One year ago we embarked on the vegan cheesecake quest. It was my husband’s birthday and I made him a cheesecake from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. We didn’t love that first cheesecake, but the texture was there, as well as the creaminess. It seemed that we had a mission. My husband had that gleam in his eyes that he sometimes gets when he sees a worthy challenge set before him. This year it’s a different gleam, because now peanut butter has entered the picture and we’ve both realized that the possible flavors are endless.
Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake
Many thanks to Susan at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen for giving a wonderful base for vegan cheesecake.
- 1 12.3-ounce package extra firm light silken tofu
- 1 8-ounce package Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup vegan milk
- 1/4 or 1/3 lb. dark chocolate Note that after two or three chocolate cheesecakes, we would recommend reducing the amount of chocolate – our original recommendation was 1 lb. but that really makes it too rich and overwhelming.
- 5 Tbsp. peanut butter
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 prepared graham cracker crust, vegan
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Drain the tofu and put it and the Tofutti cream cheese into your food processor. Blend until smooth. Add the sugar and milk, and process again until sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients (except chocolate and crust) and process until completely smooth, about 3 more minutes.
Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe container to a point that it is soft enough to blend with the other ingredients. You can also melt it on the stove in a double boiler.
Pour half of your blended cream into a seperate bowl and then fold in the chocolate until it is fully incorporated. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pie crust.
Add the peanut butter to your remaining cream mixture and blend again until completely smooth. You may want to taste test at this point to make sure that the peanut butter flavor is strong enough. If not, add one tablespoon of peanut butter, blend, then taste test again. Continue in this way until you are satisfied with the flavor.
Pour the peanut butter mixture into the pie crust on top of the chocolate mixture layer and bake in the middle of the oven for about 55 minutes (do not allow to brown). Filling will be slightly jiggly, not completely set until chilled.
Remove from oven and allow to cool. Refrigerate until completely chilled (the longer, the better).
Look at this cheesecake. It doesn’t look vegan, and it certainly doesn’t taste it either. I can’t say it tastes like regular cheesecake, but let me tell you – it is so good you’ll forget you’re eating products that never came out of a cow. I’ve tried other vegan variations and they don’t even come close to the flavor and texture of this.
So happy birthday, my dear. What shall we try next time? Hmmm?
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I made this as an Xmas treat for my vegan daughter. We’ve all enjoyed a piece – it is AMAZING!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I’ve tasted this and it is insanely good! I’m just wondering about the >>chocolate<< and whether that is vegan also?
Yes! The chocolate I used in this recipe is indeed vegan. You can use whatever chocolate you like, but as with many other processed products, always read the label to ensure it is vegan.
Was very good. I made my own crust using vegan chocolate wafers, ground almonds, and soy margarine. I honestly liked this better than “regular” cheesecake and it set up in the fridge very nicely. Definitely a keeper – thanks!!!
Sounds like a great recipe, except for the milk part. Since it’s supposed to be Vegan, you may want to indicate in the recipe to use Soy milk or Almond Milk or possibly Hemp Milk, instead. Just a suggestion!
How can it be vegan if it has milk?
Kelly – my early recipes on my blog don’t always say vegan milk, but it’s a given. The recipe presented was made entirely vegan!
Just wanted to say that I made this last week for many non vegans and no one could tell it wasn’t the real deal. I left out the lemon, used chocolate graham crackers for the crust and added chocolate ganache and crushed peanut on top. Yum! Thanks for the recipe!
thanks for the recipe! might clarify in the instructions to not add peanut butter when combining the remaining ingredients. ended up with PB in both layers but still worked :)
Fabulous! I served this at a dinner party, with an oreo crust, and it was wonderful. I really wanted to make something to impress and this was it. I love the lemon juice added to it- it gives it a slight tartness. Thxs!
