This Gluten-Free Vegan No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake is an easy and healthy recipe made with only 9 clean, real food ingredients. It's the perfect plant-based dessert with a chocolate crust and chocolate drizzle that can be prepared in under 15 minutes!
Here's Why This Recipe Works
My top 3 favorite reasons:
- It's Made Without Eggs, Cream Cheese, Dairy, or Soy
- Can Be Prepared In About 15 Minutes
- Made With Clean, Real Food Ingredients
You can feel good about making my healthy, plant-based recipe because it's vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, and contains no refined sugar.
Karielyn's Expert Tips + Ingredient Substitutions
Here are some of my expert tips to make this recipe perfectly:
Peanut Butter: You can use homemade peanut butter instead of store-bought if you prefer.
Cashews: Make sure to use "raw" cashews and not "roasted + salted" since this is a sweet recipe. In addition, if you have extra time, you can take the extra step of soaking the cashews before adding them to your Vitamix, which will make them soft and the mixture extra smooth.
- Soak the cashew in filtered/purified water for at least 30-60 minutes
- Drain and rinse the cashews before adding them to your Vitamix
This extra step does not affect the flavor but will affect the texture so if you don't have extra time, it's not a problem.
Pecans: These can be substituted with another nut such as almonds or walnuts.
Cacao Powder: Can be substituted with regular cocoa powder.
Coconut Oil: If you don't like the taste or smell of coconut oil, use organic refined coconut oil which has zero coconut taste or smell.
Vanilla Bean Powder: I prefer to use vanilla bean powder in my no-bake recipes to avoid the alcohol in the vanilla extract that normally evaporates in baked recipes, but you can always substitute with organic pure vanilla extract in the same amount.
Almond Milk: I like to use homemade almond milk, but you can always substitute with your favorite non-dairy milk. Another great option is to use Joi Organic Almond Milk which is made with 100% organic almonds.
Cheesecake Pan: I used a 6-inch springform cheesecake pan for this recipe, but you could also use a mini cheesecake pan and they would be really cute (and easier to serve).
In addition, you can also use standard-size paper or silicone muffin cups.
Simply divide the crust mixture and cheesecake filling evenly between the number of cups you'll be using.
Serving Size: This recipe will make (1) 6-inch cheesecake with (12) small slices. Nutritional information is for (1) slice which is (1) serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is This Recipe Really Healthy?
In my opinion, yes!
A quick internet search will turn up these typical ingredients found in a traditional peanut butter cheesecake:
- S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) Homemade Peanut Butter Cheesecake Typical Ingredients: 4 eggs, 32 ounces (4 packages) cream cheese, ¾ cup brown sugar, ¾ cup butter, ¾ cup sour cream, 1 ½ cups white sugar, 1 can condensed milk, etc.
It is heavy on the dairy ingredients with not really any nutritional benefits.
My healthier version is made with nutrient-dense, real food ingredients, and is 100% vegan and gluten-free.
Gluten-Free Vegan No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 cup organic pecans
- ½ cup organic Medjool dates (pitted)
- 2 tablespoons organic raw cacao powder
- 1 tablespoon organic coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon organic ground vanilla bean powder
For the cheesecake filling:
- 1 cup homemade almond milk
- ¾ cup organic maple syrup
- ¼ cup organic coconut oil
- 3 cups organic raw cashews
- 1 ½ cups organic peanut butter
For the chocolate drizzle:
- 2 tablespoons organic raw cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons organic maple syrup
Instructions
- Set aside a 6-inch springform cheesecake pan.
- Optional: Soak the cashews in filtered/purified water for at least 30-60 minutes, then drain and rinse before adding them to your Vitamix. This step will not affect the flavor but will make the cashews soft and the mixture extra smooth.
Prepare the crust:
- Add all the ingredients for the crust to a food processor and process until it becomes a wet, crumbly texture.
- Transfer to a 6-inch springform cheesecake pan, spread evenly, and press it down firmly. Set aside.
Prepare the cheesecake filling:
- Add all ingredients for the cheesecake filling to a Vitamix in the order listed (adding liquid ingredients first and the cashews and peanut butter last) and blend until creamy and smooth, using the tamper if needed.
- Transfer to the prepared cheesecake pan and pour it evenly over the crust.
- Place the cheesecake pan in the freezer for approximately 2-4 hours, or until it hardens and becomes firm.
- When ready to serve, remove the cheesecake pan from the freezer, allow it to slightly thaw for about 5 minutes, then remove the cheesecake from the springform pan.
Prepare the chocolate drizzle:
- Add all ingredients for the chocolate drizzle to a small mixing bowl and stir until well combined and smooth.
Assembly:
- Cut and transfer the cheesecake slices to your serving dishes and using a spoon, drizzle the chocolate over the top. As soon as the chocolate comes into contact with the frozen cheesecake, it will harden, so don't add it until you're ready to serve.
