This baked dairy-free cheesecake is just as good or better than any baked cheesecake you’ve ever had. It’s creamy and cheesy and simply sensational!
So you may have heard me whining on this blog about not being able to get dairy free cream cheese. Well…the other day when I was wondering around my local supermarket, imagine how excited I was to see some tofutti dairy free cream cheese!
I was so excited that I basically bought their entire stock of it. And then got busy making baked cheesecakes.
I made a few before I got to the perfect consistency but oh wow, this cheesecake is exactly the consistency of the baked cheesecakes you know and love! In dairy free form. Yay!
Of course it’s also egg free because hey this is a vegan blog! But it really doesn’t miss the eggs either.
If you love cheesecake then you’ll probably also love our no-bake vegan cheesecake and vegan pumpkin cheesecake.
How to Make Baked Vegan Cheesecake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
The Crust:
- I went with an old favorite here which is an oreo cookie crust. Golden oreos and vegan butter make the perfect crust for this cheesecake.
- Just add oreo cookies to the food processor and process into crumbs.
- Then add in melted vegan butter and process again until all the crumbs are coated with the butter.
- Press down into a 9-inch round pie dish.
The Filling Part One:
- The first part of the filling is to add coconut cream, the separated cream part only from a can of chilled coconut cream to a blender jug.
- Add cashews and blend.
TIP: This is very thick, so if you have a Vitamix, you’re all set. But if you have a weaker model blender, then the best thing to do will be to blend the coconut cream first, until it’s well blended, and then add the cashews and blend them into the coconut cream.
The Filling Part Two:
- Then you move on to the second part of the filling which is to add two tubs of vegan cream cheese (we used Tofutti) to the bowl of your stand mixer, along with caster sugar (also called superfine sugar), cornstarch, salt, lemon juice and vanilla extract.
- Starting at slow speed gradually increase speed until everything is well mixed.
TIP: Be careful not to overmix. Don’t just leave the mixer running.
- Then (not pictured) add the coconut cream and cashew blended mix and lemon zest to the cream cheese mix and fold it in carefully.
- Pour the filling over the golden Oreo crust and smooth it down.
- Bake the cheesecake in the oven for 60 minutes at 320°F (160°C).
- After the cheesecake has baked for an hour, turn off the oven and crack open the oven door. Leave the cheesecake in the oven to cool down slowly for another hour.
- When it’s just finished baking it will be a little jiggly in the middle, don’t worry it firms up.
- After it finishes cooling in the oven, transfer it to the countertop and let it cool all the way down to room temperature and then move it to the fridge until chilled through and preferably overnight.
- Add the topping and serve!
No Water Bath
We bake this cheesecake at a low temperature so it doesn’t need a water bath. In addition to the low temperature baking, we crack the oven door after it has baked for an hour and let it cool down slowly for another hour. Baking it slowly and then cooling it slowly like this, means you don’t get cracks in the top.
As you’ll see from my pic above, mine cracked a little on the top, but that was because I got a little impatient with the cooling process and cut it short. If you let it cool nice and slow then it tends to not crack. But this tiny little crack in the top isn’t enough to convince me to go to the effort of a water bath. Especially because the crack will just get covered with a cookie crumb topping.
The Topping
The topping is just crushed golden oreo cookies. The topping is completely optional and you don’t actually have to have a topping at all.
I’m just a fan of how it looks with all those cookie crumbs!
Vegan Baked Cheesecake Q&A
It’s ideal to make this cheesecake in advance because you ideally want it to chill overnight in the fridge so it can firm up to the perfect consistency.
The filling is already gluten-free, so to make this cheesecake gluten-free all you need to do is use a gluten-free vanilla sandwich cookie to make the crust.
Keep it stored in the fridge and it will last around 5-7 days.
Yes you can freeze it! I froze a few slices and then thawed them in the fridge and they were perfectly delicious.
More Vegan Desserts
- Dairy Free Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Lemon Bars
- Vegan Chocolate Tart
- Vegan Mug Cake
- Vegan Nutella
- Vegan White Chocolate
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Dairy Free Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 28 Golden Oreos
- ⅓ cup Vegan Butter (75g) Melted
For the Filling:
- 1 ¼ cups Canned Coconut Cream (300ml) hardened cream only from a chilled 14 ounce (400ml) can, chilled in the fridge overnight
- 1 cup Raw Cashews (150g)
- 16 ounces Dairy Free Cream Cheese (450g) We used Tofutti brand
- 1 ⅔ cups Caster Sugar (330g) Superfine Sugar*
- ½ cup Cornstarch (64g)
- ½ tsp Salt
- 5 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Zest
For the Topping (Optional):
- 6 Golden Oreos Crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C).
