Easy Baked Cheesecake (Vegan + GF)

This was amazing! Cheesecake has always been one of my favorite foods. I haven’t eaten the dairy version for 3 1/2 years since I went vegan, and this is the closest thing to dairy cheesecake I have had. My husband, who is not vegan, said it was better than dairy cheesecake! I used a springform pan and a graham cracker crust. I did not have a cup of coconut cream so I used 1/2 cup coconut cream and 1/2 cup of a thick coconut yogurt. So delicious!

This is my first attempt at vegan cheesecake and I’m so happy I found this recipe. I was making mini key lime cheesecakes for Father’s Day tomorrow and needed a vegan version for some family that can’t have dairy or eggs. I did a variation of my standard graham cracker crust using coconut oil, sugar, and some lime zest. I press the crust into greased aluminum muffin papers and then bake at 350 for 5 minutes. For the cheesecake I used sugar instead of maple syrup and key lime juice and lime zest. I baked my pan of mini cheesecakes for 15 minutes at 300 then turned off the oven and left them in another 10 minutes, then I cracked the oven door and let then slowly cool another 15 before pulling them out. I just tried them side by side with my regular key lime cheesecakes and I can’t believe how close they are! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!

This recipe is amazing!!! I have been looking for a cheesecake fix and this is it! The consistency and flavor are awesome. My stove is electric and old so I had to elevate the baking temperate on the cheesecake to 375 degrees part way through to get it to bake correctly. But other than that everything else was great! Thank you for the amazing recipe!

I wrote and asked about substituting cashew cream cheese. I wanted to tell you I made it with that cream cheese just as recipe stated otherwise and it was beautiful and my granddaughter who is allergic to soy, wheat, corn, dairy and eggs loved it and was excited to have cheesecake. Thank you

This was so delicious! I love y’all’s recipes so much. My partner and I are both vegan and have an ultra minimalist kitchen (without a can opener even). Aroy-D makes cartoned coconut milk, and I kept one in the refrigerator over night (to avoid using cans). We both try to avoid and refined or processed sugars, so instead of coconut sugar in the crust, I used a date and maybe a quarter cup of currants, with a little less oil. It was perfect. Thanks for all that y’all do!

I tried making the cashew alternative recipe. It didn’t work.
The whole cake is very wet all the way around and through. Don’t recommend it at all.

Unbelievable how amazing this cheesecake turned out!! Thank you thank you thank you for such an amazing vegan cheesecake recipe!

Delicious! Really does taste like a baked cheesecake. I followed the recipe but used Golden Syrup instead of Maple. Made 3 small 4 inch cheesecakes. Baked 50 mins. So easy. Definitely will be making again. Thanks Minimalist Baker!

This cheesecake is so good! I don’t have a high speed blender but I do have a Magic Bullet that I got from Target for $40ish, so I split up the filling into two separate steps and it turned out great! I blended the soaked cashews with the maple syrup, vanilla and lemon juice, and passed that through a fine mesh sieve to get all of the not-so-smooth cashew bits out, then blended all of the other ingredients and whisked the two parts together. Took a little bit more time but was so worth it! I ended up using the juice of two lemons to make it a lemon cheesecake and used a graham cracker crust as the base. So glad I stumbled across this recipe, I can’t wait to make it again and try out different flavor variations! Thank you for another kickass dish!

Well done Minimalist Baker! *this is my first recipe review and I’ve used a lot of your stuff, I’m sorry, I owe it to you.*

Before I was vegan, I would make a cheesecake occasionally. It was delicious. Since then, I’ve mingled with the raw cheesecakes due to ease of not having to bake them. But girl does it make a delissssshousss diffffferrrencee to bake and go more along the traditional method.

I made two because I knew one wouldn’t be enough. I love to add a little jam when I’m eating it.

So good. So good.

Thanks.

Hello,

It looks like an amazing recipe, and I am sure mine would have turned out perfect if I had used the soy-based cream cheese. Since I was curious, I looked up using other cream cheeses, and found out to my dismay after prepping the filling that violife cream cheese would definitely not work. So, instead of baking it, I’m freezing this bad boy! Wish me luck.

Oh, and peeps, don’t use violife cream cheese for the cake.

I made the recipe exactly as written and it came out perfect. On the top of the cake i put whipped cream made of coconut ? cream. And fresh strawberries ?

Another wonderful vegan recipe from Minimalist Baker! I had never attempted to make a cheesecake before (I heard they were notoriously difficult to get right) even before I went vegan, but this was incredibly easy to follow and it came out perfectly! I used a round 9-inch metal pan because that’s all I had available and mixed everything in my Cuisinart food processor. I tasted the filling just as the instructions say to do but didn’t have to adjust a thing. My only note is that I could’ve waited a bit to start the crust after beginning the cashew soak, because I hate having the oven on or hot longer than necessary (it’s not eco-friendly), but that could’ve just been poor planning/timing on my part. Bottom line, it was delicious and easy as pie! XD

Delicious, thanks. Very authentic tasting.

Yum, this is sooooo good! No one will believe it’s vegan! I served it with blueberries, next time I’m going to add chocolate chips instead.