Great recipe! I left out the lemon juice, increases the peanut butter to 1 cup, and substituted the arrowroot powder for the cornstarch. I also made the whole cheesecake peanut butter (I looovvvee peanut butter) with a chocolate graham crust. For the crust I used 1 1/2 cups vegan chocolate graham crackers, 1/4 c sugar, and 2.5 ounces melted earth balance. There is nothing like a chocolate peanut butter VEGAN cheesecake!!!
Wonderful recipe. I’ve been vegetarian for a long time but have recently had to go more towards the vegan spectrum because of digestive issues. I was feeling pretty down that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy a birthday cake or dessert this year. Luckily a friend of mine knew this and made your Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake for me. Everyone loved it, including me. And everyone couldn’t believe that it was vegan.
I’ve been happily perusing your site for more ideas now that I realize I don’t have to eat tasteless food in order to keep my body healthy. Thanks for sharing!
i’m looking at the ingredients. milk isn’t vegan. :\
I don’t use an animal products in this cheesecake as I am vegan. I use “milk” as a general term because you can use whatever non-dairy version you want. I have used different versions of non-dairy milk in this cheesecake including hazelnut and Silk soy milk. Both work great, although the hazelnut works best when you’re creating a chocolate cheesecake.
One of our interns is vegan so I was looking for some desserts that I can bake for her. I was planning on making this peanut butter chocolate recipe I have; however, I just found out that graham crackers are not vegan – do you have another yummy suggestion/substitute?
Thanks!
As far as I know the ready-made graham cracker pie crusts are vegan (unless I have misread the ingredients, which, sadly, is a possibility). You could make a crust out of crushed basic Oreos, as believe it or not, they are vegan (but not to be confused with healthy, of course). That would probably actually go really well with peanut butter/chocolate. Otherwise you may want to check VegWeb.com for ideas on pie crusts. I’ve found that website to be a great resource!
I wanted to say that you were right about the graham cracker crusts being vegan. I am NOT a vegan and was trying very hard to make sure I made a vegan recipe for one of our interns. So I completely stressed out about the graham crackers when I saw that my box of precrushed graham crackers had some milk in them, I even went and bought these natural ones (not as yummy)and then when I went to the store I saw plain old graham crackers would have been fine! The intern does eat honey so I would have been okay without all the stressing! Thanks for your help though!
thank you for the wonderful recipe! it was easy to prepare and assemble, and looked beautiful going into the oven. i set my timer and left it alone for 45 minutes, thinking surely it would need at least that much if you suggested 55, and when i came back my crust was a little burnt and the top was slightly browned and bubbly! my oven temperature is normally reliable, so i’m really confused as to how this happened. it’s cooling right now and i’m sure will still be edible, but it’s still a little sad. on another note, i did find vegan graham crackers! the brand is health valley, and they’re sweetened with molasses. i made a crust out of those with a little earth balance and a couple tablespoons of maple syrup.
I think that results could vary based upon oven or elevation (I think that you have to add in or decrease cooking time or temperature depending on elevation, but I’ve never really fussed with that myself).
Mine has browned on top as well, as well as the crust getting a little burnt, too. I’ve noticed that my oven tends to be hotter and has a tendency to burn if I’m not careful, so I always try to check my baking items about 10-15 minutes before I pull it out.
I hope yours turned out okay in the end! We may make it in the next few days. BTW – how do you like the homemade crust?
Awesome recipie, thanks so much!
I’ve been vegan for 3 years and vego for 1 year before that and missed cheesecake soooo much!
So I made this one (first time making a cheesecake ever) and it was so easy!
I took 1/2 the cake to work and everyone loved it – they couldnt believe it was vegan :)
My b/f took the other half to his work and they liked it too!
I bet you’ll wind up like us and keep experimenting. This recipe is so versatile that I’m sure you can come up with some good alternatives. We almost always fall back to the chocolate since that’s our favorite flavor. :)
Mine is baking as we speak. to help it firm up quicker (after reading other posts about the baking time burning the crust) I added a tablespoon of energy egg replacer in addition to the cornstarch. It seems pretty thick so it should firm up in the oven faster. Will let you all know!