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This Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake tastes like your favorite candy turned into a delightfully creamy vegan cheesecake. With a chocolate crust, creamy peanut butter filling, and chocolate ganache topping, you won’t be able to have just one bite!
So, I’ve had my website for just about 9 years (!!!) and somehow, I’m just finally getting a recipe up for a Gluten-Free + Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake. When I took my first bite of this cheesecake, my first thought was “what in the world has taken me so long to make this???‘
If you’ve been around the block here with me for a minute, you’ll know that I love my chocolate + peanut butter recipes. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Blondies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats, Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge…and that’s just to name a few.
So naturally, a peanut butter cup cheesecake is next in line. I have no doubt that this easy recipe will be a new favorite.
Let’s make a Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake!
To start – let’s chat about the crust. We make it with roasted peanuts, almond flour, cacao powder, maple syrup, coconut oil, and a pinch of salt. You’ll pulse the ingredients together until a sticky dough is formed and press into the pan. It’s rich and chocolatey and SO good!
Next up, the most important part: the luscious peanut butter filling. As with most of my vegan cheesecakes, this one has a base of raw cashews. You’ll soak the cashews in water to soften, and then blend them up with peanut butter, coconut milk, maple syrup, coconut oil, lemon juice (adds that cheesecakey tang!) and vanilla extract. Voila! Pour over the crust, put it in the fridge, and we’re so close to it being finished.
Once the Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake is nice and chilled, we cover it in luscious chocolate ganache. 😋 It’s so simple – just chocolate and coconut milk. Once it’s poured all over the cheesecake, garnish as desired!
Here are some garnishing options:
- Mini peanut butter cups (like I used)
- Homemade peanut butter cups
- Roasted peanuts
- Chocolate chips
- Peanut butter drizzle
With one bite, you’ll be transported to peanut butter cup heaven! This Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake is creamy, bursting with chocolate and peanut butter flavor, and is my personal definition of the PURE BLISS. I hope you love it as much as I do!
If you love this recipe…you’ll also love these:
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites
Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the crust
- ½ cup unsalted roasted peanuts
- 1 cup (96g) almond flour
- 3 tablespoons cacao powder
- 3 tablespoons (63g) pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons (25g) refined coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, leave out if peanuts are salted
For the cheesecake
- 1½ cups raw cashews, soaked for at least four hours or preferably overnight, drained and rinsed in cool water before using
- ½ cup canned full-fat coconut milk
- ⅓ cup (111g) pure maple syrup
- ½ cup (128g) creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons refined coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, salt to taste if your peanut butter is salted
For the dark chocolate drizzle & garnish
- 3 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
- ¼ cup canned full-fat coconut cream, just the thick, creamy part from the top of the can
- Mini peanut butter cups
Instructions
- Grease a 6” springform pan with coconut oil, or line a 6” cake pan or an 8×8” square baking pan with parchment paper for easy removal and grease well with coconut oil. Set aside.
- Add the peanuts, almond flour, cacao powder, and salt to a food processor or high-powered blender and pulverize to break up the peanuts until just small bits remain. Add the maple syrup and coconut oil and pulse until it comes together into a dough, with small peanut bits remaining. Press the dough evenly along the bottom of the prepared pan.½ cup unsalted roasted peanuts, 1 cup (96g) almond flour, 3 tablespoons cacao powder, 3 tablespoons (63g) pure maple syrup, ½ teaspoon sea salt, 2 tablespoons (25g) refined coconut oil
- In a high-powered blender (I used my Vitamix, but most powerful blenders should do the job), combine all of the filling ingredients and blend for about 2 to 4 minutes, or until the mixture is silky smooth and super creamy. Use your tamper and scrape down the sides as necessary to get it to blend smoothly.1½ cups raw cashews, ½ cup canned full-fat coconut milk, ⅓ cup (111g) pure maple syrup, ½ cup (128g) creamy peanut butter, 2 tablespoons refined coconut oil, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Pour the smooth filling into the prepared pan over the chocolate crust. Smooth out the top and tap the pan hard against the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. Place in the freezer to set for at least 3 hours, or in the refrigerator to set for at least 6 hours.
- For the chocolate ganache, place your chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the coconut cream in a saucepan or microwave until steaming and just barely simmering and pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 3 minutes and then whisk until smooth. Spread over the top of the cheesecake, letting it drip down the sides as desired. Garnish as desired with mini peanut butter cups.3 ounces dark chocolate, ¼ cup canned full-fat coconut cream, Mini peanut butter cups
- Store in the refrigerator or freezer. I recommend running your knife under hot water to warm it up before cutting the cheesecake with the still-hot (dried) knife.