Thanks for another great recipe!

I made this the other day for a birthday dinner, and it was an absolute hit!! My non plant based friends even said it is better then the real thing. Will be definitely making this for many more occasions so delicious!!!

Maddi

I’m sorry to report but this recipe is simply unnecessarily complex for a vegan baked cheesecake. First of all I assume you have to have a 500 USD blender to get all the cheesecake cream cheese layer blended as my normal Kenwood food blender did not manage to nicely blend and turn the mix into a cream. I don’t understand why there is such a complex mix of lemon, maple syrup, arrowroot starch….I’ve used many of your recipes but this one really just doesn’t cut it. I would not recommend giving it another try, sorry!

THIS WAS THE BEST!!! I can’t wait to play with the flavours :) thank you so much !!

This was excellent! I was having guests for dinner, one of whom is gluten-free and dairy-free. I opted to make it without the crust, and doubled the filling – using a larger dish. I made a dairy-free lemon curd to serve alongside.

My 13 year old son loved it even before he knew it was dairy free, and my guests loved it too, so that feels like a win to me! Thank you!

This was DELICIOUS!! I’ve been wanting to do a dairy free cheesecake for a long time and this was a great first recipe. I followed the recipe to a T and added a berry sauce to top it off. Brought to a birthday party and tons of compliments were given. My cheesecake liquified a bit – almost separated- when I first pulled out of the oven after about 55 mins, and I was really nervous it was ruined, but it set perfectly. I will definitely be saving this recipe!! Thank you

Loved the Cheesecake filling. I also used a premade crust. (purely cause laziness lol) I followed the recipe exactly except for the maple syrup. I noticed I only had 1/3 cup so for the other half I used 1:1 simple syrup I had on hand for making cocktails. (This seems like a good place to add different flavors to me. I could have added some ginger simple syrup or raspberry. I make a lot to practice mixology.) It came out great! Taste nice and lemony. I also used half of kite hill and half trader Joe’s. (Due to the fact I hated kitehill on bagels, needed to use it in something) I then baked it at 375 for 50 minutes. I read the recipe incorrectly. The end product was still SO GOOD. It didnt burn but the crust is a deeper brown. I can only imagine it being even better cooked at the correct 325.
Thank you for this amazing recipe ! I will try making it on the instant pot next.
* if you dont want a prominent lemon flavor I l’d say cut back a little on the zest, but I loved it the way it is.
* I also tried making this in my ninja flip food processor first and it was still extremely grainy after blending, so I transfered to vitamix I think you need a high power blender for the smoothness. At the end mind looked like real cream cheese filling. I’ve only been plant based for about 2 months so I still remeber cheesecake from Thanksgiving a few months back lol

Thank you Dana for the recipe! I’ve made this recipe well over 10 times now. Possibly the best around when it comes to taste and texture. Cashew can be replaced by a full brick of firm tofu, just make sure to drain it first. I’ve made variations of this recipe as well, one of my latest was espresso flavored, where you add one table spoon of instant coffee and three tablespoons of cocoa powder.

This recipe was AMAZING! I have made it several times, I substituted coconut yogurt for the coconut cream and used an almond cream cheese. Best plant based recipe I have seen in a long time. I have played around with different nuts for the crust (macadamia and coconut flakes) even added peanut butter powder for the peanut butter cheesecake version. I can not thank you enough for this recipe-fool proof!

Delicious! I’m going to a super bowl party today and I’m usually the only vegan, so I need to make sure I have food for myself. Whenever I bring my own food, my goal is to make sure everyone is surprised at how delicious vegan food is.

I made this last night and just sliced it up. I personally omitted the coconut oil from the filling and did a graham cracker crust instead. This is absolutely delicious and creamy and I can’t wait for my family to try it tonight!

When I made it as chocolate cheesecake in an 8-inch springform pan I also baked it at 350 degrees until the center was almost done and the outer part had cracked a bit.

I used this recipe to make a chocolate cheesecake I’ve been pining for. I made a crust for my springform pan from toasted pecans, cocoa powder, coconut sugar and melted Earth Balance. I left out the lemon juice and zest and added melted chocolate chips, cocoa powder, a little espresso powder (and enough almond milk to make it blendable) to the filling. Best dessert I’ve ever made!

I just made this for my mom’s birthday. Sooooooooo delicious!!! I swapped the lemon for a meyer lemon and ohhh it’s so good. They were out of vegan cream cheese so I swapped it for Toffuti sour cream. I’m glad I doubled the recipe because everyone is coming back for seconds. It’s so creamy and taste better then the Cheesecake Factory (everyone else thinks so, too). No one would guess it’s plant based. Thank you so much for the recipe!

An absolute home run. I used Kite Hill Almond Cream Cheese and Native Forest Organic Coconut Cream. Really made sure my cashews got a good long soak in the boiling water. Maybe my favorited “whole food”ified dessert. I think good results here are dependant on carefully following the recipe! Not as much of a “dump and blend” like other raw vagen desserts but totally worth the TLC!

