Dairy Free & Vegan Oreo Cheesecake Recipe

It’s been a while since I created a cheesecake recipe, but seeing as it’s a new year and many people are doing Veganuary, I thought now was the time to experiment. Usually, I just rock up to any celebration with my tried and tested Lotus Biscuit Cheesecake, but new year, new me and all that.* So I set about creating something just as tasty, but just as dairy free.

I’ll be honest, over the past year I’ve tried to create a few cheesecake masterpieces, and they’ve failed spectacularly. For my mum’s birthday in the summer I created a dairy free lemon, raspberry and gin cheesecake. Which would have been delicious if it had actually set…instead I had to drive to her house with what was essentially a tin full of liquid, and spoon it out onto people’s plates, while they politely declined seconds. (It actually took 2 days to fully set in the end, and it did taste good but nobody has time for that faff!)

I also experimented with a dairy free mint chocolate cheesecake which was marginally more successful, but again, took a very very long time to set. And if there’s one thing I know about no-bake cheesecakes, it’s that the beauty of them is they’re quick and easy. If you can watch the entire 8 series of Game of Thrones before your dessert solidifies, then it’s not a winner.

But, then along came an invitation to celebrate with friends, and in turn the opportunity for a new cheesecake creation. I’ve wanted to try an Oreo cheesecake for a while now, but after my previous disasters was very cautious about this one’s fate. So cautious in fact that I made it a day in advance just to ensure I had time to go to the supermarket and buy a reserve dessert should this one fail. But, good news cake lovers – it didn’t! And now I’ve got my lazy bum in gear and finally written up the recipe so you can enjoy it too.
*I should be at a gym class right now but instead I’m writing about dessert – definitely not new year new me…

Ingredients:

For the base:

• 50g dairy free digestive biscuits (This time I used Ms Molly’s digestive biscuits from Tesco as they’re vegan, but in the past to make cheesecakes I’ve also used the Waitrose digestives as they’re also dairy free.)
• 100g Oreo biscuits
• 75g dairy free butter/spread

For the topping:

• 340g dairy free soft cheese (I used this one from Tesco but there are other alternatives available)
• 100g Oreo biscuits
• 100g icing sugar
• 1tbsp cocoa powder
• 2tsp vanilla extract

Optional – chocolate buttercream frosting for decoration. (Scale up the amounts below for more, or reduce if you’re making less!)

• 75g dairy free butter
• 75g icing sugar
• 2tbsps cocoa powder

Method:

1. Melt the butter so it’s nice and runny, then blitz the biscuits in a food processor or beat with a rolling pin until they’re a fine crumb consistency, and mix the two together.
2. Press down into the base of the tin and then pop it into the fridge to help it set.
3. Break up 50g of your remaining Oreos, (use a food processor for smaller pieces or just smash up for larger chunks) and set aside.
4. Add all of your other ingredients into an electric mixer, and mix together until smooth. Then, add your Oreo pieces and mix in until they’re fairly evenly distributed throughout.
5. Remove your tin from the fridge, and spoon the mixture on top of it, ensuring it’s level all the way around.
6. Pop back in the fridge and allow to chill for several hours, or if you’re in a hurry, put it in the freezer first (the topping can take a while to set for this cheesecake so do factor that in when making!)
7. If you’ve decided to decorate using chocolate buttercream frosting, make this while the cheesecake is chilling. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into the butter, and mix together until smooth.
8. Once it’s set, remove the cheesecake from the tin, and use the remaining Oreo biscuits to decorate however you wish! I piped chocolate buttercream on to the top of the cheesecake in circles, then cut my Oreos in half and placed them into the buttercream.
9. Enjoy!