Creamy Vegan Carrot Cake Cheesecake (No Eggs, Gluten free!)
This deliciously lush and creamy carrot cake cheesecake is easy to make with a layer of one bowl carrot cake on the bottom baked with the most velvety brown sugar spiced cheesecake filling! Made entirely dairy free, vegan and gluten free!
This recipe post is sponsored by One Degree Organic Foods. All opinions are my own. Thank you so much for supporting The Banana Diaries!
Combining the best of carrot cake and cheesecake into one!
If you love carrot cake, and you love cheesecake, then you need to try this unbelievably creamy and lush carrot cake cheesecake.
We have a layer of fluffy carrot cake (made entirely gluten free and “flourless” thanks to One Degree Organic sprouted rolled oats!) baked with the *creamiest* and the richest brown sugar cheesecake on top. All finished with a layer of salted caramel and a sprinkle of crunchy walnuts and oats.
This cheesecake is truly dreamy, and not to mention so easy too. Like my baked vegan cheesecake and baked cannoli cheesecake, we’re omitting any need for eggs nor dairy yet maintaining all of that lovely cheesecake flavor and texture.
And yet the recipe is so simple- no funky egg replacements nor complex ingredients. You’re going to love it!
This *secretly vegan and gluten free* carrot cake cheesecake is the perfect spring celebration cake, especially for Easter or Mother’s Day. Pair it with my vegan carrot cake loaf, and you’re set 😉
Let’s get baking!
Will I be able to tell that this carrot cake cheesecake is vegan and gluten free?
Not in the slightest. In fact, the One Degree Organic sprouted rolled oats blitz into the perfect rustic flour that makes for a carrot cake crust that’s almost a cross between a graham cracker crust as well.
What’s more, the One Degree Organic oats are all certified gluten free (and have a whole page where you can meet their 7 farmers whom they source from and see the various tests the oats are given to ensure that the oats meet the qualifications!). This makes this cheesecake it truly perfect for those who are gluten free- and those who aren’t!
Now what about the vegan part? You can’t have a cheesecake without dairy that still tastes good, can you? Absolutely, you can.
With the proper combination of ingredients, we’re creating a fluffy and lush cheesecake texture and flavor that will leave you questioning as to whether this carrot cake cheesecake is *truly* vegan, dairy free, eggless, and gluten free 😉
What you need:
- One Degree Organic Sprouted Rolled Oats: This replaces the need for any all purpose flour in our carrot cake portion. The oats blend perfectly into a rustic flour, making this recipe suitable for those who are gluten-free and can tolerate oats. Something that I also really love about One Degree Organic is that these oats are not only gluten free, organic, and vegan, but they’re also glyphosate-free, and One Degree Organic Foods loves to showcase exactly where they source their oats from. You can see that here!
- Carrots: Of course, you can’t have carrot cake cheesecake without carrots! I recommend grating fresh organic carrots yourself instead of purchasing pre-shredded carrots. The flavor will be much stronger.
- Vegan cream cheese: A high quality vegan cream cheese is key here, as it’s the main flavor of the cheesecake.
- Dairy free yogurt: This acts as our egg yolk replacement in both our cheesecake and our cake.
- Vegan heavy cream: You can also substitute in coconut cream if you can’t find a heavy vegan cream in your stores.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger: The blend of these spices in both the carrot cake and cheesecake batter will leave you in carrot cake heaven!
- Brown sugar: This is what helps to give our cheesecake a classic carrot-cake flavor to it.
- Cornstarch: You can also substitute in arrowroot starch if you have a corn allergy! This is the other portion to our vegan egg substitutes that allows us to entirely remove any need for eggs in our carrot cake cheesecake.
How to assemble a carrot cake cheesecake:
What I love about vegan and gluten free cheesecakes, especially this one, is that they’re just such an easy dessert recipe (even easier than classic cheesecakes!).
If you’ve never made a gluten free cake before too, don’t worry- using One Degree Organic sprouted rolled oats as the “flour” is honestly just as easy as making a regular cake!
To start, we’ll make the carrot cake batter, and bake the cake. Then we’ll move onto the cheesecake filling!
To make the carrot cake:
- Start by pulsing together the oats, spices, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Then stir in the remaining wet ingredients. Pour the batter into your springform pan and bake.
- Once baked, keep the oven running, and we’ll move onto making the cheesecake batter!
To make the cheesecake mixture:
- Start by creaming together the cream cheese and dairy free yogurt.
- Then add in the remaining ingredients, and cream together until smooth.
Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the baked carrot cake, and bake again!
Why don’t you need a water bath for this cheesecake recipe?
The best part about vegan cheesecakes- no need to use a water bath! I’m serious. Most baked cheesecake recipes, you’ll use a water bath to keep the cheesecake moist.
With vegan cheesecakes, there’s so much moisture in them, you actually don’t need the added moisture from the water bath to ensure a fluffy and creamy texture. Yes, even though this cheesecake is also gluten free!
Can I make this a no-bake carrot cake cheesecake?
Technically, while there aren’t any eggs nor dairy in this carrot cake cheesecake, the cake batter itself is still pretty moist. If you were to try to make this a no-bake carrot cake cheesecake, you would still need to bake the carrot cake layer.
To make the carrot cake cheesecake filling no bake, simply omit the cornstarch, and freeze the carrot cheesecake instead for 3-4 hours after assembling.