- Add the oreo cookies to the food processor and process into crumbs. Melt the vegan butter and then add to the processor and process again until all the crumbs are coated with the butter. Spray a 9-inch round pie dish* with non-stick spray and then press the cookie crumbs down into an even layer. Set aside while you prepare your filling.
- Take the can of chilled coconut cream from the fridge and open the can. Scoop the hardened cream that has risen to the top into your blender jug, leaving the watery part behind. Add the raw cashews and blend until smooth. If your blender is not powerful (like a Vitamix) then blend the coconut cream first, and then add the cashew nuts and blend them in. Set aside.
- Add the two tubs of dairy-free cream cheese to the bowl of your stand mixer, along with the caster sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Starting at slow speed gradually increase speed until everything is well mixed. Be careful not to overmix, it just needs to be mixed in, don’t leave the mixer running.
- Add the coconut cream and cashew mix along with some lemon zest to the cream cheese mix and fold in.
- Pour the filling over the crust and smooth down.
- Bake for 60 minutes.
- After 60 minutes turn off the oven and crack open the oven door leaving the cheesecake in the oven to cool down slowly for an hour.
- When it’s finished baking it will be a little jiggly in the middle, this is perfect.
- After cooling in the oven, move it to the counter and let it cool down to room temperature and then move it to the fridge until chilled through. It’s ideal if you can leave it overnight.
- When it’s completely chilled through and firmed up then add the crumb topping and serve!
Notes
- Golden Oreos. You can switch the golden Oreos for a different vegan cookie if you prefer.
- Coconut cream. The hardened/separated cream from one 14 ounce can of coconut cream will usually equal about 1 and ¼ cups (300ml). If you have to replace the coconut cream in this recipe with a different cream then this is the amount you would use.
- Caster sugar. If you can’t get hold of caster sugar (superfine sugar) then you can use regular granulated white sugar instead.
- Pie dish. Our pie dish is 9-inches round and 2 and ½ inches deep. It needs to be a deep pie dish to fit the volume of this cheesecake. You could also use a 9-inch springform pan.
- Make it gluten free: The filling is already gluten-free, so to make this cheesecake gluten-free all you need to do is use gluten-free sandwich cookies (or other gluten free cookies) to make the crust.
- Storing and freezing: Keep it stored in the fridge and it will last around 5-7 days. It’s also freezer friendly.
I’m sorry, another question.
How many cookies and butter, just for the bottom crust?
I won’t be putting crumbs on top.
Thank you.
The topping cookies are listed separately. The crust ingredients are exactly as stated in the recipe card.
Looks delicious!
I, like so many others are on the Instant Pot band wagon.
Have you or anybody tried this recipe in the Instant Pot?
If so, what is the procedure, time, etc…
Thank you so much!
Hi Cindy, I don’t have an instant pot so I don’t have any idea sorry! 🙂
Can I use the salted caramel fudge sauce from another one of your recipes as a topping for this recipe instead of the cookies?
Yes! That would be delicious! 🙂
Yummy! I used silky tofu instead of cream cheese and this is sooo good. It is hard to keep hands off it, I tried a bit after 2 hours, it is already delicious though it is still tad warm, so I will wait until it is cool and set. Cannot wait to have a proper slice tomorrow. Thank you Alison <3
Oh awesome! So glad silken tofu works great too, I must try that! Thanks for sharing and the great review. 🙂
Hello 🙂 i have a few questions!
1. Can i use Homemade coconut Yogurt or silken tofu instead of cream cheese? And which is much better you think? Because I cant find any vegan cream cheese here.
2. Caster sugar is same with powdered sugar which is the one making your vegan carrot cake icing ?
3. And i am wondering why you mentioned not to overmix. What will happen if i overmix?
Always thanks for yummy recipe
Love xx
You can try silken tofu but I haven’t tested it so I don’t know how well it would work. No, caster sugar is also called superfine sugar. It’s not as fine as powdered (icing) sugar. If you put granulated sugar in the food processor and give it a few pulses then you get the same texture as caster/superfine sugar. If you overmix a vegan cream cheese it can ruin the texture.
Is there a replacement for cornstarch? Can I use maple syrup instead?
Hi Tati, the cornstarch is needed for it to set, and maple syrup won’t work as a sub for sugar here. You might prefer our no-bake vegan cheesecake instead. 🙂
Hi! I really want to make this recipe, but unfortunately I can’t find Tofutti in my country, Any idea what I could replace that with?