I’m confused. I made this cheesecake twice and both times were disasters! The crust keeps coming out greasy and my cheesecake never cooked right and it is brown colored. It fell down after it cooled. It looks nothing like the one in the photo. I wanted to make it for my sister in laws. One with a gluten allergy and the other with a dairy allergy. I’m known as “the baker” of the family. I can’t get this cake to turn out right! What am I doing wrong? I followed everything to the letter. I’ve re-read the entire recipe multiple times and can’t figure out were I went wrong. I would gladly give it a better rating if you can tell me where I went wrong so I can try again.

Did not change much of anything on this, with the exception of leaving out the lemon zest, I figured the lemon juice was going to make it tart enough after reading through the comments. My non-vegan girlfriend called it one of the best cheesecakes she has ever eaten, vegan or not. I added a caramel sauce made from the leftover coconut cream on top along with some very ripe banana to top if off. I would totally make this again. Next time, I will experiment a little more with the flavors, both pumpkin and peanut butter sound divine.

I used a pre graham crust and therefore, missed the instruction to turn down to 325 degrees. So it looks like cornbread. It’s still setting right now but the piece I took is still soft moist and creamy-like. I’ll stick to this one and make another at the right temp later. So thankful for this recipe

I made this in a tart pan, covered it in a cranberry glaze and decorated with crushed biscotti. (Not vegan). We are mostly plant based but not vegan but the tart could easily be decorated with something else liked sugar frosted cranberries to make it fully vegan. This is our Christmas dessert. If it is half as good as it looks, we will be very excited. Thanks for the great recipe!

Love this cheesecake! I have made it several times now and everyone loves it. I’ve had a few disasters along the way similar to other posters but have now perfected it. I have had the mixture split occasionally and/or be a bit grainy but have resolved these by – blending the nuts & other wet ingredients (not the lemon juice) in the nutribullet first, in a mixer beat the coconut cream & the cream cheese, then add all the nut mix and the remaining ingredients. It comes out nice and creamy and doesn’t split. I bake in a 9” round springform pan. It’s delicious!

First cheesecake I ever made but certainly not my last! Great cheesecake flavour and the lemon was sooo good! I made this for 4 and was hoping for leftovers. No such luck.

Thanks!

I made this using agave instead of maple syrup and used a pre-made graham cracker crust and it turned out delicious! Only thing, maybe I added too much lemon juice, but it tasted a bit more like a lemon meringue pie than cheesecake. Either way, I will be making this again :)

I made the pumpkin version and added no lemon juice or peel. I put in the smaller of the recommended amount of pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon I think. It was baked in a parchment lined 9 inch springform pan. After the cake was fully cooled I melted some apricot preserves and spread that around the top perimeter and a spot right in the middle of the top. Then I put fresh blueberries on top the preserves. The preserves were there mainly to keep the blueberries in place. We also made some coconut whipped cream to serve with it. Wish I could share a picture to show. It turned out great. Everyone loved it and no one could believe it was vegan and gluten free.

I made this for Thanksgiving and it is a total WIN!!!! Very reminiscent of a peanut cheesecake that I made years ago only better!!! Easy and delicious. It was a darker color and had a nutty flavor. I baked mine in a 7 inch springform pan. Can’t wait to try more vegan recipes.

I made this in a spring form pan and it was delicious. Will be adding about 1/4 cup of cocoa power next time to make it chocolate.

Also I may line the spring from pan with parchment or put a pan underneath as it cooks to catch drops.

Yum and a perfect dessert for our plant based thanksgiving this year!

I followed the recipe exactly except I used half the maple syrup (1/3 cup). My husband and 3 teenagers loved it and said they would never have known it was vegan. I thought it was decadently delicious and it totally satisfied my craving for cheesecake. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!!!

No one who ate this thought it tasted like cheesecake BUT we all really liked it. I made this exactly according to the recipe. Texture was light and fluffy yet sturdy as pictured. The crust was tasty. It tastes good but it doesn’t taste like cheesecake, it’s just it’s own delicious dessert thing. Call it a slightly coconutty, slightly lemony, slightly sweet mousse on a nutty crust. There was nothing weird about it except the absurdity of someone saying it tastes like cheesecake. I will make it again.

This cheesecake is to die for!! I loved everything about it. I didn’t add lemon zest, but did add lemon juice & it was great. I made my own crust from gluten free/vegan graham crackers because that’s my favorite type of crust. The filling is insanely similar to cheesecake, I’ll be making this again & again. Thanks for the amazing recipe

This cheesecake is to die for!! I loved everything about it. I didn’t add lemon zest, but did add lemon juice & it was great. I made my own crust from gluten free/vegan graham crackers because that’s my favorite type of crust. The filling is insanely similar to cheesecake, I’ll be making this again & again. Thanks for the amazing recipe!

I made this. It is very nice and creamy. I was worried that the coconut flavor that I tasted in the batter would give away the fact that it wasn’t a “REAL” cheesecake. However after I baked it, the coconut flavor went away. I give this 4.5/5 stars, only because it was a little too sweet for me. Next time I will make it with less sweetener.