I have a vegan on my giftlist this year and it has been a long time since I was vegan. From back in my days, I recall that it was a downer to have lots of festive food occasions around the holidays and not participate. I also recall that baking for vegans involved complex recipes, exotic ingredients, and never turned out very well. Has vegan baking gotten easier? I'd love to bake something special for her.

Anyone got any favored recipes? (I know I have at least one vegan on my f-list.) Suggestions for sites to visit for good recipes? I don't have a lot of time to experiment so I'm hoping to hit paydirt quickly. Any tips on making vegan baked goods? Extra points for chocolate desserts since she's a chocoholic.

I've thought of things like sugared nuts but I really wanted to go with something that seemed more...planned. Planned isn't exactly what I mean; it's hard to describe but if you've ever had a meal of piles of vegetables rather than a planned meal, you know that it's unsatisfying and gets old. I'm trying to make this something special.