Um….can you freaking believe the decadence you see before you? I hope not. Cos that’s what I was going for with these mini vegan chocolate cheesecakes.
I wanted to make them as rich and decadent and delicious as it was possible to get.
So I used melted chocolate for the chocolate cheesecake part. Why use regular cocoa when you can use melted slabs of vegan dark chocolate?
And why settle for two indulgent layers when you can have three? The top layer being more melted chocolate and crushed oreo cookies!
It was heaps of fun making these I tell you. I’m totally into the little cakes thing at the moment, I mean I’m going through a cupcake craze right now, and I just may be into a mini cakes of all descriptions craze too.
In the pics above you’ll see I used little tabs of parchment paper under the base of the mini vegan chocolate cheesecakes and this is a tip I’ve picked up from numerous blogs and let me tell you – it works like a charm!
Once your mini cheesecakes are set, you just loosen them with a knife and then gently pull on the parchment paper tag and it pops right out!
Much easier than trying to grease each cupcake holder individually.
Alternatively you could do these in cupcake liners, but I like the parchment paper tag idea. The only tricky thing is holding it still with one hand while you spoon out the crust ingredients with the other. If you have someone to do it with you, it helps. They hold the parchment paper tag in place, while you spoon out and then pat down the oreo crust.
You will love these mini vegan chocolate oreo cheesecakes, they are:
- Rich
- Layered
- Smooth
- Creamy
- Dark chocolatey
- Decadent
- Super easy to make!
And what’s more – you can keep them in your freezer, like permanently, they don’t freeze solid and you can bite into one straight out the freezer, so they’re a perfect dessert to make anytime, even if there isn’t a pressing need for all 12 of ’em!
Any comments or questions about these gorgeous little mini cheesecakes post them down below. And if you happen to make them, do us a favor and rate this recipe and let us know how it went. Take a pic too and tag it #lovingitvegan on instagram and share the vegan love!
- For the Crust:
- 22 Oreos
- ⅓ cup (75g) Vegan Butter
- For the Chocolate Cheesecake:
- 2 cups (300g) Raw Cashews (soaked for 1 hour)
- ½ Lemon (juiced)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup (120ml) Date Honey or Maple Syrup
- ½ cup (120ml) Coconut Milk (Full Fat)
- 7oz (200g) Vegan Dark Chocolate
- For the Topping:
- 3.5oz (100g) Vegan Dark Chocolate
- 6 Oreos (Crushed)
- Place the cashew nuts into a bowl and cover with water. Leave to soak for 1 hour.
- Add the oreos to a food processor and process into fine crumbs.
- Melt the vegan butter and pour into the food processor while it's running, so that it mixes evenly with the oreo crumbs.
- Cut 12 strips of parchment paper to use on the bottom of a cupcake tray.
- Holding the strip down with one hand, spoon out some of the oreo crust mix out on top.
- Pat it down with a spoon.
- When all 12 are done, place the tray into the freezer to set.
- When your cashews are finished soaking, drain them and rinse with fresh water.
- Add the cashews, lemon juice, vanilla extract and date honey or maple syrup to your blender jug.
- Place the coconut milk into a pot and heat on the stove till it reaches a simmer.
- Break up the 7oz of dark chocolate into a bowl, and when the coconut milk is simmering, pour it out over the chocolate, allowing to sit for a minute to give it a chance to melt.
- With a hand whisk, whisk the chocolate sauce until smooth. If a few lumps of chocolate remain, that's okay as it will all be blended anyway.
- Pour this out into the blender jug with your other ingredients.
- Blend until very smooth and until no graininess remains.
- Spoon this out on top of the oreo crust and smooth down with the back of a spoon.
- Return to the freezer to set completely. This can take around 4 hours.
- When you're ready to serve, melt the remaining 3.5oz dark chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave by microwaving for 30 seconds at a time then taking it out to stir and then repeating until melted.
- Spoon this on top of the cheesecakes and immediately add some crushed oreos so that it sticks onto the melted chocolate. Due to the coldness of the cheesecakes the chocolate will harden quickly.
- Using a knife, run it along the sides of the cheesecakes to loosen them, and then tug gently on the parchment paper tags, and they will pop out perfectly.
- Store any leftovers in the freezer, where they can remain permanently. No need to thaw them out before serving, they are ideal straight out the freezer.
Unbelievable!
As a vegan I’m opposed to using palm fruit oil which oreos contain. Is there an alternative?
Any hard, crunchy vegan cookie that you can process into crumbs will work.
How is this vegan? Oreos are not vegan nor are Lindt chocolate….
Hi Christina – Oreos are technically vegan. Though apparently in some countries they are not. In the USA they are vegan and so are the ones I use. Just check the ingredients list. Some of Lindt’s dark chocolate slabs are also vegan. Not all of them, so again you just have to check the ingredients list.
Do the cashews need to be raw?
Yes definitely! Thanks for asking, I’ll update the recipe.
Easy and super yummy! I used my mum’s cheap $20 food processor, and couldn’t get the cashews to be super creamy… but as long as t hey were frozen, soooooo goood
Awesome Cam! I’m so glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for posting! 🙂
When blending oreos in food processor, do I discard the icing from the middle of each biscuit and just use the actual cookie parts themselves or do I leave the icing in for blending?
You throw them in whole, icing and all!