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This Baked Snickers Cheesecake is totally vegan *and* totally delicious! All you need are 10 simple ingredients to make this creamy and decadent dessert.
Introducing: the (Vegan, Baked) Snickers Cheesecake. She’s beautiful, she’s decadent, and she’s delicious.
Oh yeah…and she’s also made from simple steps and only 10 affordable, plant-based ingredients. Let’s get to it…
First of all, how do you even make a vegan cheesecake?
Vegan “cheesecake” isn’t a new thing by any means, but I will say that a lot of them aren’t really cheesecake. Meaning, they are simply frozen blends of cashews, coconut cream, etc. Which sure is tasty, but sure isn’t seasonal. I mean, you definitely won’t find me eating a piece of frozen “ice cream” cheesecake in the middle of winter…
When I set about to create a vegan cheesecake, I wanted it to be:
- Baked: because cheesecake is baked, people!
- Made from simple and accessible ingredients: a lot of vegan cheesecakes call for store-bought cream cheese or other expensive ingredients, which isn’t always an option for some people. I wanted to keep things relatively budget-friendly here, but not sacrifice on texture or flavor
- Cashew AND Coconut Free: this was definitely the hardest task, but I’m happy to say that I did succeed. 🙂 There’s nothing wrong (again) with a cashew or coconut-based cheesecake, but the former can be expensive, and the latter has a distinct taste that I’d rather do without.
Oh yeah, and I didn’t want to make a plain ol’ cheesecake…I wanted to make a SNICKERS. CHEESECAKE.
Ingredients for Baked Snickers Cheesecake
Snickers are my favorite candy bar, and I already have a (quite yummy) recipe for them on my blog. Plus, I needed some source of protein and fat to replace the traditional cream cheese and heavy cream of traditional cheesecake.
The answer? Peanut Butter! It’s relatively cheap, and helps give the cheesecake the perfect texture and density without being overly gummy or too hard. Oh yeah, we also have a few other key ingredients that helps us out here:
- Silken Tofu: for extra protein, volume, and to soften the texture of the cheesecake
- Arrowroot Powder: helps to thicken the cheesecake in place of eggs
- Lemon Juice: brings some nice acidity to the recipe and helps get that “cheesy” flavor
- Coconut Sugar: provides some refined sugar-free sweetness, plus helps us get that “caramel”-y Snickers flavor!
How to make a Vegan Snickers Cheesecake
- Blitz the crust ingredients together in a food processor then bake while you prep the filling (this makes it crispy!)
- Use the same food processor to blend the filling together until thick and smooth
- Spread the filling over the pie crust, then bake until the outer edge of the cheesecake begins to set. From there, we’ll let the cheesecake cool in the oven for 1 hour to further set, then place it in the fridge to harden completely
And we can’t forget the decorations! You can keep things simple and go for some chopped peanuts and chocolate chips (or a drizzle) here….but I wanted to go all out. I made some of my Healthy Vegan Snickers and chopped those up as a garnish, plus gave everything a good drizzle of my 3 ingredient Salted Caramel Sauce.
The result?
A mind-blowing, amazingly delicious, indulgent dessert that anyone can enjoy. Vegan or not, this recipe will impress you. And make you wonder why you even waited this long to make a Snickers Cheesecake. I will say a little slice goes a long way though – this is a great dessert to share with friends and family! 🙂
If you’re looking for more indulgent vegan dessert recipes, you’ll also love these One Bowl Chocolate Donuts, this No Bake Chocolate Raspberry Tart, and these Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownies.
Finally, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂
PrintVegan Baked Snickers Cheesecake
This Baked Snickers Cheesecake is totally vegan *and* totally delicious! All you need are 10 simple ingredients to make this creamy and decadent dessert.
