Classic Vegan New York Cheesecake
Cheesecake is one of those classic recipes that I had never tried making, even when before I was plant-based. If I ever wanted the taste of a cheesecake, I would make one of the refrigerator versions that didn’t require any baking. When I first went plant-based, I made many no-bake versions, but they contained a lot of coconut oil (during the phase when everyone thought coconut oil was a health tonic, including me).I am so glad that we stuck with the plant-based diet and learned the error of our ways. Since then, I have made several no-bake cheesecakes that have zero oil and they are uber delicious, including a classic flavored cheesecake, a chocolate peanut butter cheesecake, a chocolate cheesecake, and a small chocolate cheesecake with a chocolate ganache topping. Last month, I decided to add a New York style baked cheesecake to our monthly recipe vote to see if others were interested in a plant-based version, and to my surprise, it came in second place!So, here it is in all its luscious glory. It took me about four tries to get it just right. The crust is slightly crumbly and sweet, similar to a classic graham cracker crust but a little chewier. YUM. The filling is dense, rich, and creamy with just a hint of sweetness. I didn’t want to make the filling too sweet because the sweetness can come from the oozy fruit topping. It is fabulous, but you can totally enjoy this with no fruit topping as well!One tip for those of you who might live alone or with only one other housemate: First, cut out one slice for you to enjoy right away. Then slice the entire cake, put a few of the slices in an airtight container, and place it in the fridge. For the remaining slices, put small pieces of parchment between them and place them in an airtight container in the freezer. Then, when you finish the pieces from the refrigerator and want more, you can take out one slice at a time from the freezer.If you like this cheesecake, be sure to check out my other cheesecake recipes and enjoy!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ½ cup almond flour
- ½ cup rolled oats organic
- 1 cup dates
- 1 tbsp water
Filling
- 1 cup chickpeas drained, rinsed
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup tofu silk
- ⅔ cup deglet dates or medjool
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup water
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Add the almond flour, oats and dates to a food processor and blend until mixture is finely ground.
- Slowly add the water while food processor is running and blend until mixture sicks together slightly.
- Press into a parchment lined 9 inch springform pan making sure the crust comes up onto the sides about 1 1/2 inches.
- Bake for 8 minutes.
Filling
- Add all of the filling ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth and silky.
- Pour into the crust base and smooth the top.
- Bake for 40 minutes.
- Let cool completely and then refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Keep covered in the fridge up to 1 week.
- Serve with your choice of toppings.
Notes
You can make this in a 6 Inch springform pan but you will have to add 5-10 more minutes for baking.
For the topping I made a very simple berry compote by blending 2/3 cup blueberries, 4 deglet dates (2 medjool) , 1 tsp lemon juice and 1/4 cup water in a blender until smooth. I also tossed some fresh blueberries on top.
Nutrition
Calories: 293kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 10gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gSodium: 50mgPotassium: 308mgFiber: 6gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 5IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 90mgIron: 2mg
Oh my I can’t wait, this looks amazing!
it does look amazing but i can’t so soy. Is there a swap?
thanks
You can just use more cashews
The video says 2/3 cup dates for the crust but here it says 1 cup. Which one is correct?
1 cup is correct
Is the tofu silk extra firm?
Yes
Is the chickpeas cooked or just soaked?
Cooked
I tried this yesterday! It was so yummy! I think it could use more cheesecakey taste… So I will make it again with more lemon juice next time. And oh, I swapped the almond flour for cooked soybean flour cause that’s the only thing I could find..tasted good! Thank you for this!!! It’s truly a healthy and filling dessert! Even suitable for breakfast!
Delicious. We loved it. We actually ate it as part of our breakfast since it’s very nutritious. I served it with Elavegan’s strawberry sauce.
Made this for my son’s birthday. Delicious! Looks beautiful and it’s easy to make. Thanks, Jill for another great recipe.
I still remember the first time I had real NY cheesecake. My mother made it at X-Mas back around 1968. The dense creamy texture with a hint of lemon is a mouth feel and taste I love. I haven’t made one in over 20yrs so look forward to trying this one.
I still have my original recipe so will incorporate fresh grated lemon rind and juice into this recipe to attempt to capture the same flavor. It was so good that fruit topping would have ruined the decadence of it.
I’ve never been a fan of vanilla cheesecake so added fresh lemon zest and decreased the vanilla to half a teaspoon.
My traditional “lemon” cheesecake was always better without fruit but I will be making a blueberry topping for this one. Will keep them on the tart side as I increased the dates to 3/4c in the cake portion and it’s a tad too sweet which may be why I need the berries. I did decrease the dates to 3/4c in the crust as I didn’t want that sweet.
I’m a former New Yorker and I made this last night and I’m here to tell you that This N.Y. Cheesecake is DIVINE, SUBLIME, SUPERB &
oh Sooo DELICIOUS!!! I nearly devoured the entire cheescake in one sitting!!! And By the way, I am a 51-year WFPB Vegan
and an excellent cook and this Faux N.Y. Classic Cheescake BLEW ME AWAY!!!
THANKS JILL — KASHO
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I just made your New york style cheesecake and it turned out perfect! You nailed it, my husband and I absolutely loved it!
Thank you, Jill!
What is a good substitute to the almond flour?
Sorry, there isn’t one
I’m allergic to chickpeas, could’ve suggested a substitute?
Northern or cannelloni beans
WOW! WOW! WOW! Delicious! Divine! Sublime! One of the best tasting desserts ever! I devoured 75% of the dish while standing in the kitchen. I ate the remainder the next morning!Your Blueberry Crumble Bars were also stupendous!Thanks Jill.
So funny! I am so glad that you enjoyed both recipes =)
For the filling do you use cooked chick peas?
thank you so much!
Nora C.
Yes
How long do I wait after taking out of the oven to put in the fridge?
I would let it cool for 15 minutes before putting it in the fridge.
Great recipe! Easy to make and is like the real thing ..so happy
I just made it and had to try it before Christmas Eve dinner because I wasn’t sure. My goodness! This is divine. I can’t believe I second-guessed it. Delicious all the way and would highly recommend.
Love the recipe and want to try it out for my daughter’s Bday but is there a way to omit the tofu and use something else? 🙂
Also, you mentioned in one of the comments that the tofu has to be extra film though silk. We don’t have this one (we have a soft silken tofu) here so what would be the alternative if I cannot replace the tofu with something else (based on your answer to my previous question)?
I haven’t tried any substitutes for the tofu, sorry, but you can use regular silken tofu.
I was really hoping this would be a good one, since it didn’t have vegan yogurt in it. I’m WFPB and haven’t made soy milk yogurt yet, and don’t love the ingredients in store bought, so I thought I’d give this a try. The crust was good, but the filling did not have a pleasing flavor at all. I was going to bring it to my WFPB cooking class, but I can’t bring this.
I loved this cheesecake and ate it for every meal until it was gone!! Lol. I love filling, though, so I kept the crust the same but doubled the filling and just baked it longer. Turned out great—looks a lot like regular cheesecake. Excellent job with this recipe—thank you for sharing, Jill!
Fantastic! Every meal until it was gone =) Love it!
Can I use almonds instead of cashews? Unfortunately I can’t eat cashews anymore.
Yes