Easy No Bake Vegan Brownie Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
Combining the best of brownies, cookie dough, and cheesecake into one, these fudgy and decadent no bake brownie cookie dough cheesecake bars are layered with a chocolate cookie crust, rich brownie cheesecake batter, and studded with homemade cookie dough- all vegan, dairy free, and easy!
A few of my obsessions: no bake cheesecake, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. I’ve already got a delicious cookie dough cheesecake, cookie dough cake, and cookie dough cupcakes…so why not combine all of my favorites into one delicious and decadent dessert?!
Tell me about these no bake brownie cookie dough cheesecake bars!
Okay so here’s the deal. We need a decadent and delicious dessert that will have everyone’s jaws on the floor. Yes, even the non-vegans. But we need the dessert to be vegan (dairy free and no eggs) with the option of gluten free (so that everyone can enjoy!) and nut free (I’ve got you).
And we also need a no bake dessert because hey, I live in Florida, so I’m not about turning on my oven in the 98F heat of the summer!
Enter in: the no bake vegan brownie cookie dough cheesecake bars. These bars are about to change your world.
The three components:
- Chocolate cookie crust: My favorite crust is comprised of just chocolate cookies (Oreos or gluten free oreos- even homemade will work! I have that linked in my recipe card below 🙂 ) and vegan butter (or coconut oil!). It’s so easy and is ready in just 2 minutes.
- Brownie cheesecake batter: This is my pride and joy. If you’ve ever had my no bake chocolate cheesecake or no bake Nutella cheesecake, then you know, vegan no bake cheesecakes are freaking delicious. This one has the fudge sauce from my classic brownie recipe integrated into the batter to elevate the bars from just chocolate cheesecake to brownie cheesecake. UNREAL.
- Edible vegan cookie dough: Trust me, you won’t believe this cookie dough is vegan. We’re using dairy free butter and dairy free yogurt. Then also nixing the baking soda and baking powder (because we’re not baking these!). Scoop, roll, and chill the cookie dough balls before they’re layered into our cheesecake batter. But save a few to top the bars afterwards!
The best part about these brownie cookie dough cheesecake bars? You make 2 out of the 3 components in a food processor (the cookie crust and the brownie cheesecake batter!). Then the cookie dough, you just need a whisk and a spatula. How easy?
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To give an unbelievably vegan vibe to our no bake cheesecake bars, we’re using my homemade vegan cream cheese (or store bought- I like Tofutti, Violife, or Kite Hill best!). It honestly tastes and acts just like classic dairy cream cheese, along with dairy free sour cream.
This gives our no bake cheesecake bars a lush and velvety texture while also being super creamy and rich. You’d honestly never know they’re vegan and dairy free. Let’s make them!
Prep: The vegan cookie dough
What I really love about this vegan cheesecake recipe is that every component is super simple and straight forward. Not complex in the slightest.
We’ll start with the cookie dough, as that needs to chill a bit before we scoop it into cookie dough balls. I’m using my classic Better Then TollHouse Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe as the base recipe.
But to make the cookie dough, we omit the baking powder and baking soda, and we also heat-treat the flour (more on that below!).
Then it’s just business as usual- whisk together the wet ingredients (melted vegan butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, dairy free yogurt, and vanilla), then fold in the dry (flour and sea salt). Then fold in the chocolate chips.
Chill the cookie dough while you make the crust, then we’ll scoop it into cookie dough balls to be stirred into our brownie batter!
Assembling the brownie cookie dough cheesecake bars:
Once you’ve made the cookie crust, scooped and rolled the cookie dough, and whipped up the brownie cheesecake batter, let’s assemble these bars!
We’ll start by folding in just half of the cookie dough to the brownie batter (we’re saving the remaining cookie dough to be topped on top!). Then simply pour the brownie batter cheesecake onto the crust. Spread it to touch the edges of the pan.
Then top with the remaining cookie dough balls, and chill for 3-4 hours in the freezer, or just until set. I slice the bars after they’ve sat at room temperature for 15 minutes or so. You can slice them into 18 rectangles, or even smaller bites (because these are decadent!!).
Then enjoy!
Can I make these vegan cheesecake bars gluten free?
Absolutely! Here are the components that you would need to make gluten free:
- The chocolate cookies: Swap those for a gluten free Oreo or make the gluten free Oreos yourself!
- The cookie dough: Swap out the all purpose flour for gluten free 1:1 baking flour- I prefer to use King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour because it tastes less gritty.
Do I need to heat-treat the flour?
I know that some are going to point out that how can this truly be a no bake recipe if we’re heat-treating the flour (yes, even if gluten free). You’ll need to always heat-treat flour if it’s ever integrated into a no bake recipe!
This is because flour can contain bacteria if consumed raw. And sometimes, even gluten free flours pose that risk too! I say it’s better to be safe than sorry. Plus, it only takes an additional 5 minutes of time. So easy!
You’re going to absolutely love these no bake vegan brownie cookie dough cheesecake bars! They’re absolutely decadent and the perfect party treat to bring or summer time dessert.
Let me know what you think of them in the comments section below! And happy no baking!
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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
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Easy No Bake Vegan Brownie Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
- Prep Time: 30
- Chilling Time: 180
- Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 18
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Combining the best of brownies, cookie dough, and cheesecake into one, these fudgy and decadent no bake brownie cookie dough cheesecake bars are layered with a chocolate cookie crust, rich brownie cheesecake batter, and studded with homemade cookie dough- all vegan, dairy free, and easy!
