Step-By-Step No-Bake Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake

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Cheesecake is a popular rich, creamy, and extra decadent dessert. It's traditionally made with cream cheese, meaning dairy takes center stage — so how does one make a vegan cheesecake? One way is to use store-bought vegan cream cheese. The main issue there is that nearly any store-bought vegan cream cheese will behave differently, so you must use the brand that particular recipe has been tested for. To avoid cream cheese alternatives altogether, there's a magical ingredient in vegan cooking and baking that makes recipes turn out super creamy: raw unsalted cashews.

Recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a recipe for a vegan cheesecake with blueberry sauce that harnesses the power of cashews. Cashews can be soaked to make smooth vegan cheese, and that forms the base of this cake. The blended cashews are mixed with full-fat coconut milk for extra creaminess, maple syrup to sweeten it, and lemon juice for the tang that channels traditional cream cheese. While a graham cracker crust is often standard, this recipe goes in a different direction, opting for one made from almond flour, coconut flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, and salt.

The final touch is a blueberry sauce that adds elegance and a lovely fruit flavor. While you could stick to grocery store vegan cakes, you may just fall in love with this homemade vegan cheesecake, whether you're a seasoned plant-based eater or want to become one.

You'll first make a crust for the vegan cheesecake, for which you'll need almond flour, coconut flour, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, and salt. For the cheesecake filling, you will need raw, unsalted cashews. Make sure to plan ahead and soak the cashews for at least four hours (or ideally overnight), otherwise they won't blend smoothly. You will also need full-fat coconut milk, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and salt. Finally, the blueberry sauce is made with frozen blueberries, water, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, cornstarch, and lemon juice.

Grease a 9-inch springform pan with coconut oil.

To make the crust, place the almond flour, coconut flour, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir until well combined and crumbly.

Press the mixture evenly onto the bottom of the greased pan. Set aside.

Begin the cheesecake: Drain and rinse the cashews and place them in a food processor or high speed blender.

Add the coconut milk, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and salt and blend on high until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides when needed. Add a little more coconut milk, if needed, if the mixture is too thick or not blending smoothly.

Pour the filling into the pan over the crust and level the top with a spatula. Cover and freeze for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Meanwhile, make the blueberry sauce. Place the blueberries, 1 tablespoon of the water, sugar, and vanilla in a small saucepan on medium and bring to a low boil, stirring occasionally.

While the blueberries are heating, mix the cornstarch, lemon juice, and the rest of the water in a small bowl with a fork until the cornstarch is dissolved.

Add the cornstarch mixture to the blueberries, bring the mixture to a simmer, and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened. Set aside to cool completely. (The sauce will thicken more as it cools.)

Remove the cheesecake from the freezer and let thaw for 50-60 minutes before serving. (Store the cheesecake in the refrigerator if more time will pass before serving.)

Pour the blueberry sauce on top of the cheesecake, leaving a border around the edges.

Slice and serve. Carefully slide the knife under the crust to separate it from the pan so it doesn't break. For neater slices, warm the knife under hot water and dry in between cutting slices. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days, or freeze and thaw again for best results.

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Making a graham cracker crust for a vegan cheesecake couldn't be easier. Be careful when you choose the graham crackers. Read the ingredients before you buy, because not all brands are vegan. Look for a brand like Nabisco that makes the crackers without honey. If you can't find any vegan graham crackers, you can use vegan cookies like Biscoff cookies, Vienna fingers, vegan gingersnap cookies, vegan animal crackers, or even Oreos, although Oreos will change the flavor profile more. Before you start, process the cookies into crumbs in a food processor.

Then you'll need to mix the crumbs with sugar and a fat. You can use melted vegan butter or melted coconut oil (opt for refined coconut oil if you want to avoid any coconut flavor). Stir the three ingredients together well and then press the mixture into the bottom of a greased springform pan. Line the pan with a greased parchment paper circle that's the same size as the pan if you want extra insurance against sticking.

The first thing to understand when making a baked version of vegan cheesecake is that the blended cashew method used here works specifically in a no-bake context, but not a baked one. Store-bought vegan cream cheese will give you the desired results if a baked cheesecake is what you're looking for. This is a plus for those who are looking for a nut-free recipe (in that case, make a graham cracker crust instead of this one which includes almond flour).

The ingredients required for a baked vegan cheesecake actually aren't that different from the no-bake version. Besides the vegan cream cheese in the place of soaked cashews, the other ingredients are more or less the same. Some versions may call for coconut cream instead of coconut milk, or sugar instead of maple syrup, and some call for cornstarch as a thickener. It's important to follow your specific recipe because these recipes are tested for a particular brand of vegan cream cheese. The brands are formulated differently, so they're not interchangeable.

After making the crust and pressing it into the springform pan and beating the filling ingredients until smooth, pour the filling into the pan. Recipes vary, but you'll bake the cake in an oven preheated to about 350 F for about 50-60 minutes. Let it partially cool on the counter before moving it to the refrigerator to cool completely, even overnight. Cheesecake made this way is closer to a traditional New York-style cheesecake than the no-bake cashew version, but we think they're both delicious.

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