No-Bake Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
These smooth, creamy no-bake vegan chocolate cheesecake bars are the perfect dessert for chocolate lovers.
This no-bake brownie base is topped with the fudgiest chocolate cheesecake entirely made of wholesome ingredients.
What’s A Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake?
Vegan chocolate cheesecake is an egg-free and dairy-free cheesecake. Consequently, the crust doesn’t use graham crackers or butter, unlike traditional cheesecake recipes.
Instead, vegan cheesecake use nuts, dates, and cocoa powder for the biscuit.
The filling can be made of tofu, vegan cream cheese, or healthy vegan cheesecake using soaked nuts like cashews or almonds.
This vegan chocolate cheesecake bar recipe is a healthy version of your favorite chocolate cheesecake recipe.
Therefore, it is made with nourishing nuts, unsweetened cocoa powder, and refined sugar-free sweeteners.
How To Make Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake
This is a healthy vegan cheesecake recipe or no-bake vegan cheesecake using raw, wholesome ingredients, no refined sugar, and is gluten-free.
It is a pretty easy recipe to make, even if you are new to no-bake dessert recipes.
Let’s see all the ingredients you need to make this recipe.
Ingredients
The ingredients you need to make these vegan chocolate cheesecake bars are:
- Almonds – the base and filling are made of almonds. However, for the filling, make sure you soak the almonds in boiling water for 30 minutes to make the cheesecake layer smooth and creamy. If you have a powerful blender, like a Vitamix or professional KitchenAid, you can skip the soaking step and well on high speed around 8-9.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao powder for a stronger chocolate flavor.
- Coconut oil – you must use coconut oil in raw desserts. In fact, coconut oil is solid at room temperature, below 73°F (23°C), and it is the key ingredient that gives texture to no-bake vegan desserts. Other oils won’t work in this recipe. Same, you can’t make oil-free raw dessert, so don’t be tempted to replace the oil with applesauce.
- Unsweetened desiccated coconut
- Dates – any variety of dates works fine. Some varieties are drier, so it is recommended to pre-soak them in hot water for 20 minutes, drain then use them in the recipe.
- Salt-
- Vanilla
- Maple syrup – or any liquid sweetener you like, agave syrup or rice syrup works too. You cannot use a crystal sweetener like coconut sugar in this recipe. It needs to be liquid.
- Unsweetened almond milk – or non-dairy plant-based milk of choice like oat milk or soy milk.
Material Needed
It is very easy to make vegan no-bake cheesecakes as long as you have the right material to start.
So before you jump to the recipe, make sure you have:
- A food processor – to make the brownie base. You cannot make the base in a blender simply because the jug is too narrow, and the nuts would not blend properly.
- A high-speed blender – this is optional, but this is the best tool to create a smooth cheesecake layer without soaking the nuts. In fact, if your blender is not powerful enough, it would not be able to pulse the nuts into a thick, smooth cream. It would result in bites of nuts in the cheesecake layer that are not appealing or tasty. However, if you do not have a blender and still want to make this recipe, soak the nuts in boiling water for about 30 minutes or in cold water overnight. This is the best option to use a food processor and create a smooth cheesecake.
- A springform round pan or square pan – this recipe makes a thin vegan chocolate cheesecake layer that is why I love to make it into bars. Therefore I am using either a 9-inch square pan or a 9-inch x 5-inch rectangle pan. This said, a round springform pan will work too, but since the cheesecake layer is thin, it looks better as a cheesecake bar. Note that you must cover the bottom of the pan with parchment paper to avoid your no-bake cheesecake base sticking to the pan.
Brownie Base
First, make the no-bake cheesecake biscuit using your food processor. Add almonds and coconut into your food processor and pulse them into coarse ground.
Then, add the rest of the ingredients and blend again until it forms a sticky no-bake brownie batter, similar to no-bake brownie energy bites.
Press this batter evenly into the pan covered with parchment paper and refrigerate while making the cheesecake layer.
Almond Chocolate Cheesecake
Next, add the soaked raw almonds into the jug of your blender or food processor.
As mentioned before, you do not have to soak the almonds if you are using a high-speed blender like Vitamix.
Add the rest of the ingredients. Blend on high speed, speed 7-9 for about 1-2 minutes, depending on the power of your blender, or until it forms a thick, shiny chocolate cream.
Forming Cheesecake Bars
Pour the creamy chocolate cheesecake layer on top of the brownie base and refrigerate for 3 hours to set.
Chocolate Cheesecake Serving Ideas
You can serve these vegan chocolate cheese bars with:
- A dollop of coconut yogurt
- Fresh berries like raspberries or strawberries
- A few vegan chocolate chips
- A drizzle of melted dark chocolate
Store Vegan Cheesecake
Vegan cheesecakes made of nuts can be frozen, in slices or entirely, in an airtight cake box. Bring the cheesecake into the fridge the day before serving.
