Cheesecake-Stuffed Vegan Tiramisu Cookies
These ridiculously decadent tiramisu cookies are soft and chewy with a coffee-swirled sugar cookie dough. Stuffed with vanilla bean cheesecake and topped with creamy cheesecake frosting and a dusting of cocoa powder! Like tiramisu meets sugar cookies in the best way possible- and they’re made entirely without eggs and dairy!
The dream combination of stuffed cookie meets tiramisu:
So if you have a deep obsession with tiramisu, like I do, then these cheesecake stuffed tiramisu cookies are a must!
Of course, nothing beats the real deal tiramisu (this is based off of my great grandfather’s recipe and I made it vegan, naturally). But I can’t help but be preoccupied with my tiramisu cake, tiramisu cheesecake, tiramisu brownies, and now these cookies?!
You better believe it.
The base of these cookies is based off of my soft, chewy drop-style sugar cookies, which is swirled with an espresso sugar cookie dough and STUFFED with a dreamy dairy free cheesecake filling. Then topped with a creamy ‘cream cheese’ frosting and heft dusting of cocoa powder.
I mean, name a better cookie, I’ll wait.
Oh, and you don’t need any eggs nor dairy. Because this is a vegan food blog, and we are OBSESSED with making everything vegan taste unbelievably so. You’re welcome 😉
Ingredient substitutions:
As with all of my recipes, the full ingredients and measurements are found down in the recipe card below (you can tap the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this page).
However, let’s go over a few substitutions that you may need:
- Flour: Of course, you can make these gluten-free! Simply use King Arthur measure for measure gluten-free flour.
- Vegan cream cheese: If you’re craving a *true* tiramisu flavor (though I think the cream cheese pairs wonderfully here!), you can use my vegan mascarpone recipe. Unfortunately, vegan mascarpone is not sold in stores, so the only way to incorporate it into this recipe would be to make it. Which adds an extra step, and I just wanted to keep these tiramisu cookies on the simpler side!
- Espresso powder: You can also use instant coffee powder- and you can make these decaffeinated if preferred!
Overview: How to make cheesecake-stuffed tiramisu cookies:
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
Can I just make these as vegan tiramisu cookies instead of stuffed cookies?
Absolutely- and they’re just as delightfully delicious. If you want to omit the cheesecake stuffed centers, you definitely can. Simply skip steps 3 and 4, and roll the cookie dough balls as you would any other sugar cookie.
The bake time will also shift to be about 10-12 minutes, rather than 12-14 minutes. Keep that in mind!
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Cheesecake-Stuffed Vegan Tiramisu Cookies
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 13
- Total Time: 33 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These ridiculously decadent tiramisu cookies are soft and chewy with a coffee-swirled sugar cookie dough. Stuffed with vanilla bean cheesecake and topped with a creamy cheesecake frosting and a dusting of cocoa powder! Like tiramisu meets sugar cookies in the best way possible- and they’re made entirely without eggs and dairy!
Ingredients
Cheesecake filling:
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan cream cheese, room temperature* (see notes on cream cheese brands)
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Tiramisu Cookie Dough:
- ½ cup (113 g) vegan unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (57 g) dairy-free yogurt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 ¼ cups (280 g) all-purpose flour or gluten-free 1:1 baking flour, divided
- 2 tbsp hot water
- 2 tsp instant espresso or coffee powder
- 5 tbsp sugar, for rolling the dough
Topping:
- ½ batch vegan cream cheese frosting *
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder, for dusting
Instructions
- Prep: Gather your ingredients. We’ll first make the cream cheese filling and then the cookie dough. To prep, mix together the hot water, and espresso powder, then set aside.
- Make the cream cheese filling: In a small bowl, use a hand mixer or a whisk to cream together the room temperature cream cheese, sugar, and cornstarch.
- Chill the cream cheese in balls: Use a teaspoon to measure 9-10 heaping teaspoon scoops of cream cheese and dollop them onto the parchment paper, spaced apart. Once you’ve scooped all of the cream cheese into little dollops onto the baking sheet, place the baking sheet into the freezer to chill while you make the cookie dough.
- Make the espresso sugar cookie dough: In a large bowl, use a whisk to mix together the vegan butter, sugar, dairy-free yogurt, and vanilla extract. Add in the baking soda, cornstarch, and sea salt, and whisk again until evenly distributed. Then add in the 2 cups (250 g) of flour, and use a silicone spatula to fold the flour into the wet mixture just until mixed. Divide half of the dough into a separate bowl. In one bowl, add in the espresso mixture and the remaining 1/4 cup (30 g) of flour. Use a silicone spatula to fold the espresso and flour into the sugar cookie dough until you get a consistent espresso sugar cookie dough. Now you should have 2 bowls: one with espresso cookie dough and the other with vanilla sugar cookie dough.
- Swirl the espresso dough throughout the sugar cookie dough: To the vanilla sugar cookie dough, add about 4 dollops of 2 tbsp worth of espresso cookie dough randomly onto the vanilla cookie dough. Fold the espresso sugar cookie dough into the vanilla a few times to mix. Then scoop the remaining espresso mixture in the same dollops again and fold, being careful not to over-mix so that you get swirls of espresso cookie dough throughout the vanilla.
- Chill the cookie dough: While the cookie dough is chilling in the fridge for 20 minutes (or more if too sticky), preheat the oven to 350F, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. You can also use the parchment paper-lined baking sheet from the cream cheese dollops once you begin scooping the dough. Put the sugar for rolling in a small bowl and set aside.
- Shape the tiramisu cheesecake cookies: Remove the cream cheese from the freezer. Use a 2 tbsp cookie scoop or scoop 2 tbsp of cookie dough, and form one cookie dough ball. Scoop the dough into your palm and press it flat between your palms. Then take a piece of the cream cheese and place it into the middle of the flattened cookie dough. Form the dough around the cream cheese and roll gently into a smooth ball. Place the cookie into the sugar and roll it around to evenly coat, then place the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat this for the remaining tiramisu cookies, creating about 9-10 cookies.
- Chill the cookies: Place the cookies into the freezer to chill for 10 minutes.
- Bake the cookies: Place the baking sheets into the oven, and bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden (I baked for exactly 13 minutes). Remove cookies from the oven, and gently push any edges to be rounded. Allow the cookies to cool for at least 20 minutes before frosting- the cookies need to be cool to the touch before you frost!
- Frost: Once the cookies are completely cooled, make the cream cheese frosting according to instructions. Pipe or smear the frosting onto each tiramisu cookie, and lightly dust with cocoa powder.
- Enjoy! Enjoy your vegan tiramisu cookies after frosting or store them in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
Vegan cream cheese brands: PLEASE NOTE! Do NOT use Violife for the filling here. The brands I have tried here are Kite Hill, Tofutti, and my homemade vegan cream cheese (which uses pea milk- so soy and nut free). Violife does NOT work here- it will disappear into the cookie. I’m not sure about Oatly, but part of my gut thinks it might so please be cautious!
Gluten free: I like King Arthur measure for measure gluten-free flour.
Espresso powder: I like Dellalo instant espresso powder here! You can also use instant coffee OR decaffeinated too- whichever works best for you!
Cream cheese frosting: Traditionally, tiramisu uses mascarpone- which I do have a vegan mascarpone that works so well in this recipe! However, for easy, I wanted to offer a cream cheese frosting since a store bought vegan mascarpone doesn’t exist yet.