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 45 Minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: Serves 8 to 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Crust:
- 1 cup (100 g) rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
- 1/2 cup (70 g) roasted and unsalted peanuts
- 1/4 cup (20 g) cacao powder
- 1/2 cup (125 g) natural peanut butter*
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- Pinch of salt
For the Cheesecake Filling:
- 16 ounces (450 g) silken tofu (I use Nasoya)
- 1 1/2 cups (385 g) natural peanut butter
- 1 cup (129 g) coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup (30 g) arrowroot powder
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For Serving: (optional)
- Chopped peanuts
- Salted Caramel Sauce
- Easy Vegan Snickers, sliced
- Dairy-free vegan chocolate or chocolate chips, to melt and drizzle
Instructions
- Bake the Crust: Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9″ springform pan with oil or dairy-free butter. Add the oats, peanuts, and cacao powder to a food processor and pulse until a fine meal forms. Add the peanut butter, coconut sugar, and salt and process until a moist dough forms – it should hold together when you pinch it. Press the crust into the bottom of the springform pan (it will not cover the sides) and bake in the middle rack of the oven for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling.
- Make the filling: quickly rinse out the food processor, then add the tofu, peanut butter, coconut sugar, arrowroot, lemon juice, and salt. Process until a thick, even batter forms. Remove the crust from the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 325F. Use a spatula to spread the filling over the baked crust – it won’t spread out much, so try to get it as even/level as possible. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 30 minutes – the edges of the cheesecake will be firm, but the center will still be a little soft.
- Cool: turn off the heat and crack the oven door about 1-2” open (I like to put a pair of oven mitts in the door and close it on them) . Let the cheesecake sit in the oven for 1 hour, then refrigerate for an additional hour or until it has cooled completely
- Serve: slide a butter knife around the edges of the springform pan, then remove the cake from the pan and serve as desired. Leftovers will last at room temperature for up to two days, or can be refrigerated for up to one week.
Notes
- Natural Peanut Butter should only be 1-2 ingredients (Peanuts and Salt). Try to stay away from the other stuff for this recipe, as it won’t cook down the same way!
- There is no substitute for arrowroot powder in this recipe; cornstarch will not work well in the oven, and tapioca flour does not react well with the acid from the lemon juice.
Keywords: baked snickers cheesecake, dairy free snickers cheesecake, vegan peanut butter cheesecake, vegan snickers cheesecake, healthy vegan cheesecake, vegan cheesecake no cashews, vegan chocolate cheesecake
We love this recipe! My husband asks for it on his birthday every year haha. It’s not too sweet and perfectly peanut-y. We especially appreciate that it’s baked and uses tofu for a little more nutrition and a different texture than the standard raw vegan cheesecakes.
We’ve served with toppings in the past. But love it’s just plain as it is.
Glad you and your husband loved it, Steph!
Hi! I’d love to know if this could be made ahead of time? Would it sit okay in the fridge?
You can, Michelle!
Amazing cake…have made it several times already… just wondering if it can be frozen?
★★★★★
Thanks Aimee! Yes, you can freeze the leftovers for up to 2 months
Definitely want to make this recipe! My only fear is that my fiancé strongly dislikes the taste of coconut. Does the coconut milk have a strong flavor or is it drowned out by the chocolate?
Do you mean the coconut sugar? There isn’t any coconut milk in this recipe; however the coconut sugar doesn’t actually have a coconut flavor. It’s more on par with brown sugar!
Can I use raw peanuts instead of roasted unsalted peanuts?
Sure! It’s a matter of preference really. If you like raw peanuts then it’ll work just fine!
Could this be made in a muffin pan for individual portions?
We haven’t made it that way but love the idea! You would likely need to cook it for slightly less time, and may need a little more crust. But that would be so fun – if you try it let us know how it goes!
Could I replace lemon juice with apple cider vinegar? Thank you.
I wouldn’t use apple cider vinegar for the amount we’re using. That bite from the vinegar would likely stick out quite a bit. Do you have any limes or oranges on hand?
