BEST.VEGAN.CHEESECAKE.EVER.
I’ve spent a long time trying to find/make the best vegan cheesecake, and I’m officially certain that I have! These vegan lemon blueberry cheesecake bars are not just the best vegan cheesecake I’ve had, but maybe the best cheesecake in general! These cheesecake bars are so easy to make and so freaking amazing, you won’t know what hit you!
This perfect dessert would be pretty difficult to mess up. You just throw everything in a blender and blend until creamy. Pour the cheesecake batter over the best dang crust ever. Then bake. That’s it. They get so thick and creamy. I have had a bunch of people taste them, and no one believed they were vegan.
So, let’s take a moment to talk about crusts. The crust of any dessert is arguably the best part. However you feel about it, I think cheesecake needs a thick crust. This super easy graham cracker crust is thick and AMAZING! It holds super well and is one of the best parts.
The cheesecake part is however is the best! It tastes exactly like regular cheesecake. No raw cashews, just regular cheesecake. Don’t get me wrong: a healthier version is great too, they are just very different! This is really good, lemony, fruity, creamy legit cheesecake. The tang from the lemon and the burst of baked blueberries is literally amazing!
Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Vegan Graham Cracker Crust
- 3 Cups Graham cracker crumbs, vegan
- 1/3 Cup Brown sugar
- 1/3 Cup Vegan butter, melted
Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake
- 1 Block(15-16 oz.) Firm tofu (not extra firm)
- 16 Ounces Vegan cream cheese, I used Trader Joe's
- 1 Cup Organic sugar
- 1/2 Cup Maple syrup
- Juice of 3 Lemons
- 1 Teaspoon Lemon zest
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon Tapioca starch or corn starch
- 1/3 Cup All purpose flour
- 2 Cups Fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Make the graham cracker crust. Process your graham crackers in a food processor until they are crumbs. Then make sure you have 3 cups of the crumbs. Add them to a mixing bowl, then add the brown sugar. Stir to combine.
- Then add the melted vegan butter. Stir to completely combine. The crust should be moist and stick together if you press it together, but not super moist and oily.
- Pour the graham cracker crust mix into a baking pan sprayed with non stick spray. I used a 13x9x2 pan. Press the crust into the pan. I like to use a small cup and press down so the crust is solid and packed in, and even throughout the pan.
- Now, put the crust in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Just so it sticks together when you pour the cheesecake batter in.
- Then, make the cheesecake batter. Squeeze some of the liquid out of the tofu. I just squeeze it over the sink and get as much out as I can. If it starts to crumble, no problem. Then add the tofu to a blender.
- Now, add the vegan cream cheese, organic sugar, maple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, tapioca or corn starch, and flour to the blender as well. Blend, scraping down sides as needed until the batter is completely smooth. It may take a few minutes.
- When the crust is out of the oven, pour half the cheesecake batter over the crust, smooth out to cover the whole crust. Then sprinkle half the blueberries all over the top. Then pour the remaining cheesecake batter on top of that, smooth out as much as possible. Then sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes. They are done when the edges start to brown, but the center will still be slightly jiggly. It should mostly look firm, but the jiggly center will firm as they cool!
- Let cool for at least 4 hours. I like to make them the night before I plan to serve and chill over night.
- Cut into bars and serve!
Notes
This 😍 I made this for Easter today for all of my non-vegan friends, 10+ people, and I’m the only vegan one. Everyone devoured it and sang praises. Because everyone knows I’m vegan, they knew it wasn’t the “standard cheesecake” but said things like “this is so spot on!” Obviously those are high regards. It was my first time ever making one of your recipes and couldn’t be more thrilled. I’m only dreaming of how to use the cheesecake base next and take it to a whole different level! Thank you, thank you!
Didn’t see the star rating option but definitely 5 of 5!
Will this recipe work in a spring-form pan?
It should work in a spring-form pan. It will probably need to bake longer though since it will be thicker.
Plan to make these for my mother’s birthday this weekend. I will have to travel about 4 hours with them. Once cooled, can I freeze them then thaw prior to serving? If not, how many days will they keep in the fridge? Thanks!
I think freezing them may change the texture, but I haven’t tried freezing them. They do hold up well in the fridge for about 3 days.
I would love to make this for some family, but they are avoiding processed sugar. I wonder if I could use dates?
Dates might work, since you blend everything together. I can’t really tell you for sure if it will work. It may change the texture, but would probably still taste delish. You can definitely try it out! I hope it works for you!
Agave nectar, Stevia, Maple Syrup, or other sweetener perhaps???
These sound so good! Fresh berries are hard to find right now – do you think I could use frozen? If I thaw and drain them a little so they aren’t so liquidy?
I think frozen blueberries will work fine! Yes, I would just recommend thawing and draining!
This cheesecake recipe is perfection! So delicious, makes a ton and is perfect for catering/pot lucks/parties. Oh and best part is it’s infinitely adaptable – can’t wait to try with different fruits/chocolate etc. Might pull back a little of lemon juice from filling if going with non-fruit flavors, but not much – the tang makes it taste classically cheesecake-y and isn’t too lemony. I didn’t have any graham crackers so I made with oat/almond crust from banoffee pie recipe from oh she glows. Great GF/from-the-pantry option – was super sturdy too, made great perfect slices. That said, excited to try with graham crust next time, I bet it will taste even more like the real thing!
All that, but I came to comment on how it freezes. I decided my boyfriend and I couldn’t eat the entire pan in two days while stuck at home, and wanted to see if they would freeze, or if tofu would change the texture. They defrosted back to perfect texture!!! 🙂 the baked blueberries pulled a bit more from the filling than they were before freezing, but was barely noticeable. I used mori-nu firm tofu, and only froze for a couple days.
Truly a great and smart recipe – I will make these over and over and can’t wait to experiment with different flavors. <3
This recipe was so incredible, easy, and 100% my go-to dessert for any occasion. I made this for Mother’s Day with a few modifications based on what I had. I did make this in a cheesecake springform pan (not sure why I decided to buy this a while back but I am trying to get use out of it). I added blueberries to the top of the cheesecake instead. I reduced the crust amount due to less surface area needing to be covered. Kept the filling the same. Oh my gosh. I couldn’t believe it. The best cheesecake. I received so many compliments! THANK YOU! I plan on making this again and again…you could easily make this with some roasted apples+spices for a holiday treat or add strawberries+blueberries for the 4th…anyway. A HIT. Thank you!
Do you think this would work with strawberries instead of blueberries? Or maybe better to just add strawberries on top instead of baking them in? I can’t wait to make this!
Yes! I think strawberries would work, and you can probably bake them the same, but just putting them on top would be great!
What a wow cake!!
My husband was so grateful. Feeding his belly whilst he studies hard.
Anyway, I used digestives the Australian Graham Cracker (one packet will suffice) and all the rest was easily available. When baked it’s not as sweet as the batter.
The final test will be my little toddler.
Thank you for all your amazing recipes. Such an inspiration.
My partner (not vegan) said this is his favorite cheesecake recipe!! He talks about it frequently almost at random! I’ve been vegan for over a decade — I have had plenty of not-so-good vegan cheesecake recipes. This one takes the (cheese)cake as absolutely top shelf!! Definitely try it!
I am always reluctant to make cheesecake because it never seems like non-vegan cheesecake. I went with this recipe because Rabbit and Wolves never disappoints, and this recipe was no exception. I made this for a friend’s birthday (eaten by 2 non-vegan/vegetarians and 1 vegetarian). Everyone LOVED these. Will definitely make again and experiment with other flavors.
Thank you for sharing! We love them too!