No Bake Vegan Peanut Butter and Chocolate Tofu Cheesecake

One thing I miss after becoming vegan is being able to eat sweet decadent buttery cheesecake. I decided that I had to come up a recipe to closely replicate cheesecake. And, at the moment, my oven is out of commission. I accidentally melted a plastic chip clip in the oven a couple of months ago and haven't had a chance to clean it out. So, the recipe has to be a no-bake recipe. I hope this recipe will cure your hankering for a sweet dessert with ZERO guilt. There are NO added sugar or oils in this recipe. Just mostly minimally processed plant based foods.

This recipe is simple. The only special tool you will need is a spring-form cake pan or muffin tin and a blender or a food processor. The ingredients for this recipe are minimally processed and all natural. I try and get organic when I can. The only sweetener used in this recipe are dates. Not only are dates really sweet, they are super healthy and yummy. I recently found out that the pitted dates are nearly half the price of dates with pits in them. It's a win win! Less work and half the price! Plus, you don't have to pay for the unusable pits!

I used xanthan gum to thicken the cheesecake. This makes it so that you do not have to bake the cake. If you do not want to use xanthan gum, you can substitute with corn starch or agar agar. Agar agar requires heating in some water for about 5 minutes and you have to work quickly. 

Let's start with the crust! I recently moved to Utah and had to leave almost all of my cookware in Vegas. So all I had were these inexpensive muffin tins. No cake-pan, no problem! I remedies this problem by using strips of tin foil folded into thirds. I line each muffin tin with these foil strips as shown. This will allow me to remove the cheesecake without turning them into cheesecake crumbles. 

This recipe starts with a typical vegan no-bake brownie crust. It's just 3 ingredients: walnuts, dates and cacao powder. That's it! Just pulse in the food processor or blender until medium to fine texture. The mixture will come together and form a thick sort of paste. Drop the mixture evenly into each muffin mold and press evenly to make a crust. 

This recipe calls for soft silken tofu. A lot of recipes online for vegan cheesecake call for firm tofu. I think the firm tofu gives the cheesecake a gritty texture. The soft silken tofu will ensure the texture is decadently smooth and delicious!  

I simply start by adding a cup of dates, 1/2 cup of natural peanut butter and 1/4 cup of cacao powder to a cup of plant milk into my blender and I process until smooth. Next I add 2-14 oz package of soft silken tofu and process until I get a nice, thick smooth filling. If you are using a nutri-bullet or a magic bullet, you can work in batches.

Next I add 1 tsp of xanthan gum and blend briefly. It will thicken up quickly! After blending, stir to make sure everything is evenly incorporated. 

Just spoon evenly into the muffin molds and chill for a couple of hours. Here, have the chocolate peanut butter flavor and peanut butter cinnamon flavor. This recipe will yield about 11-12 little cakes or 1 regular cheesecake. There! The hard part is over! Actually, the hardest part is the next part, which is chilling the cheesecake.

Place the cakes into the fridge for a couple of hours until completely chilled. When ready to serve, lift the cakes out by the foils. It should come out completely.

The bottom crust will resemble a chewy brownie and the filling will be creamy, decadent and rich. But both you and I know there is no guilt in these cakes. It's true, you can have your cake and eat it too! Enjoy!

NO BAKE VEGAN PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE TOFU CHEESECAKE:

Prep time: 30 min 

Cook time: 0 min

Chill time: 2 hours

Total time: 2 hours 30 min

Servings: 12

Calories: 212 per serving

Equipment:

• spring form pan or muffin tin
• blender or food processor
• tin foil

Ingredients:

For crust

• 12-5 inch x 5 inch strips of tin foil folded into thirds (if using muffin tin)
• 1 cup pitted mejool dates
• 1 cup walnuts
• 3 tbsps cacao powder

For filling

• 2-14 oz blocks of soft silken tofu
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup pitted mejool dates
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/4 cup cacao powder
• 1 tsp xanthan gum

Instructions:

For Crust

1. Put the strips of tin foil and line the bottom of muffin tin if using. (optional)
2. Put all crust ingredients into blender and pulse until thick paste is formed.
3. For muffin tin - Divide evenly throughout the 12 muffin molds and press on the bottom to form crust.
4. For spring form pan - Press evenly onto bottom of pan to form crust.
5. Set aside or put into fridge until ready to fill.

For Filling

1. Put all filling ingredients except for tofu and xanthan gum and blend until smooth.
2. Add tofu and blend until smooth.
3. Acting quickly, add xanthan gum and blend until thick.
4. Mix mixture with spoon until it is a uniform thickness throughout. 
5. Spoon mixture evenly into each of the 12 molds or spring form pan.
6. Put into refrigerator for at least a couple of hours before serving.

Unmolding

Muffin cakes:

1. Pull on the two tabs of tin foil for the muffin sized cheesecake and discard foil.
2. Put onto plate and serve by itself or with some fresh fruit.

Spring form cake:

1. Release the sides of the spring form pan.
2. Cut 12 equal slices.
3. Serve by itself or with some fresh fruit.

What did you think of this recipe?

Please leave your comments and feedback!

Peace, love and abundance.