What to decorate this carrot cake cheesecake with:
You could absolutely go for a classic cream cheese frosting piped on top, but since I felt that the cheesecake represented the frosting in the recipe, I decided to go for some vegan salted caramel.
I then also toasted some oats with walnuts and a touch of maple syrup for an extra crunchy topping- it was delicious!
You could also pipe some carrots onto the side walls of the carrot cake cheesecake, or add carrot tops on top as well! A dollop of vegan whipped cream would be delicious too 🙂
Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
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!
PrintCreamy Vegan Carrot Cake Cheesecake (No Eggs, Gluten free!)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: cheesecake
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This deliciously lush and creamy carrot cake cheesecake is easy to make with a layer of one bowl carrot cake on the bottom baked with the most velvety brown sugar spiced cheesecake filling! Made entirely dairy free, vegan and gluten free!
Ingredients
Cheesecake Filling:
- 4 cups (32 ounces) vegan cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup (240 g) dairy free yogurt or vegan sour cream, room temperature
- 1 cup (240 g) heavy vegan cream or coconut cream
- 3/4 cup (150 g) organic brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) organic granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (70 g) cornstarch or arrowroot starch
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ginger
Carrot Cake:
- 1/2 cups (52 g) grated carrots, about 1 medium carrot
- 1 1/4 (125 g) cups One Degree Organics sprouted rolled oats
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- Pinch sea salt
- 1/3 cup (65 g) brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup (65 g) vegan butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (42 g) dairy free yogurt, room temperature
Optional toppings:
- 1 batch vegan caramel
- 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts
- 1/2 cup One Degree Organics sprouted rolled oats
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Prep: Measure out all ingredients for the cake. Line an 8-inch springform pan with tall walls with parchment paper. Alternatively, you can use a 9-inch springform pan if the walls of your 8″ pan are not tall enough. Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Create the flour mixture: In a food processor, pulse together the One Degree Organics sprouted rolled oats with the baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and sea salt until the mixture resembles a rustic flour.
- Make the batter: Pour the dry ingredients into a bowl, and add in the brown sugar, melted vegan butter, sugar, dairy free yogurt, and carrots. Whisk just until the dry ingredients are combined.
- Bake the carrot cake layer: Pour the batter into the springform pan, and bake the cake layer for 35 minutes, or until the top of the cake is set and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven, but raise the temperature to 400F.
- Make the cheesecake layer: In a stand mixer with whisk attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and dairy free yogurt until creamy. Then add in the remaining ingredients, and cream together until smooth, stopping the mixer to scrape the bottom as needed.
- Bake: Pour the cheesecake batter on top of the baked cake layer. Place the springform pan onto a baking sheet and into the oven to bake for 60-70 minutes, or until the top of the cheesecake is slightly golden brown and the edges of the cheesecake look set. Remove from the oven.
- Cool: Allow the cheesecake to cool for 30-40 minutes at room temperature before covering it and placing it in the fridge to set for 2-3 hours, or preferably overnight.
- When ready to serve: Prep the desired toppings for the top of the cheesecake. If you want, I like to toss the oats and walnuts together with maple syrup and toast at 300F for 3-4 minutes as a crunchy topping!
- Serve: Use a butter knife to run along the edges of the cheesecake and carefully remove the springform pan. Top with vegan caramel and oats, slice and serve!
- Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.
Notes
See blog post for tips & tricks!
Is a 1/2 c carrots really 6-8 carrots??
I’m so sorry! That was a typo! I just corrected it 🙂 Thanks for catching that!
I just made this, it tastes amazing!! Just wondering if you know roughly how many calories?
So happy to hear it!! Thank you so much! And I actually don’t calculate this because people can use such a wide variety of brands with different nutritional profiles, but you can definitely plug the recipe into an online calculator!
I tried to make this but the cheesecake layer just separated into oil when baked! So disappointing as it looked amazing going into the oven and I wish I’d just frozen it. Any idea why it went so oily? I used the recommended quantities of everything.
The oil-y result must have happened either from using coconut cream or your brand of vegan cream cheese! You didn’t happen to use Follow Your Heart, did you?
Ahh ok! I used coconut cream as suggested, and the cream cheese was a brand called Violife. What a shame
Sometimes the coconut cream can is a bit faulty- if you notice the oil has hardened on top, that can contribute to it! But I’m also wondering about violife because I know it’s a bit more oily and starchy, and I haven’t tried it in a cheesecake recipe. I will test this because it sounds like something really went awry!
Is it possible to make these as single serves in muffin tins?
Oh yes! I’m not sure what the baking time would be though as I haven’t tested it this way- but I have made mini baked cheesecakes before, and the recipe is similar!
This looks amazing! Is cornstarch same as cornflour?
And I was wondering if you think it would work the same with dairy cream cheese, yoghurt and dairy cream? Neither I or my family is vegan so I was wondering if I could make it with dairy products. Otherwise I would try to go to shops and find vegan products.
Hi Hana! Aw thank you! Enjoy 🙂 And yes, cornstarch is the same as cornflour (I’m guessing you’re in the UK or Europe! In the US we always call it cornstarch- not sure why because that makes a lot of sense for cornflour haha!). For the reg dairy products, I can’t guarantee results, as I haven’t personally tried this myself (since I’m truly vegan!), but a few readers always swap in dairy where I say dairy free, and always have success! In theory it should work!