Hi Ada, do you have another dairy free cream cheese option? I did try it with a different brand and it also worked fine (though I did prefer the Tofutti). Otherwise you can make a different cheesecake that doesn’t require it like our vegan cheesecake with salted caramel fudge topping. 🙂
Thanks for your fast reply! I found some cream cheese from Violife, I can’t wait to try this recipe! I made the vegan cheesecake with salted caramel fudge topping a while ago and I absolutely L O V E D it! <3
Oh awesome, that will work perfectly! So glad you liked the other cheesecake too! 🙂
Do u have a recipe for a dairy free cannoli?
Hi Kim! I haven’t done cannoli yet, but I can add it to my list. 🙂 In the meantime, this recipe from Gretchens Bakery looks really good. 🙂
How deep is your pie dish? Do you think a springform pan would work alternatively?
Hi Jillian, this is an important question! Thanks for asking, I have added more info to the recipe card. Our dish is 2 and 1/2 inches deep so it is fairly deep. You can definitely use a 9-inch springform pan for this as well. All the best! 🙂
Thanks! I tried the recipe using a springform pan and used all of the same ingredients. Somehow the cheesecake came out super lemony with zero hint of cream cheese. The texture was also off, it had the gelatinous consistency of a lemon bar. I have no idea what I did wrong! I did bake it for an extra 30 minutes, but my oven usually takes a bit longer and the cheesecake looked nowhere near done at the 60 minute mark. Any ideas?
Hi Jillian, what stands out to me is that your oven usually takes longer. I think it isn’t reaching the right temperature, which can have quite a large impact. I recently moved to a new house and all my baking was failing until I figured out the oven wasn’t reaching the right temp. Now I do everything with my oven thermometer in the oven and I look at that to see what the temperature is, the oven itself is way off with what it says the temp is and what it actually is inside. The cheesecake bakes at a low temperature so it’s very important that it is baking at the right temp, and then after the hour it is supposed to stay in the oven and you just crack the oven open. So after the first hour of baking it does seem VERY jiggly in the middle but after an hour of remaining in the oven with the door cracked (and the oven off) it has firmed up substantially. I think the incorrect oven temperature would be reason enough by far for the issues with texture. The taste though, I’m not sure why it doesn’t taste cheesy, mine sure does and I had a serious amount of taste testers for this one! Did you use the same brand of cream cheese as I did (Tofutti)?
Hi,
Is there a substitute for coconut cream? My daughter is allergic to coconut ingredients.
Thank you.
Hi Cindy, I think if you use a different non-dairy cream it will work fine. I would use 1 and 1/4 cups (300ml) which is roughly the amount you get when you separate the cream from the water in a can of coconut cream. 🙂
I can’t believe how good this is! You would really not know the difference between this and a regular non vegan cheesecake, if anything this is better!
Thanks so much Megan! So glad you enjoyed it. xo
I don’t have a stand mixer, is a hand held mixer ok?
Hi Sydney, it should be fine! It might take a bit of arm power, but it’s not terribly hard to mix this and it only needs to be ‘just mixed’ it shouldn’t go too long in the mixer anyway. All the best! 🙂
Thanks so much! I have to buy a stand-up mixer. I do have the Vitamix. ????
I don’t have a Vitamix can the cashews be soaked?
Hi Jay, I would still rather do it the way I recommended which is to blend the coconut cream and then add the cashews and blend them into the already blended coconut cream. If you’re worried about it then add the cashews slowly. Even if the texture is a bit gritty it will be fine once baked. If you soak the cashews it will add water content to this recipe that isn’t accounted for and might result in a texture that is too soft.
Can you add a fruit topping like in “traditional” cheesecakes to this? I’m thinking strawberry sauce? Also, have you tried making a flavoured cheesecake?
Hi Nadia, I just wanted to get a basic delicious baked cheesecake recipe down before branching out into different flavors. But I’m sure that’ll happen in future! You could really add any topping you like to this as well! 🙂
Trader Joe’s has really good cream cheese, but I think your cream cheese recipe is the best. Can’t wait to try this cheesecake!
Would your homemade cream cheese work with this recipe? I’ve tried Tofutti’s and I’m not a fan.
Hi Dena, Tofutti’s works really well in this particular recipe. I haven’t tested my homemade version so I’m not sure!
Can I use coconut oil instead of vegan butter?
Yes that would work! ????
This sounds wonderful! How much would this cost to make?
No idea sorry! I don’t usually do a costing of my recipes, and it would depend on where you are as to what it would cost. I don’t think it’s costly at all though, since it doesn’t use expensive ingredients. All the best! 🙂