Description
Silky smooth and creamy vegan cheesecake with caramel chips baked throughout. Complemented by a hint of vanilla and baked in a graham cracker crust.
Overview
This recipe is easy and delicious to make. For the caramel chips we used Lieber’s, which were ordered from Amazon. Along with being vegan, they are also Kosher.
It is encouraging to see vegan cream cheeses more and more at the local grocery store. Kite Hill vegan cream cheese was what we used for this recipe. Some other vegan cream cheese brands to keep an eye out for at the local grocery store include:
The pie shell used was by a company called Mi-Del. It is a graham cracker crust that is vegan and gluten-free. The filling for this recipe is not gluten-free. Although, if you swap the all-purpose flour for a gluten-free equivalent then it would be.
Types of Tofu
Not an exhaustive list but here are some of the common types of tofu:
- Silken Tofu: Soft and creamy, silken tofu is often used in desserts, smoothies, and sauces. It has a high water content and a delicate texture.
- Soft Tofu: Softer than regular tofu, soft tofu is great for dishes where you want a tender and creamy texture. It’s often used in soups, stir-fries, and salads.
- Medium Tofu: As the name suggests, medium tofu falls between soft and firm in terms of texture. It’s a good all-purpose tofu for many recipes.
- Firm Tofu: Firm tofu is the most common type and has a dense, chewy texture. It’s great for stir-fries, grilling, and pan-frying.
- Extra-Firm Tofu: Extra-firm tofu is even denser than firm tofu and has a texture similar to meat. It’s often used in dishes where you want a meat-like texture.
As the list above demonstrates there are many types of tofu and they each have their strengths for different recipes. For this recipe we used silken tofu.
Equipment Considerations
Before we dive into the cooking process we need to discuss essential baking equipment. Unfortunately, this recipe is nearly impossible to complete by hand. Luckily, there are just two pieces of equipment that are critical to complete this recipe, which includes:
- Food processor
- Stand or hand mixer
The food processor is essential to puree the silken tofu and sugar. The resulting tofu mixture acts as an egg replacer for this recipe. The nice thing about using a food processor for this task is that it makes the tofu mixture smooth and creamy, as well as, combines the sugar in one easy step.
The stand or hand mixer is best to combine all the ingredients. Either of these devices will make quick work of this task. Cream cheese is very dense and extremely difficult to combine by hand. Which is where these kitchen appliances come to save the day. We will detail the process of when and where to use each appliance in the section below.
Baking Notes
To kick things off add the silken tofu and sugar to the food processor. As mentioned previously, the resulting tofu mixture will act as the egg replacer for this recipe.
It helps to leave the cream cheese out on the counter for a few minutes to help it soften. Then add the vegan cream cheese to the stand mixing bowl. Followed by the tofu mixture, flour, salt, vanilla extract, and mix to combine. Finally, add the caramel chips and mix on low to incorporate into the filling.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare the unbaked pie shell by removing the packaging. Using a silicone spatula scoop the caramel chip cheesecake filling into the pie crust. Then smooth the top of the cheesecake with the spatula.
Bake the cheesecake on the center rack for 50 to 60 minutes. When the top turns a nice golden color then it is time to remove from the oven.
Allow the cheesecake to cool on a wire rack until it is room temperature. Then move it to the refrigerator to continue to cool for several hours. For optimal results let the cheesecake set overnight in the refrigerator.
Storage
The easiest way to store this cheesecake is to place a sheet of aluminum foil over the top. Keep it in the refrigerator between servings. The cheesecake should last up to a week stored this way. Although, in my household it disappears long before that time horizon. Your mileage may vary. 🙂
If you like this recipe be sure to check out our other recipes below:
Ingredients
2 8-oz. containers of vegan cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup silken tofu
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. flour
3/4 cup caramel chips
1 unbaked pie shell
Directions
- Use a food processor to blend tofu and sugar until smooth.
- Add the tofu mixture, cream cheese, salt, vanilla extract, and flour to a stand mixer bowl. Mix until the cream cheese filling is smooth. Then add the caramel chips and mix slowly to incorporate.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place the pie shell on a baking sheet. Fill the pie shell and bake for 50 – 60 minutes.
- Once finished baking remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack until it is room temperature. Then move to the refrigerator and allow to set for several hours. For optimal results allow the cheesecake to set overnight before serving.