Best Vegan Raw Cheesecake Recipe
This Raw Vegan Cheesecake Recipe is such a simple and healthy recipe! With only 15 minutes of prep, this quick and easy sweet is loaded with walnuts, coconut milk, bananas, and maple syrup, making it the perfect no-fuss cold treat for all family members. Made with all-natural ingredients, this healthy dessert is vegan, low-carb, and gluten-free.
This post was originally published on April 22nd, 2021.
🍌 What makes this cheesecake healthy?
- It’s mostly nuts. Coconut, walnuts, cashews, and almonds all play a vital role in raw vegan cheesecake recipes. Nuts provide an excellent source of fat and protein, essential for any diet.
- It’s naturally sweetened. And most of that sweetness comes from fresh fruit! I added a little maple syrup to this awesome raw cheesecake recipe as well, just for flavor and a little extra sweetness, but honestly, I personally would be fine with just the bananas.
- It’s low carb. YES! Despite having bananas and maple syrup in this recipe, the total net carbs come to 10.4g making it absolutely perfect for a low carb treat!
🗝️ Key Ingredients & Substitutions
Crust ingredients:
- Nuts: The crust has both almond flour and crushed walnuts in it. You can crush the walnuts in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin or bottle of wine, or add them to a food processor. Take care not to over-process them – chunks are nice!
- Milk: I chose unsweetened almond milk as that’s what I keep on hand for cooking, but feel free to use a milk of your choice.
- Stevia: I tend to use a stevia/erythritol blend in my recipes. Coconut sugar would be fine, or monk fruit sweetener.
- Coconut oil: Coconut oil solidifies when chilled and holds everything together. I don’t recommend using other oils in this recipe.
Topping and filling ingredients:
- Maple syrup: This adds an amazing flavor to the cheesecake. Date syrup or another healthy syrup would be a great substitute.
- Bananas: Nice, ripe bananas with brown spots on the skin are perfect for this recipe! They act as a sweetener and taste great as well. I use sliced bananas as a topping as well.
- Coconut cream: You want to skim off the hard white layer from a can of full-fat coconut milk for this recipe. The liquid underneath can be saved to add to smoothies or curries.
- Cashews: The cheesecake filling has soaked cashew nuts in it, making a super creamy texture and flavor. I either soak my raw cashews overnight or for at least 10 minutes in boiling water.
- Chocolate: Just a little grated chocolate at the end.
- Walnuts: For the topping, I recommend either my Air Fryer Roasted Walnuts recipe or for something a little sweeter, try my Air Fryer Candied Walnuts which you can make with stevia instead of sugar.
🥣 How to make vegan cashew cheesecake
Pie crust
- Crush the walnuts in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin, in a high-powered blender, or in a food processor.
- In a bowl, mix crushed walnuts with almond meal, stevia, coconut oil, milk, and salt. It’ll be a chunky, sticky dough.
- Press the crust mixture into a parchment paper-lined pan, and chill in the freezer until the creamy filling is ready.
Filling
- Soak cashews overnight or in boiling water for 30 minutes.
- Blend the filling ingredients (soaked cashews, coconut oil, coconut milk, bananas, and maple syrup) in a high-speed blender until smooth.
- Pour over the crust and spread evenly.
- Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours or until set.
- Top the cheesecake layer with sliced bananas, maple syrup, walnuts, and grated chocolate if desired (optional). Cut the large cheesecake into individual slices and serve!
🫙 Storage Instructions
Cover the cheesecake pan with a lid, plastic wrap, or aluminum foil, and store this dairy-free cheesecake in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also place the slices in an airtight container, just don’t pile them on top of each other as they will stick together,
You can also freeze it for up to 3 months, without the toppings. Wrap it in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil before placing it in the freezer.
⌛ Can I make it ahead of time?
Absolutely! This healthy no-bake cheesecake can be pre-made a day or two ahead of time. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months, without the toppings. Thaw the frozen cheesecake in the fridge overnight before garnishing and serving.
🪄 Different flavor ideas
- Blueberry cheesecake: Top the raw vegan cheesecake with blueberries instead of bananas.
- Raw vegan raspberry cheesecakes: Make it into mini cheesecakes by placing the ingredients in a mini muffin tin, and top with fresh raspberries and a drizzle of maple syrup.
- Vegan chocolate cheesecake: Add 2 tablespoons of cacao powder and some extra maple syrup to taste.
- Caramel cheesecake: Add 1/2 teaspoon of salted caramel flavoring to the cheesecake mixture.
- Tropical cheesecake: Top the cheesecake with fresh mangos and coconut flakes for a tropical twist.
- Orange cheesecake: Use orange juice instead of almond milk, and add a teaspoon or two of orange zest to the filling. Top with orange slices (pith removed).
😋 More vegan desserts you will love
- Vegan S’mores Cookie Bites
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Fluff
- Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes
- Gluten Free Vegan Cupcakes
- Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Double Chocolate Cookies
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Raw Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients
Crust
- 1.5 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 3 tbsp unsweetened almond milk or milk of your choice
- 1/4 cup stevia
- 3 tbsp coconut oil melted
- 1 pinch salt
Filling
- 3 tbsp coconut oil softened
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup coconut cream the solid white stuff at the top of a can (see note 1)
- 2 cups cashews soaked (see note 2)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
Toppings (optional)
- 1 banana sliced
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- walnuts chopped
- chocolate grated
Instructions
Crust
- Crush the walnuts in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin, or in a food processor.
- In a bowl, mix crushed walnuts with almond flour, stevia, coconut oil, milk, and salt.
- Press crust mixture into a parchment paper-lined pan, and chill in the freezer until filling is ready.
Filling
- Blend soaked cashews, coconut oil, coconut milk, bananas and maple syrup until smooth.
- Pour over crust and spread evenly.
- Chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours or until set.
- Top with sliced bananas, maple syrup, walnuts, and grated chocolate if desired (optional).
Notes
- Coconut cream: The best way to make sure the coconut cream hardens and separates from the coconut water is by placing it in the fridge overnight, especially if you have a warm house.
- Cashews: soak the cashews either overnight, or for 30 minutes covered with boiling water.