No-Bake Gingerbread Cheesecake (Vegan)
Servings: 12
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Crust:
120 g (4 ¼ oz) vegan cookies I use Biscoff *see note 1
100 g (3 ½ oz) Vegan Gingerbread Cookies replace with extra biscoff cookies
¼ teaspoon sea salt
70 g (5 tablespoons) vegan butter
Filling:
200 g (1 ½ cups) cashews soaked ahead of time *see note 2
500 g (17.6 oz) Vegan Cream Cheese *see note 3 for less cream cheese option
120 g (½ cup) vegan Greek-style yogurt *see note 4
120 ml (½ cup) pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste/scraped-out vanilla pod
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground allspice or ground cloves
1 teaspoon orange zest or orange peel without the pith
Garnish (optional)
½ batch Vegan Whipped Cream
fresh pomegranate, mint leaves, or rosemary sprigs, pecans
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Directions:
Prepare: Pre-soak the cashews in water for 4 hours or quick-soak in boiled water for 30 minutes, rinse, and drain. Line the base and sides of a 7.5 or 8-inch springform cake pan with parchment paper.
Make the crust: Add the cookies, gingerbread, salt, and butter to a food processor and blitz for a few minutes until the mixture sticks together between your fingers.
Press the crust into the base of the pan and smooth it down with your fingers or using a spoon - make sure it is compact. Refrigerate while you make the filling.
Make the filling: Add all the filling ingredients to a high-speed blender and blitz until completely smooth and creamy without any lumps. Pour the filling into the pan and refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours (overnight is recommended) until set. *See note 5 for the freezer option.
Decorate: Carefully remove the springform pan and peel away the parchment paper from the sides of the cheesecake. If needed, you can clean up the sides using a cake scraper. Top with vegan whipped cream, mint leaves, pomegranate, pecans, and additional gingerbread cookies.
Notes:
Vegan Cookies: Use vegan cookies such as digestives, ginger nuts, gingersnaps, or vegan graham crackers. Use GF cookies if needed.
Soaked Cashews: Soak the cashews in water for 4 hours, rinse, and drain. You can also quick-soak your cashews by soaking them in boiled water for 30 minutes.
Vegan Cream Cheese: You can use 300g vegan cream cheese with 55g coconut oil if you want to use less cream cheese.
Greek-Style Yogurt: Sub with vegan sour cream, vegan skyr, firm silken tofu, or very thick coconut yogurt.
Freezing: You can also set it in the freezer for about 4 hours, just remove it from the pan while still frozen, and sit at room temperature for an hour before serving.
Line the base and sides of the pan with parchment to prevent the cheesecake from sticking to the edges.
Blend the filling until completely smooth. Most good-quality blenders can get to the creamy stage in 5-10 minutes or less, but if needed, allow a few minutes in between blends for the machine to cool down. The consistency should be like silk, with no grit or lumps whatsoever.
Variations:
Wholefood Crust: Swap the crust for 1.5 cups of pecans, half a cup of dried cranberries, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, and 2 teaspoons of ground ginger.
Vegan cream cheese: If you don’t have access to vegan cream cheese, you can swap this out for full-fat chilled canned coconut milk. Chill your cans of coconut milk at least the night before making this recipe.
Gingerbread Cheesecake Bars: Make this recipe in a square 8-inch baking pan and cut it into bars or slices. You could also do mini gingerbread cheesecakes in a muffin pan or a special pan for mini cheesecakes.
Gingerbread Latte Cheesecake: Add a teaspoon of espresso powder to the crust and filling for a fun flavor twist.
How to store gingerbread cheesecake?
Place the cheesecake in a sealed container or on a plate wrapped with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Can it be frozen?
Absolutely. All my vegan cheesecake recipes freeze beautifully. Simply slice any leftover cheesecake into servings and place them in an airtight container lined with parchment paper, with a piece of paper between each slice to prevent them from sticking. To defrost, place them on a plate in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for an hour.
If you want to prep ahead for the holiday season, you can also freeze the entire cheesecake without toppings. Just prep it as usual and let it set in the freezer, then remove it from the pan and wrap it in plastic wrap for up to a month.
Can I make this gluten-free?
Yes, swap the cookies in the crust out for a gluten-free variety to make this cheesecake gluten-free. You could also try these Gluten-free Gingerbread Cookies as a topping.
Recipe courtesy of Addicted to Dates.com
