No Bake CREAMY Vegan German Chocolate Cheesecake
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This unbelievably easy no bake German chocolate cheesecake features an incredibly rich, decadent chocolate cheesecake topped with a lush, gooey coconut pecan frosting with toasted pecans for extra nutty decadence. And it’s all made entirely vegan and dairy-free, yet you’d never know!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
German chocolate cake is a crowd favorite for a good reason- chocolate, coconut, and pecans just seamlessly all go together creating the ultimate rich and decadent dessert.
But put into a no bake cheesecake?? Oh, it’s a game changer. The chocolate cheesecake is incredibly rich, thick, and velvety smooth with a decadent 2 ingredient cookie crust and topped with that classic coconut pecan frosting.
And it’s all made entirely dairy free and vegan. Absolutely no milk nor cream no even traditional cream cheese is required (though we are using my favorite vegan cream cheese!).
And it’s so. easy. You can make the recipe in just a food processor and a saucepan- that’s it. The hardest part is letting it chill in the fridge- I’m that serious!
My tip for making a super creamy chocolate cheesecake batter:
One of the struggles in my years of testing no bake chocolate cheesecakes (which I finally perfected here!!) was achieving a punchy, deep and rich chocolate flavor with real chocolate. All without it splitting into a million little hardened chocolate pieces the instantly it’s put into the less-than-warm cheesecake batter (because melted chocolate will return to its solid state when it hits anything less its desired temperature!).
So to solve this, I started making a chocolate ganache before adding it into the cheesecake batter. To do this, I simply heat the chocolate and vegan heavy cream (or coconut cream) together to make a chocolate ganache. This is instead of mixing the heavy cream directly into the cheesecake, which we typically do in a standard cheesecake recipe.
The result is a thick, smooth, and ultra creamy chocolate cheesecake batter. The chocolate effortlessly integrates with the remaining cheesecake batter ingredients!
The iconic coconut pecan frosting:
Arguably my favorite part, this coconut pecan frosting comes together insanely easily and is SO rich and delicious.
The key is in toasting the pecans beforehand. I simply add them to a dry saucepan and heat on medium-high heat until you get a nutty aroma, stirring every so often for a total of 5 minutes. Then we’ll move onto making the frosting:
- Make the caramel. Add in the sugar, light brown sugar, coconut milk, cornstarch, and vanilla extract to a saucepan. Heat until the sugars are dissolved.
- Stir in the coconut and pecans. Make sure you’re using shredded coconut!
- Top your cheesecake. Once your no bake German chocolate cheesecake is set in the fridge, you’ll top with the coconut pecan frosting and place it into the fridge to chill again.
Tips for chilling and serving this no bake German chocolate cheesecake:
- Chill overnight in the fridge: This cheesecake will be perfectly set after a few hours in the fridge. However, I recommend doing an additional 2 hours after you top with the pecan coconut topping. It makes for an easy dessert prep if you make the day before you’re serving. The more time in the fridge, the more set the coconut topping will be on top, making for easy slicing.
- Slicing the cheesecake: I really want to emphasize using shredded coconut here and NOT coconut flakes. Coconut flakes aren’t small enough and will be dragged through the cheesecake too much when slicing. For clean slices, I recommend using shredded coconut flakes and wiping the knife each time after slicing your cheesecake.
- Toast the pecans! This is my ultimate trick for making this German chocolate cheesecake have even more depth of flavor. We already have so much going on between the rich dark chocolate and the tropical coconut, but toasting the pecans before stirring into the coconut frosting will really amp up that nutty flavor!
- You can use an 8″ springform pan if needed. I think this cheesecake recipe makes for better slices using a 9″ cheesecake pan. BUT you will still have enough room in your pan if you want or need to make it in only an 8″ pan.
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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No Bake CREAMY Vegan German Chocolate Cheesecake
- Prep Time: 15
- Chill time: 240
- Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Cheescake
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Dairy-Free, Vegan
Description
This unbelievably easy no bake German chocolate cheesecake features an incredibly rich, decadent chocolate cheesecake topped with a lush, gooey coconut pecan frosting with toasted pecans for extra nutty decadence. And it’s all made entirely vegan and dairy-free, yet you’d never know!
Ingredients
Cookie Crust:
- 1 package (250 g) vegan chocolate creme-filled cookies (or try these vegan gluten free Oreo cookies!)
- 1/3 cup (76 g) vegan butter, melted
Chocolate Cheesecake:
- 32 ounces (904 g) vegan cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cup (250 g) sugar
- 1 1/2 cup (360 g) vegan heavy cream or coconut cream, room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups (300 g) vegan dark chocolate, melted
- 1/3 cup (35 g) cocoa powder
Pecan Coconut Topping:
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 1 cup (240 mL) coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (113 g) vegan butter
- 8 ounces chopped pecans
- 16 ounces shredded coconut
Instructions
- Prep: Line a 9″ springform pan with parchment paper (trick: to get the parchment paper to stick, grease the cake pan first with some cooking oil and then place the parchment paper on top).
- Make the cookie crust: Remove the creme-filling from the chocolate cookies (we’ll save the creme-filling for the cheesecake batter). In a large food processor, pulse the chocolate cookies (without the filling) until they resemble a cookie crumb. Then add in the melted vegan butter and pulse again until a wet dough forms. It’ll be very crumbly. Press the dough into the bottom of the springform pan evenly. Then place the crust into the freezer while you make the filling.
- Whisk the chocolate and vegan heavy cream: In a separate bowl from the cheesecake batter section, whisk together the melted vegan chocolate and vegan heavy cream until combined.
- Make the chocolate cheesecake batter In a stand mixer with whisk attachment or in food processor, cream the cream cheese and sugar together until fluffy and integrated, about 3 minutes. Then pour in the heavy cream and melted chocolate mixture, cocoa powder, and creme-filling. Cream again until creamy, stopping the mixer every now and then to scrape the bottom of the bowl.
- Fill the cheesecake: Pour cheesecake batter into the pan and place on an even surface in your refrigerator.
- Chill: Place the pan into the fridge to chill for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- Make the coconut pecan topping: In a medium saucepan again, whisk together the sugar, light brown sugar, coconut milk, cornstarch, and vanilla extract. Place the saucepan onto the stovetop, and heat on medium heat. Continue whisking the mixture until it begins to thicken, about 3-5 minutes. Once thickened, remove from heat and stir in the vegan butter. Then stir in the toasted pecans and coconut. Spoon the topping onto the chocolate cheesecake in an even layer. Let cool for 15 minutes then cover and place into the fridge to set for another 2 hours.
- Slice and serve! Store any leftovers in an airtight container and in the fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
See blog post for all tips and tricks!
