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Looking for a vegan cheesecake recipe? These blackberry vegan cheesecake bites are so delicious you’d never know they’re vegan and refined sugar free.
“Learn how to cook–try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!” -Julia Child
Recently I was asked the question, “How has having a baby affected the way you cook?” After thinking a minute, I replied, “Not much, really.” It’s not at all what I expected in adding a tiny human to our lives. But Alex and I have made cooking such a part of our routine that adding a baby didn’t rock it much at all.
Cooking is so much a part of life that after bringing our son Larson home from the hospital, I was dying to get into the kitchen again. It makes us feel grounded and at home. It’s just plain fun. We want to cook, instead of feeling like we’re trying to fit it in.
One of our biggest tips for people who want to get in the kitchen is: Cooking should be fun. It might not be at every moment, but what about approaching it with a sense of fun? Keep reading for this no bake blackberry vegan cheesecake bites recipe.
Related:10 Vegan Desserts Everyone Will Love
How to make vegan cheesecake bites
Now that Larson is old enough to eat food that we eat, I’m over the moon excited when he likes a recipe I’ve created. And guess what? He is absolutely in love with these blackberry vegan cheesecake bites! They’re chock full of good-for-you ingredients: cashews, pecans, oats, coconut oil, blackberries, balsamic vinegar, and a bit of maple syrup. The balsamic vinegar adds a tartness and a shine to the fruit, a trick that we learned from Italian cuisine.
What makes these little bites vegan cheesecakes? (It’s actually also raw cheesecake too!) The filling is made of soaked cashews, which creates a creamy center. Blended together with some blackberries, maple syrup, and balsamic vinegar, it makes a lovely sweet-tart purple cream. These vegan cheesecake bites are elegant enough for a Thanksgiving or Christmas spread, but tasty enough for an 8-month old. He’d say two thumbs up, if he had enough fine motor control!
Using canned blackberries
These vegan cheesecake bites use a product we’re new to: canned fruit. Typically we only use blackberries in the summer months, or opt for frozen blackberries for smoothies. And I’ll be honest: usually we don’t think of using fruit in cans. However, we’ve been introduced to canned fruit, which we used for this recipe. Canned fruit is an easy way to incorporate the flavor and nutrients of fresh fruit; it’s available nationwide and year round.
Why did we make gluten-free and vegan cheesecake bites? Alex, Larson and I eat both dairy and gluten, but lately we’ve been eating more vegan meals on the regular. And for the holiday season ahead, it’s fantastic to have recipes that fit many diets at once. Let us know if you try them out–and especially, if you have fun making them!
Looking for vegan desserts?
We love vegan desserts as they work for guests with various diets. Outside of these blackberry vegan cheesecake bites, here are a few of our favorite vegan desserts:
- Decadent Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Peanut Butter Buckeyes
- Bliss Bites (Healthy No-Bake Cookies)
- Chewy Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
- Pecan Butter Millionaire Bars
- Granola Instant Pot Apple Crisp
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse
- Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich
- Maple Vegan Blondies
- Chocolate Tahini Vegan No Bake Cookies
- Chocolate Cherry Dessert Bites
- Blackberry Vegan Cheesecake Bites
- Fudgy Vegan Brownie Recipe
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (use vegan variation)
- Bananas Foster with a Perfect Flambé
Looking for more fruit desserts?
In addition to our vegan cheesecake bites, here are our favorite fruit desserts on A Couple Cooks:
- Easy Bananas Foster Recipe
- Chocolate Banana Bread
- Mini Apple Pies
- Blood Orange Granita
- Granola Instant Pot Apple Crisp
- Orange & Fennel Upside Down Cornmeal Cake
Dietary notes
These vegan cheesecake bites are vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, plant-based, dairy-free, naturally sweet, and refined sugar free.
Blackberry Vegan Cheesecake Bites
Looking for a vegan cheesecake recipe? These blackberry vegan cheesecake bites are so delicious you’d never know they’re vegan and refined sugar free.
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 20 mini cheesecakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the crust
- ½ cup pecans
- 1 cup oats
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For the filling
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 15-ounce can blackberries (whole berries in light syrup)
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a bowl and cover with water; soak for 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and cool for a minute or two. In a food processor, blend the pecans, oats, coconut oil, maple syrup, and kosher salt. Blend until fully pulverized and a sticky mixture forms, scraping down as necessary.
- In a non-stick mini muffin tin (spray or oil the tin if not non-stick), place a heaping ½ tablespoon of the crust mixture into each cup and pack it down, to make 20 in all (leave the last 4 cups empty). Save the remainder of the crust for the topping.
- Wipe out the bowl of the food processor. Drain the berries. In the food processor, blend the soaked cashews, ¾ cup blackberries, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and balsamic vinegar. Blend for several minutes until very smooth and creamy.
- Place the remaining berries in a bowl and very gently drizzle them with a glug of maple and a small sprinkle of balsamic vinegar.
- To the mini muffin tin, add a heaping tablespoon of the blackberry filling on top of each crust. Garnish each with the remaining crust crumbles and 1 blackberry. (Save the remaining blackberries for future use.)
- Freeze the cheesecakes for 1 hour until set, then transfer them to the refrigerator until serving. To remove, use a spoon or sharp small knife to release one edge of the cheesecake by pulling towards you, which should release the remaining sides and twist the cheesecake out of the tin. Serve chilled for best results (cheesecakes can sit at room temperature, but the texture becomes looser as they sit). Remaining cheesecakes can be frozen for 1 to 2 months; thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
Notes
Note: The canned blackberries we’ve used for these vegan cheesecakes come in a light sugar syrup. We’ve drained out the syrup for this recipe, and the berries have little to no added sugar (tasting them proves quite tart!).
We don’t have blackberries in cans. Can I just use frozen blackberries?
Y’all, these are bomb! I had to work with just a magic bullet (my new food processor is en route), but what a great treat. Perfect for entertaining or just to have something sweet in the freezer that won’t kill your diet.
Ooo I’m SO glad you liked these! I agree, I like to keep them on hand frozen in the case that I need a little sweet. Thank you for making them!
love the individual servings with these, and also the healthy ingredients here vs. sugar, sugar and cream cheese! thank you for this recipe!
Ooo that’s exactly why we made them: to bring in some nourishing ingredients that are alternatives to the traditional. THANKS!
These look so gourmet! Love the cashew filling. Thanks for posting!
The turn out looking fabulous, but are actually pretty simple. THANKS Nicole, and let us know if you try them out!!