Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

I thought I'd share something that I made for my boyfriend for Valentine's Day. I've never really "celebrated" the day, but since this is the first year that I'm with such a lovely fella, I thought I would try to replicate one of his favorite non-vegan desserts-- cheesecake! While he said it wasn't 100% like cheesecake, it was very close, and we thought it was delicious! His roommates loved it too! I snagged three slices for myself. While a bit sad that I gave the rest away, it was probably a good thing (wink).

This recipe does take a bit of time, but most that is in the waiting. Preparing the cake a day in advance is always a great idea. It only tastes that much better if you leave it for at least a few hours in the fridge before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

Notes:

I used mini pie aluminum tins and I believe this made around 6 mini-cheesecakes. To my knowledge, some places don't carry vegan Oreos. Try Whole Foods or a grocery co-op, & look for brands like Newman's. A lot of graham crackers have honey, so if that doesn't work for you, make sure to take a look at the ingredients & secure a vegan graham cracker option or make your own.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 6 Oreo-style cookies and 4-5 graham crackers

• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil or vegan butter

Filling:

• 4 cup cashews (raw and unsalted)

• 1/2 can coconut milk

• 1 container of plain vegan cream cheese (Hmm, strawberry cream cheese would be good too.. but that's for another day)

• 7 oz extra firm silken tofu

• 1/4 cup cane sugar/coconut sugar & 1/4 cup xylitol (or you can use 1/2 cane sugar and no xylitol)

• 2 tablespoons corn starch / arrow root starch

• 1/4 cup soy-free vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)

• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 2 tbs flour (I used oat flour, but you can use all-purpose, spelt…)

• Handful of crumbled Oreo-style cookies for filling and topping (you can either pulse these in a food processor or use a rolling pin to crumble them.. or just your fingers!)

Instructions