Mint Chocolate Vegan Cheesecake
This mint chocolate vegan cheesecake is a paleo dessert dream. This plant-based dessert is gluten-free, grain-free, non-dairy and contains no refined sugar! All of the ingredients are simple and natural.
It starts with a pistachio crust with a cashew based filling naturally colored with spinach and flavored with peppermint extract. The key chocolate ingredient is deliciously sweet, yet contains no sugar all thanks to Lily’s sugar free stevia chocolates. I typically use the chocolate chips to easily make chocolate drizzles, but for this recipe I used Lily’s sugar free chocolate bars. I roughly chopped up the chocolate blocks to give this a more rustic look.
What else makes this mint chocolate vegan cheesecake refined sugar-free?
Aside from the Lily’s sugar free chocolate bar that is sweetened stevia that I just talked about. Coconut sugar is also what makes this recipe refined sugar-free. The great thing about coconut sugar is that it has lower chances of a blood sugar spike. Per serving, coconut sugar contains a small amount of inulin, a type of soluble fiber that can make post-meal blood sugar spikes less likely according to webmd.
The filing is sweetened with maple syrup which also helps with the consistency to make it more like cheesecake.
Now that you can rest assure that this mint chocolate vegan cheesecake is not gonna spike your blood sugar, let’s get to making it.
Ingredients and methods will be listed below step-by-step, but also feel free to jump to the recipe card at the bottom for an easier read.
Ingredients + method to make this recipe
Ingredients + method for the pistachio crust:
- pistachios
- coconut sugar
- sea salt
- vanilla extract
- flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flax seed + 1 1/2 Tbsp water)
- refined coconut oil
Preheat oven to 350° F.
While oven is heating, place pistachios into blender and pulse in a blender or food processor to make a fine pistachio meal.
Add coconut sugar + salt to mix and pulse to combine.
Add wet ingredients and pulse until forms together. Then stop blender and mix together with a rubber spatula until well combined.
Lightly oil with spray a 9″ round cake dish. Press pistachio crust into the bottom of the dish. I like to oil my hands lightly so that it doesn’t stick to my hands.
Bake in oven for 11 minutes. The edges should be slightly golden. Place out to cool completely. Make cheesecake filling while the crust cools down.
Ingredients + method for the filing:
- soaked cashews
- vanilla extract
- peppermint extract
- spinach
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp cup refined coconut oil
- maple syrup
- chopped stevia chocolate
- fresh mint optional
Place soaked + drained cashews, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, spinach, coconut oil + maple syrup into a high speed blender or food processor on high speed for 5 minutes or until a smooth texture. At this point, it will look a little bit like Nickelodeon slime.
Allow the mixture to cool or semi-cool down if blender heated up the mixture.
Once the mixture has cooled down, pour filling into the crust dish. Fold in 1/2 of the finely chopped chocolate to the mixture. If the mixture makes the chocolate semi-melted, then you can swirl the chocolate with a toothpick to make a marble pattern. Sprinkle the rest of the finely chopped chocolate on the top.
Place in the freezer for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Once fully set, you can decorate with fresh mint, chocolate drizzle or more chocolate shreds.
When serving, allow cheesecake to defrost for an hour in the fridge or room temperature before serving. Enjoy!
More plant-based recipes to try
- vegan chocolate covered strawberries
- gluten-free spirulina pancakes
- rose petal lavender cookies
- homemade no refined sugar twix bars
Mint Chocolate Vegan Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the pistachio crust:
- 1 1/2 cups pistachios
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flax seed + 1.5 Tbsp water)
- 2 Tbsp refined coconut oil
For the mint chocolate filling:
- 2 cups soaked cashews
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tsp peppermint extract
- 1/2 cup spinach
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp refined coconut oil
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup chopped stevia chocolate
- fresh mint (optional for dressing it up)
Instructions
For the pistachio crust:
- Preheat oven to 350° F
- While oven is heating, place pistachios into blender and pulse in a blender or food processor to make a fine pistachio meal.
- Add coconut sugar + salt to mix and pulse to combine.
- Add wet ingredients and pulse until forms together. Then stop blender and mix together with a rubber spatula until well combined.
- Lightly oil with spray a 9" round cake dish. Press pistachio crust into the bottom of the dish. I like to oil my hands lightly so that it doesn't stick to my hands.
- Bake in oven for 11 minutes. Edges should be slightly golden. Place out to cool completely. Make cheesecake filling while the crust cools down.
For the mint chocolate filling:
- Make sure to soak cashews in hot water for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Place soaked + drained cashews, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, spinach, coconut oil + maple syrup Into blender or food processor on high speed for 5 minutes or until a smooth texture.
- Allow the mixture to cool or semi-cool down if blender heated up the mixture.
- Once the mixture has cooled down, pour filling into the crust dish. Fold in 1/2 of the finely chopped chocolate to the mixture. If the mixture makes the chocolate semi-melted, then you can swirl the chocolate with a toothpick to make marble pattern. Sprinkle the rest of the finely chopped chocolate on the top.
- Place in the freezer for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Once fully set, you can decorate with fresh mint, chocolate drizzle or more chocolate shreds. (See notes below for how to make chocolate drizzle)
- When serving, allow cheesecake to defrost for an hour in the fridge or room temperature before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