Caitlin you are INCREDIBLE!! This recipe was so easy and so yum, I couldn’t believe how good it tasted after leaving it to cool overnight in the fridge. I cut the cake into bitesized pieces and brought them to a party for some non-vegan friends and they loved it!!! Thank you so much you are amazing xx
★★★★★
Thank you so much! Happy to hear that everyone loved it!
Can you substitute the coconut sugar with maple syrup? Or a mixture of maple syrup and dates?
Your best bet is to substitute granulated sugars with other granulated sugars and liquid sugars with other liquid sugars. Swapping those around in baking recipes will likely result in some unwanted consistency issues. So if you have another granulated sugar on hand that would be our recommendation!
i made this and really enjoyed it (i printed off 2 copies of the recipe on accident and i gave the other one away)
★★★★★
Glad you liked it! Thanks!
Finally, a recipe for baked vegan cheesecake! Thank you!
I plan on making a salted caramel cheesecake for a holiday party, do you think I could replace the peanut butter with apple sauce? How might it affect the baking? x
Apple sauce will not hold up – we recommend peanut butter! It would be better to sub for another butter (nut or seed), although we hadn’t tested it with substitutions. Best bet is with peanut butter!
Making this right now and it smells amazing. (i will tag you on Instagram tonight when it’s done)
Thank you so much!
Would you think baking it for 15-20 minutes would leave it runny? Mine was burnt after 30, I did reduce temp to 160 Celsius so it wasn’t that. I know ovens are different but it is such a shame bc I doubled the ingredients bc wanted to bring to office but it tastes sooooo burnt!! 🙁
When you say you doubled the ingredients do you mean you used two 9 inch pans?
No I used 1 large pan, about 28cm.
Sounds like that could be the issue! The recipe was using a typical pie pan, 9 inches wide (22.5cm) and about 1.4 inches deep (3.5cm). If it was too large and too deep then it would’ve probably needed a lower temperature for a bit longer.
Hi 🙂 I made this cake about 3 days ago and I followed the recipe to a T!
However, on the day I made it the peanut butter filling turned out very gummy. I was disappointed but the flavour was nice… so I kept it in the fridge, ate a piece everyday since and today, the texture has finally become perfect!
Not sure what happened but it’s so nice now, I’ll definitely make it again.
★★★★
Interesting – what brand and type of peanut butter did you use? Glad it eventually straightened up in the fridge!
I used this one: https://www.jeanherve.fr/fr/puree-arachide-bio/226-puree-d-arachide-bio-3390390000153.html#tabs1-desc
It’s 100% peanut and it’s organic. It’s pretty much the only one of its kind here in France. 🙂
Interesting! We get quite a selection in the states. We’ll see if we spot any major differences between what we get vs what you have!
This cake went over great with myself and my friends but it was VERY peanut buttery. Do you think it would be okay leave out 1/2 cup of peanut butter and add more tofu? Or do you have any suggestions for something to cut into the peanut butter flavor?
★★★★
Hi Tara – the cake won’t be as firm, but replacing 1/2 cup of PB with silken tofu would work 🙂
I hate to ask this but what do you think about substituting the peanuts and peanut butter with almonds and almond butter? A family member has a peanut allergy. Thank you so much for all your amazing recipes!
We didn’t experiment with substitutes in that regard BUT almond substitutes could work well!
Hey! Can I substitute the tofu for something else? Also, where can I purchase arrow root powder? Do you have any iherb recommendations? Thanks!
Hey there! Arrowroot can be found in place like whole foods and Asian grocery stores (in our experience). We didn’t try any substitutions for the tofu and wouldn’t recommend trying something else since it makes up a large portion of the recipe.
Hi, this look great! I was wondering if we could substitute cashew cream for the tofu… I am not crazy about using tofu in any form…
Thanks for you thoughts.
Jeff
Hey Jeff! We hadn’t tried any substitutions for the tofu, the silken tofu was our go-to. If you give it a try with cashew cream let us know how it goes!