Make this Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake for a fruity treat! It features a creamy tofu cheesecake filling and a gluten free oat flour pie crust. In partnership with perfectlyfree®!
Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake
’Tis the season of love. 💘 So let’s make dessert and celebrate!
Valentine’s Day isn’t just for romantic love, y’all! Whether you’re celebrating with a partner, your friends, family or just yourself, share the love!
I’ve never liked the gift-giving and consumerism of Valentine’s Day, and those feelings have only grown stronger since I’ve taken sustainable living and creating less waste more seriously. So what do you do if you don’t want to show your love with gifts that will end up in a landfill? The best way, in my opinion, to show someone you love them without creating as much waste is… FOOD!
Perishable gifts (meals, wine, desserts, coffee, etc.) are great because one, you’re giving someone a gift they’ll actually use, two, you can avoid a gift that will eventually end up in the trash and three they’re the kind of gifts you can enjoy together. And isn’t that what Valentine’s Day is supposed to be about anyway? It’s a win-win.
This Valentine’s Day, I encourage you to show your love by making a dessert, particularly this beautiful, delicious Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake!
Ingredients for Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake
The base of this recipe is a vegan tofu cheesecake filling that I use for all my cheesecakes. I added in raspberries for a fun, fruity pop of pink to make it the perfect vegan Valentine’s dessert, but you could use any frozen berry you want.
Whether you make this vegan raspberry cheesecake for a partner, your friends, your mom, your co-workers, or yourself, make sure you prepare it with lots of love. It’s the most important ingredient 🙂
Here’s everything you’ll need to make it:
- Rolled oats. We’re making a gluten-free oat flour pie crust and using oat flour in the cheesecake filling. We’re making our own oat flour by grinding rolled oats in a food processor.
- Walnuts. We’re using walnuts in our gluten-free pie crust.
- Sugar. White cane sugar works great, but you could also use coconut sugar.
- Salt. Always salt your desserts to balance out the sweetness!
- Coconut oil. To bind our gluten-free crust and give it that melt-in-your-mouth goodness.
- Extra-firm silken tofu. My favorite is Mori-Nu Extra Firm Silken Tofu.
- Raspberries. Frozen or fresh would both work! You can also use another berry if you prefer.
- Maple syrup. We’re using a combination of cane sugar and liquid sweetener in the filling to ensure it’s sweet, but stays nice and smooth.
- Nut butter. I recommend either almond or cashew butter.
- Lemon juice. Just a bit will help brighten up the vegan cheesecake filling and add a bit of mouthwatering tartness.
- Cornstarch. This will help thicken the tofu cheesecake filling.
- Vanilla extract. A touch of vanilla works wonders to heighten the flavors.
- Dark chocolate. You can use vegan chocolate chips or cut a bar into chunks.
- perfectlyfree® Cocoa & Vanilla Frozen Bites. These are DELICIOUS on top and really take this vegan raspberry cheesecake to the next level.
How to Make a Gluten Free Oat Flour Pie Crust
This vegan raspberry cheesecake is an absolute showstopper and it’s sure to please a crowd. The best part? It’s a pretty easy vegan cheesecake to whip up. Nearly all of the recipe comes together in a food processor so it’s pretty hands-off.
This vegan raspberry cheesecake starts by preparing the crust. This oat flour pie crust is gluten free, and let me tell you – it may be my favorite gluten free pie crust of all time. It’s tastes like a classic crust, it melts in your mouth, but it’s still sturdy enough to hold the luscious vegan cheesecake filling. An absolute winner.
To make the curst, you’ll add your rolled oats, walnuts, sugar and salt to a food processor or high-speed blender and process until you’re left with a finely milled flour. From there, add the flour to a bowl and stir in your melted coconut oil until a ball of dough forms.
Next, you’ll grease your pan and gently press the dough into the bottom of the pan and up the sides to form your crust. I like to press the crust until it’s about 1/2 to 1/4 inch thick on the bottom. Pop your pan into a 350ºF oven to bake for 10 minutes, then remove it from the oven. You can let your oat flour pie crust cool while you make the vegan tofu cheesecake filling.
How to Make a Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake
Time to make our vegan raspberry cheesecake!
I recommend getting the oat flour pie crust started first so that you can assemble the tofu cheesecake filling while your crust is cooling.
To make the raspberry cheesecake filling, you’ll add all the filling ingredients to your blender or food processor and blend it up until you’re left with a smooth, creamy mixture. Make sure your crust is cooled, then pour the filling into your par-baked crust.