Otherwise, your fresh cheesecake will last up to 5 days in the fridge, in an airtight cake box.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to avoid coconut flavor in no-bake cheesecake?
No-bake cheesecake uses coconut oil as the main ingredient. It is the key to setting the cheesecake filling without using eggs or dairy.
However, coconut has a strong coconut flavor. To avoid coconut flavor in your raw cheesecake, use refined coconut oil.
Refined coconut has no flavor, but it has the same properties as unrefined coconut oil.
Can I make raw vegan cheesecake oil-free?
Unfortunately, you cannot make any no-bake vegan desserts without oil. As mentioned above, coconut oil is the secret ingredient that holds no-bake goods together and creates texture.
Why is my raw cheesecake layer gritty?
Raw baking uses soaked nuts to form creamy smooth cheesecakes or cream.
However, nuts are hard to blend and turn into a smooth cream. To do so, you must soak them for at least 24 hours in cold water or 30 minutes in boiling water.
Then, you must blend them into a high-speed blender. A food processor does not work to make cashew cream or the almond cheesecake filling in this recipe.
You need a narrow jug with enough liquid to cover the soaked nut and a powerful blade.
More No-Bake Vegan Desserts
If you love vegan desserts, you may also like my raw dessert recipes below.
Don’t forget to join me on Instagram to share a picture of your chocolate cheesecake with me! I love to connect with you and see your creations.
No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Chocolate crust
- 1 cup Almonds
- ½ cup Desiccated Coconut
- 1 cup Soft Pitted Dates - soaked in lukewarm water, drained
- ¼ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoons Coconut Oil - melted, or cocoa butter
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla
Chocolate filling
- ¾ cup Almonds - or cashews, soaked 30 minutes in boiling water, drained
- ½ cup Almond Milk
- ¾ cup Maple Syrup
- ¾ cup Coconut Oil - melted, refined to avoid coconut flavor
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Serving ideas per bars
- 1 dollop Coconut Yogurt
- ½ tablespoon Melted Vegan Dark Chocolate
Instructions
- Using a pastry brush, brush some melted coconut oil all over a 9-inch square pan and place a piece of parchment paper at the bottom. This makes it easier to unmold the bar.
- In a food processor, with the S blade attachment, add all the almonds and coconut. Process on high speed until it forms a coarse mixture – about 1 minute.
- Stir in the rest of the ingredients: soft pitted dates, unsweetened cocoa powder, salt, coconut oil, and vanilla.
- Process again until it forms a sticky dough that you can easily press into the pan to make a raw biscuit base. If it is too dry (this can happen if you used dry dates), add 1 tablespoon of water, process for 20 seconds until the batter is sticky.
- Transfer the mixture onto the prepared pan and press firmly with your fingers to evenly cover the bottom of the pan.
- Place in the fridge while you make the filling.
Chocolate cheesecake filling
- Add all the cheesecake layer ingredients into a high-speed blender starting with soaked, drained almonds, unsweetened almond milk, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, salt, and unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Blend on high speed until it forms a creamy, thick chocolate batter with no lump.
- Pour the chocolate filling onto the prepared crust.
- Slightly tap the pan on the bench to remove any air bubbles.
- Freeze 30 minutes until the filling is set or place in the fridge overnight, making sure you cover the top of the pan with a silicone lid to prevent it from drying.
- Cut into 16 slices and serve with a dollop of coconut yogurt and melted dark chocolate pieces (most 70% dark chocolate bars are vegan).
Storage
- Store in an airtight cake box in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezing
- Freeze the whole pie or slices in an airtight container and defrost for 3 hours on the counter or overnight in the fridge.
I would like to try this recipe, however, I am not a fan of dates.
What can I replace them with, for the crust?
Maybe try other dried fruits like apricot, dried figs or maybe maple syrup would work but I am unsure how much you need as I didn’t try this option yet.
I made this for the 1st time today. I was not a fan of the crust. I replaced the almonds with walnuts / and I had forgotten to soak. The chocolate layer had taste but I have to get a better blender to completely break down the cashews. I added cut strawberries to the chocolate layer which was great.
I wouldn’t recommend walnuts it’s a very bitter nut for dessert that’s why I am using almonds in the recipe. Maybe you can try that next time! Enjoy
Can this no-bake chocolate cheesecake be made with Crisco instead of coconut oil?
Coconut oil firm up at room temperature and hold the cheesecake batter together. I am not familiar with Crisco so I am not sure it’s an option here.
Is there anyway I can make this without almonds because I’m allergic to them
Sure, you can use hazelnuts of cashews. Enjoy!