- If serving from frozen, let thaw at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before serving. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
I made this for my mom who can’t have dairy. Additionally, we have to eat GF so it checked all our boxes. Here are some of the things I learned as I had never made a dessert like this:
1) I was glad I made the crust and the cheesecake portions the night before so it could set overnight in the freezer. I made/poured the ganache the next day a few hours before serving.
2) My food processor was not strong enough to get the cashews creamy enough. I thought it would be. It really wasn’t. I had to transfer everything into my ninja blender. This wasn’t ideal and I prob need to get a vitamix.
3) after pouring the ganache, I placed in freezer for about 15 minutes then transferred to fridge a few hours before dinner. It cut great and held together just fine. I used a hot, dry knife as suggested.
4) I made my own peanut butter cups using a recipe which blends coconut oil with DF chocolate for the shell and then used almond flour and powdered sugar to thicken my peanut butter. It was very easy and I used egg cartons to hold my mini-muffin wrappers as I did not have a mini-muffin pan. Worked great! –
I will be making this again.
It really is a showstopper.
If you want to see my version for proof that this is a truly doable recipe (I followed the recipe to the letter btw) it can be found on my Instagram @swedishgirlbakery .
Thanks for the feedback, Kirsten! A good blender is definitely key here for getting the cashews to a nice smooth consistency. So glad you enjoyed it!!
This cake is the stuff my dreams are made of… I absolutely cannot wait to try this!
I hope you love it Lea!
This cheesecake recipe is AMAZING! I’ve pretty much decided to exclusively make recipes from this blog because the two I’ve tried (and made multiple times) are incredible. I know people always say this, but the non-vegans loved it and couldn’t believe it was vegan. Beautiful texture, perfectly sweetened and flavors were on point. Thanks for making awesome, easy recipes :)
Woohoo!! This makes me SO HAPPY to hear – what a compliment!! Thank you so much, Hannah :) it is truly my pleasure.
I’ve made this recipe twice and it was delicious both times. I am not a seasoned baker/cook and would love to adapt this recipe for a fresh, fruit cheesecake. Instead of using the peanuts for the crust, I think I could use graham crackers. For the filling, what would you double up on to offset the lack of peanut butter? More cashews?
Hi Erin, I actually have a number of similar recipes with fruity twists – you can see them all here!
I made this in a 6” spring form pan which I had lying around and have been dying to use. It came together easily. I used a food processor bc my blender isn’t the best tbh lol and I think it took longer for the filling (not the crust that was quick) but eventually it came together and was perfectly smooth and thick. I was so worried I was gonna have too much filling but it ended up filling it perfectly to the top of my pan. It’s chilling/setting in the fridge rn and I’m so excited to eat it tomorrow!
So glad you loved it, Abby! Thanks so much for the feedback :) enjoy!
Everyone who ate this cheesecake said the same thing. Can it be made in a bigger size?
So delicious, such a delicacy! One of the most incredible cakes ever! Thank you Rachel!
Hi Paula, so glad you loved it! You can definitely double this recipe and put it in an 8″ or 9″ pan :)
I would like to make this but it has to be gluten free dairy free which it is BUT one person is also a diabetic. Is there a sugar substitute I can use for the maple syrup without compromising the recipe results?
Thank you
Sally
I made this and despite my silly mistake of using half a can of coconut milk (200ml) instead of half a cup (120ml), it turned out yummy! Although it didn’t set properly. ‘:P My husband loved it too so I’m definitely making it again next time, with right portions! Thank you for sharing this recipe! : )
Glad you enjoyed it regardless, Angelina! Hope it’s perfect next time :)
Hi !! Planning to make this for my husbands birthday as he is a big fan of the combo.
I don’t have a springfoam pan. Can I use in a regular pan instead ?
Also, I am out of coconut oil? Can I sub avocado oil instead ?
Thanks a bunch:)
Hi SK, it will be harder to get it out of the pan with a regular pan so I would line it with parchment for easy removal. Unfortunately you cannot sub avocado oil for coconut oil in this recipe since the coconut oil provides some of the structure.
Texture is odd – kind of grainy. Crust is too salty. Flavor is nice.
Hi Peter, if the texture is grainy, it means you didn’t blend enough and/or soak the cashews long enough. Also, were your peanuts for the crust salted? Because if so, that would explain why the crust was too salty.