty real fast food when i eat there. you definitely pay more than you would at a normal burger joint, but for organic and vegan junk food, i’ll comply.

well done, o!burger. you may be a bit pricey, but you rock my socks off!

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what self-respecting, sweets-lovin’ vegan doesn’t go nuts over the thought of VEGAN CUPCAKES!!?? i know i do. and since leda’s bakeshop in los angeles has practically shut down, i’ve been fiending for my next vegan cupcake fix. that’s why when in nyc, i absolutely had to check out manhattan’s famous vegan bakery, babycakes! i sure wasn’t disappointed.

cookies 'n cream frosted cupcake: $3.95

for my cupcake choice, i went with a chocolate cake topped of with cookies ‘n cream frosting. it was out of this world. the cupcake sure wasn’t as pretty or daintily decorated as the ones over at leda’s, but it tasted even better. the frosting was by far the best part, being rich, creamy, and full of little chocolate chunks. the cake was moist and decadent as well…i seriously could have eaten like 5 of these. so friggin’ delicious.

best frosting ever.

i happened to be at babycakes on halloween, so they had a selection of ghoulish goodies for sale as well. i decided to buy a variation of the chocolate chip cookie sandwich with orange frosting and the word “BOO” written on it.

chocolate chip cookie sandwich, halloween style! $4.25

the cookie sandwich was even more scrumptious than the cupcake and filled with so much sticky-gooey frosting. i loved every last bite. seriously, i can’t figure out how they get a frosting with no eggs and no dairy to taste so damn rich and creamy.

the cookies themselves were incredible as well. crunchy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside, and littered with almost-melting chocolate morsels. by far the best cookie sandwich i’ve ever had. now if only they sold a version with soy ice cream in the middle. mmmm.

i can’t wait to get back to nyc and eat at babycakes again and again. rumor has it they are even gonna open one in los angeles, right here in our very own weho! i hope that happens sooner rather than later. i don’t think i can wait.

everything i tried at babycakes was off the chain and worth raving about. although their treats are pretty expensive, they make up for it with healthier, natural, organic and VEGAN ingredients along with a tastiness that is unmatched. yum. yum. yum.

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as a vegan, i am always looking for the perfect snack. it’s easy to find ubiquitous junk food items that don’t contain animal products (i’m talking to you, oreos!), but are full of scary ingredients that are hazardous to my health. for so long, i have been looking for an indulgence item that makes me feel like i am living it up, but not eating something that is gonna kill me. enter nutty steph’s. nutty steph’s is a vermont-based company making healthy, organic granola that tastes so decadent, it can compete with any household junk food.

nutty steph's vermont granola, nutty steph's trail mix, and cookies made with nutty steph's ingredients

steph started selling her granola in 2003, when she was only 23 years old, and had no knowledge of commercial food production. what she lacked in age, however, she made up for in creativity and over the past five years her granola has gained tons of respect from buyers and chefs alike. and even more importantly, i love it! her granola is so packed with flavor, i almost don’t want to sprinkle it on top of anything. i’ve never tasted a “healthy” snack that is so perfect straight out of the bag. sweet, slightly salty, and above all, nutty, this granola is beyond delish.

nutty steph's vermont granola: organic oats, pure vermont maple syrup, sunflower oil, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sea salt.

and, nutty steph’s granola can be used in various recipes. steph even has a whole category dedicated on on her website to the various uses for the granola. since i am a vegan, i decided to put the granola to the ultimate test and use it a recipe from veganomicon, the ultimate vegan cookbook. i made a recipe i already knew to be delicious, the chocolate-chocolate chip-walnut cookies, and substituted nutty steph’s granola for the actual nuts. i also used nutty steph’s magic chunks for 1/3 of the chocolate chips called for in the recipe. i can tell you, these cookies have never tasted so delicious. the delicate blend of sweet sugary oats and pure nut flavoring added more to the cookies than i could have imagined. these were so much better than the cookies with walnuts.

veganomicon's chocolate-chocolate chip-walnut cookies using nutty steph's vermont granola and magic chunks

the crunchy granola and magic chunks were the perfect compliment to the soft dough and chocolate chips. unlike when baking the cookie with actual walnuts, the oats mixed in throughout the dough making for a much more substantial and satisfying cookie. plus, there were plenty of nuts in the granola, so i still got the intended nutty taste. the granola was absolutely great to bake with, and i am sure it would make a fine substitute in many of my favorite dessert and snack recipes.

lastly, nutty steph also offers her own brand of trail mix which is out of this world. the minute you try this, it will be hard not to eat the whole bag in one sitting, because it is so damn addictive. the already irresistible granola gets thrown in with fresh batch of raisins, huge and whole crunchy nuts, and large chunks of dark chocolate to make something i can’t resist.

nutty steph's granola trail mix: vermont granola, peanuts, raisins and chocolate chips

this is by far my favorite product of nutty steph’s. i’m sure it would be great sprinkled onto some soy ice cream, or mixed in with some cereal, but i just enjoyed the entire bag plain, on its own. the chocolate discs really bring out the nutty-ness in crispy granola, and the raisins provide a softness to all the crunch. steph really has found the perfect way to combine natural ingredients and make them taste ridiculously good.

this trail mix is so freakin' delicious

nutty steph’s is a vegan junk food/health food dream come true. an unashamedly delicious snack containing ingredients that i can pronounce. all real food, no chemicals or fake shit is contained in nutty steph’s. let’s support this cool chick from vermont who makes the perfect vegan snack, and stick it to the big corporations!

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