- Store in an air-tight BPA-free container in the freezer until ready to serve because it will get soft and lose its shape if left out at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
- Soak the cashew in filtered/purified water for at least 30-60 minutes
- Drain and rinse the cashews before adding them to your Vitamix
Nutrition Information
Copyright Notice
The notes, instructions, and photographs for this recipe are copyrighted material and are protected under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). They cannot be used legally without my written permission.
Want More Healthy Plant-Based Dessert Recipes?
Check out these:
- Vanilla Bean and Mango Chia Seed Pudding
- Crispy Cashew Butter Energy Balls
- Creamy Chocolate Pudding
- or my CLEAN DESSERTS Cookbook with 72 plant-based no-bake dessert recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!
Did You Make This Recipe?
I'd love to hear about it! Please give it a rating and leave a comment below...it would make my day! 🙂
Erin P. says
Hi! OMG. If you are debating making these -make them NOW! This was a hit with my vegan, gluten-free and even non-vegan friends. So easy to make and the hardest part of this recipe is waiting for them to come out of the freezer. Thanks Karielyn for such an awesome recipe!
Karielyn says
Hi there Erin! I'm so glad to hear my recipe was a hit with you and your friends - especially to please everyone which I know is hard to do!
Thanks for trying it out and for taking the time to let me know...I sincerely appreciate it! 🙂
Caroline says
Hello!
I made this as a birthday cake for my vegan friend. She said it was the best thing she's ever eaten! I didn't change a thing from the recipe (except I used vanilla extract instead of vanilla powder) and it turned out perfectly. Thank you!!!
Karielyn Tillman says
Hi there Caroline! I'm so happy to hear your friend enjoyed the birthday cheesecake...what a great friend you are!
Thank you for trying out my recipe and for taking the time to let me know your friend liked it...I appreciate it 🙂
Samantha says
Hi, I was wondering can you sub peanut butter with almond butter? 🙂 Would love to make this for someone but they are allergic to peanuts.
Karielyn says
Hi there Samantha! I've never made a cheesecake with almond butter so I don't know for sure if it would work, but I don't see why it wouldn't. I'm thinking it wouldn't give it much of a flavor though, since peanut butter has a distinctive flavor and almond butter has more of a mild/neutral flavor.
I have several other raw, vegan cheesecake recipes on my website that you might like to try instead. Just look in the "Desserts" section or type in "cheesecake" in the search bar.
Thank you for your question and I hope you find one that will work 🙂
Marie says
Hi there, this looks delicious and I would love to make it. The only problem is I have a sensitivity to cashews and was wondering if you could suggest any subsitutes for them. Thank you
Karielyn says
Hi there Marie! I haven't tried this for this particular recipe, but you could try using macadamia nuts instead of cashews. I've used them in this recipe: https://thehealthyfamilyandhome.com/raw-vegan-key-lime-cheesecake-with-coconut-cream-topping/
That cheesecake recipe did have a strong macadamia nut flavor to me, but I don't know if it's just because I'm used to using cashews which have a more neutral flavor. Maybe the peanut butter would offset it?
Thanks for the question and I hope you are able to make the recipe and enjoy it 🙂
Maria says
Hi,although this was delicious, I too had extra filling and it was too much for myVitamix to handle. The Vitamix was so full that it almost couldn't properly mix lol. Thank you for the recipe though, I will probably just put half at a time in my blender next time.
Karielyn says
Hi there Maria! I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe and although I've never run into the problem of too much in my Vitamix, thank you!! for the tip in case anyone else runs into that too.
Thanks for trying out the recipe and for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed it...I really appreciate it 🙂
Tamara says
This was amazing and beautiful too! I ended up with way too much filling. I used a 7 inch pan and still had enough filling for a whole other pie. it was delicious thou. Thanks!
Karielyn says
Hi there Tamara! I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed it, but am trying to figure out how you had so much extra lol!
Thank you for trying out the recipe and for taking the time to let me know you liked it...I really appreciate it 🙂
Jess says
YUM! I made this for my book club and it was a HIT and turned out perfectly! Everyone couldn't believe how creamy the cheesecake was after being frozen! So delicious and the chocolate topping was SO GOOD! Loved the PB-chocolate combo..Keep the recipes coming and as usual, another 5-star recipe!
Karielyn says
Hi there Jess! Yes, you just can't go wrong with a peanut butter/chocolate combo can you lol? 😉
Tasha Morgan says
I made this exactly as written and we LOVED it! You could definitely taste the peanut butter over anything else but we love peanut butter so it was perfect. Your recipes are always a hit! Thank you! 🙂
Tasha
Karielyn says
Hi there Tasha! Oh good…I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it! And I LOVE peanut butter too 😉