Pop the vegan cheesecake back into the oven and allow it to bake for 55-60 minutes. The top of the cake should be firm, but the center may seem slightly jiggly. Once the vegan cheesecake is baked, pull it out of the oven and allow it to cool for an hour at minimum. You can place it in the refrigerator to help speed up the process if you’d like. Once it’s had a chance to fully set, you’re good to decorate and dig in!
Tips for Making a Vegan Tofu Cheesecake
This vegan raspberry cheesecake is pretty simple to make, but I’ve got a few tips and tricks to help make things that much simpler!
- Make your own oat flour. We’re making an oat flour pie crust to keep things gluten-free. But you don’t have to pick up a fancy flour from the store! Grab the plain ol’ rolled oats out of your cabinet, toss them into a food processor and grind them up until you’re left with a fine flour.
- Par-bake your crust. You know when you slice into a pie, the crust is kinda soft and sad? We can avoid that by par-baking the crust! This means we’re putting the crust in to bake on its own before the filling goes in. This gives the crust a chance to crisp up and brown before that glorious vegan cheesecake filling touches it. No soggy bottoms here!
- Choose the right pan. Cheesecake can be incredibly frustrating to remove if you don’t use the right pan. I highly recommend using a springform pan. A springform pan is built to allow you to remove the sides of the pan to pop the cheesecake out. Simple!
- Customize it. I chose to make a vegan raspberry cheesecake, but any berry will work! Strawberries, blueberries or cherries would all be delicious in this recipe.
- Let it cool!!! I can’t emphasize this enough. Cooling is always one of the most important steps in baking, but specifically when making something like a vegan cheesecake. If you slice into it too soon, you might end up with a leaky filling, and that’s not what we want! I promise it’s worth the wait.
How to Decorate This Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake
You can enjoy your vegan cheesecake as is, but everything’s a little more fun with some extra treats added on top, am I right? So to take this vegan raspberry cheesecake to the next level, we’re topping it off with more fresh berries, a chocolate drizzle and some perfectlyfree® Frozen Bites!
The perfectlyfree® Frozen Bites are free of the Big 8 food allergens, vegan, gluten-free, and kosher. They’re perfectly bite-sized, so you can enjoy a couple for dessert and feel satisfied. They are 100% plant-based frozen desserts filled with a creamy coconut inside and coated with either salted caramel, mint chocolate, raspberry, or chocolate.
I really love topping this vegan raspberry cheesecake with the Cocoa Vanilla bites (the raspberry chocolate would be great too!) because the creamy coconut inside melts onto the cheesecake… my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
More Vegan Valentine’s Desserts
Share the love with some sweet treats! These fun vegan Valentine’s desserts are the perfect way to show someone you love them. Or you know, to treat yourself with 🙂
- Strawberry Cheesecake Swirl Vegan Brownies
- Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Beet Strawberry Chia Pudding
- Vegan Sugar Cookies with Blood Orange Glaze
- Cherry Filled Chocolate Coconut Butter Cups
Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake with Oat Flour Pie Crust
Make this Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake for a fruity treat! It features a creamy tofu cheesecake filling and a gluten free oat flour pie crust.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup walnut halves
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
For the filling:
- 2 12-ounce packages extra-firm silken tofu*
- 1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries
- 1/3 cup cane sugar
- 3 tablespoons oat flour**
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons almond or cashew butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the toppings:
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
- 1 box perfectlyfree® Cocoa & Vanilla Frozen Bites
- 1/2 cup raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray the inside of a springform pan*** with non-stick spray.
- For the crust: In a blender or food processor, add oats, walnuts, sugar, and salt. Blend until a fine flour forms; add to a medium bowl. Add melted coconut oil; stir until a dough ball forms. Gently press the dough into the bottom of the pan and up the sides. The dough should be 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick on the bottom.
- Bake crust for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven; let cool for 20 minutes.
- In a blender or food processor, add all filling ingredients. Blend until completely smooth. Once crust is cooled, pour filling into the pan.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes, until the top of the cake is firm. Remove from the oven; let cool for at least an hour. Place in the fridge to speed up cooling.
- Slice each frozen bite in half. Place on top of cheesecake.
- In a small bowl, add dark chocolate. Melt in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until chocolate is completely melted. Drizzle on top of cheesecake. Add raspberries.
Notes
*I like Mori-Nu Extra Firm.
**To make your own own oat flour, simply blend rolled oats into a fine flour using a high-speed blender or food processor.
***I used a 9-inch springform pan; however, you may also be able to use a pie pan.
Thanks to perfectlyfree® for sponsoring this post! I love working with brands whose products I really love and would honestly recommend. Thank you for supporting this blog that I love oh-so-much!