Ingredients
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2 cups (250 g) organic vegan chocolate sandwich cookies
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3/4 cup (170 g) vegan butter, melted and divided
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6 ounces vegan chocolate chips
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1/2 cup (50 g) cocoa powder
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24 ounces vegan cream cheese
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1/2 cup (120 g) Forager Project sour cream*
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1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
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1/2 cup (120 mL) soy milk, oat milk, or almond milk
Instructions
- Prep: Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Make the cookie dough: Start by making the cookie dough. You’ll need to heat treat the flour, so preheat the oven to 350F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake the flour for 5 minutes. Then proceed with the cookie dough as the instructions are written, this time omitting the baking powder and baking soda. Place the bowl of cookie dough into the freezer to chill while you make the crust.
- Make the cookie crust: In a large food processor, pulse the chocolate cookies until they reach a crumble. Add in ¼ cup of melted vegan butter, and pulse again until the cookie crumbs are wet. Press the cookie crumbs into the prepared baking pan until the crumble reaches the edges of the pan. Place the pan into the freezer and remove the cookie dough.
- Scoop the cookie dough: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper again. Scoop about ½ tablespoon per cookie dough ball into your palm, rolling between your palms and placing onto the baking sheet. Once all of the cookie dough has been rolled, place the baking sheet into the freezer while you make the cheesecake filling.
- Make the brownie cheesecake fudge sauce: Make the brownie batter fudge sauce by heating the remaining ½ cup of vegan butter until hot (either in the microwave or via stove top). Remove from the heat source, and stir in the vegan chocolate chips until completely melted. Then stir in the cocoa powder until integrated. Set aside.
- Make the brownie cheesecake batter: In a large food processor, add in the cream cheese, Forager Project sour cream, granulated sugar, soy milk, and vegan brownie batter fudge sauce. Blend until creamy and smooth.
- Assemble the brownie cookie dough cheesecake bars: Remove the food processor from the machine, and then carefully remove the blade. Remove the cookie dough balls from the freezer, and add about half of the cookie dough balls to the brownie batter cheesecake. Fold the cookie dough until evenly distributed. Remove the crust from the freezer, and pour the cookie dough brownie cheesecake batter into the crust, smoothing it to the edges of the pan. Then press the remaining cookie dough balls into the top of the cheesecake.
- Chill: Place the cheesecake back into the freezer to chill for 3-4 hours, or overnight.
- Serve: When ready to serve, let the cheesecake bars stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before slicing into them. Slice and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Gluten free: Use gluten free 1:1 baking flour and gluten free vegan Oreos (homemade or store bought) to make these brownie cheesecake bars entirely gluten free. You still need to heat treat the flour for the cookie dough portion, so don’t skip that!
For nut-free: Use nut-free vegan butter, my homemade cream cheese (linked in the ingredients section) or Tofutti, and Tofutti vegan sour cream.
This looks so deliciousz would you mind posting the nutritional value information for this recipe please I would appreciate it so much
Hi Shelby! Thank you so much! Unfortunately, I have a policy that I don’t post nutritional content for my recipes- since many of my readers have struggled with eating issues, I don’t think it serves them to post numbers (plus they would be inaccurate as not everyone is going to use the specific brands that I use, which would then lead to different nutritional value information). You can, however, plug my recipe into any online nutritional calculator and adjust for the brands you specifically use! I hope that helps and that you understand! Definitely give them a go 🙂 They’re delicious!
Looking forward to trying these! How long can you keep them at room temperature for before they become too soft?
Wonderful!! They’ll be good for about 30 min at room temp!
So delicious! I made it once without sour cream and it still came out great. Made it again with sour cream and didn’t do the cookie dough, honestly the sour cream is a game changer!
YAY that’s awesome!! I feel you, the vegan sour cream is SO good and somehow really enhances the overall flavor! So glad you loved them! 🙂
This looks amazing. I live in a country that doesn’t have vegan sour cream. What can I use as a substitute? Or do you have a recipe for vegan sour cream? Thank you!!!
Oh absolutely! You can just use dairy free yogurt 🙂 That will work still!
These are phenomenal!! I skipped the cookie dough and added some coconut whip to the filling and it’s soo delicious!!!
Hi!!!! Non vegan here, and I was wondering if I could sub some of the vegan items for regular? Like the butter and yogurt? I understand this is somewhat weird to ask, given this is a vegan site, but it looks SO GOOD, and I unfortunately can’t buy vegan subs for all the ingredients… let me know! 💕 🙂
Hi Addie! Omgsh not a weird question at all, I get it all of the time! So I can’t guarantee results, as I haven’t tested them with non-vegan ingredients (as I’m truly vegan!)- that being said, I know a lot of readers will swap in dairy products where I say dairy free, and it usually works. Again, I can’t guarantee it, but anecdotally, it has worked in the past!
Oh my god??? This came together so quick and easy and I could hardly wait for it to set to dig in! I made mine gluten free using gluten free oreos for the crust and then a combination of oat and almond flour for the cookie dough (since it wasn’t being baked, I knew the gf flour ratio would be fine as long as the dough set up correctly, which it did). I had a little extra cheesecake filling, but no complaints, it was delicious on its own. Might use a larger dish next time because mine was pretty full to the top. Insanely decadent and an absolute dream for cookie dough lovers. Cannot recommend this enough!
YES so happy to hear that wow!! Love that you used the oat and almond flour combo for the cookie dough!! 🙂 Thank you so much for the kind review!! Enjoy!