It’s national cheesecake day! We’re celebrating with another one of our favorite recipes from the BBV vault which we’ve been making for probably 20 years now. It’s a decadent peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake that’s completely vegan and amazingly delicious. No one will know this is vegan as it’s that good!
This is a relatively standard recipe as cheesecakes go but it does have some special additions to replace the eggs normally used and the dairy. The cream cheese itself is very important and since this is a more NY style cheesecake rather than an Italian ricotta style, you must use a dense vegan cream cheese. I use Tofutti or Violife brand as they’re the best in my opinion for this cake. Trader Joe’s just released a new dense style cream cheese so that may work too. The peanut butter and the chocolate also add fat and add to the rich creaminess of this cake and I prefer a smooth no stir variety of peanut butter and good quality semisweet chocolate chips. If you want you could use a bittersweet chocolate as well.
For the crust, you can use any plain short vegan cookie you’d like or graham crackers. We used vegan vanilla wafer cookies from Sprouts but you could also use a chocolate plain cookie as well if you prefer. I will often use a mini graham cookie in a bag as those often don’t contain honey like larger graham crackers do. It’s very customizable and always delicious no matter what you use!
The only fussy part about this recipe is the marbling of the two batters. You just need to drop dollops onto the crust then use a butter knife to wind your way through them to gently swirl them together. It’s a fine line as to when it’s right but you’ll know. I find going in a figure eight pattern works well then turning the pan and doing the same on the opposite side until I’m happy with the results. Just make sure not to over-mix and not to dig too deep to disturb the crust below.
Let’s talk about egg substitutes for this recipe. For years, we used a powdered egg replacer and it worked fine. This time I used a rich aquafaba flax egg for this which is where I add a little oil to the aquafaba (liquid from canned chickpeas) and flaxmeal. For the three eggs I substituted I used 9 tablespoons aquafaba, 4 tablespoons flaxmeal and 1 tablespoon plain oil and mixed it together and let it rest for a few minutes until thick. You could see the flecks of flax in the peanut butter batter but could neither see nor taste them in the finished bake. I considered using Just Egg but didn’t want something special you had to buy unless it was 100% necessary (sometimes it provides the best result) but you could use it if you had some around. I would add 9 tablespoons of Just Egg. You could also use another egg replacer but I would steer clear of applesauce or pumpkin as they may leave an odd aftertaste in the final cake.
You could add chocolate chips to the peanut butter batter if desired but we prefer it plain. Another nut butter or allergy free butter could be substituted like sunflower butter or hazelnut butter (which would taste like Nutella!). I would think cookie butter like Bischoff would be amazing too. I’ve not tried it but I’m sure it would work. I hope you enjoy this as much as we have over the years. It’s a family favorite even our non-vegan members love. They often can’t believe it doesn’t contain dairy!
Vegan Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cheesecake
12
servings30
minutes45
minutesThis is a classic cheesecake that no one will ever know is vegan!
Ingredients
- Crust
5 tablespoons vegan butter, melted
1 3/4 cups cookie crumbs (vegan vanilla wafers, graham crackers or chocolate cookies)
- Cheesecake Batter
3- 8 oz containers of vegan cream cheese, room temperature (I prefer Tofutti or Violife brand)
3/4 cup vegan cane sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegan sour cream (I prefer Tofutti)
3 vegan eggs (see notes)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 oz semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup creamy no-stir peanut butter (see notes)
Directions
- Crust
- Using a 9 1/2 inch springform pan, butter the bottom and sides.
- Mix the melted butter into the crushed cookies (this can all be done in a food processor) until we’ll mixed.
- Press evenly into the bottom of the springform pan and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Cheesecake Batter
- Using a food processor or stand mixer (with the paddle attachment) beat the cream cheese until smooth and soft (about 2 minutes).
- Add the sugar and salt and beat until very smooth and creamy. Stop the mixer/food processor and scrape down the sides.
- Add the vegan eggs in thirds beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl before adding the next.
- Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined about 2-3 minutes. Remove 2 cups of this base mixture and place aside in a medium sized bowl.
- Melt the chocolate (I use the microwave and melt it in 30 second intervals and stirring until it’s just melted). Chocolate can burn easily in the microwave so watch it carefully. You could also melt in a double boiler or in a glass bowl over simmering water. Let it cool a bit before adding a 1/4 cup of the melted chocolate to the cheesecake base that you put aside in a bowl. Stir until smooth and well combined then add the rest of the melted chocolate and stir until uniformly mixed and no white streaks are left. Set aside.
- Add the peanut butter to the base that’s left in the mixer/food processor and mix until well combined and smooth about 1-2 minutes.
- Pour 1/3 of the chocolate mix into the springform pan, then add 1/3 of the peanut butter mix. Keep alternating the mixes until they’re all in the springform pan. Tap pan on counter to level it out in the pan and remove any large air bubbles then take a clean knife and swirl it through the batter to marbleize it being careful to not go too deep in the pan as you don’t want to disturb the crust. I find a figure eight motion works best in one direction then I rotate the pan and do it again the other direction. You want nice marbleized streaks throughout.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the oven door a crack and let the cake cool completely in the oven (about an hour). The top of the cake should look dull and the cake should have a slight jiggle to it. When cooled, cover top with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for at least a few hours or preferably overnight.
- Let it come to room temperature before serving and use a sharp knife dipped in hot water then dried with a cloth to cut into even slices.
Notes
- I used rich aquafaba flax eggs for this recipe. I made it using 9 tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from canned chickpeas), 4 tablespoons flaxmeal + 1 tablespoon plain vegetable oil whisked together and thickened for a few minutes. You can also use powdered egg replacer or another favorite but I would warn against using pumpkin or applesauce.
- You want to use a thick cream cheese not a whipped style for this recipe. I prefer Tofutti or Violife brands.
- It can be hard to find vegan graham crackers but often mini graham cookies don’t contain honey and can be used.
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