Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie (No Bake, Gluten Free + Paleo)
With a raw cakey chocolate crust and a decadently creamy chocolate filling, this gluten-free and vegan Chocolate Cream Pie will make you swoon! No baking necessary. Thanks to Hu Kitchen for sponsoring this post.
Sometimes, a recipe turns out better than you ever could’ve hoped for on the first try. It turns out more flavorful and more decadent than you’d imagined, and it’s absolutely luscious. This is one of those recipes.
The intention here was to make a chocolate vegan cheesecake with a softer date-based crust. I wrote the recipe out before I started, as I usually do, and got to testing. As I mixed up each layer, I tasted and adjusted the recipe as I went. First, adding extra cacao powder and salt to amplify the flavors. Then, layering on freshly whipped coconut cream to help cut through the decadent chocolate richness.
The small tweaks took the recipe from good to great, while staying a simple, easy-to-make recipe. When my boyfriend Kyle took his first bite, he freaked out and said it was one of my best things I’ve ever made. After my Dad tried it, he said the same thing. These two have tried most of my best desserts so this is a high compliment.
I asked Kyle what he thought it should be called was since I hadn’t named the recipe yet. He said: “well it’s chocolate cream pie, so you should call it that right???” Yes Kyle, I should. This has all the goodness of my vegan cheesecake recipes, so that’s what it was named after in my head. But I left out the tangy elements like the usual lemon juice…so it turned out less like cheesecake and more pure, rich, unadulterated chocolate goodness. Chocolate cream pie it is! Now if you need more convincing…
Let me tell you why you NEED to try this Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie.
First up, it will satisfy your deepest, darkest chocolate cravings with the soft cacao crust and the chocolate filling, which we make with chocolatey with Hu Kitchen Gems – A.K.A. the most delicious chocolate baking chocolate to exist! The Hu Kitchen Gems are sweetened with just three ingredients: cacao, coconut sugar, and cacao butter (all organic) and come in the cutest hexagon shape, perfect for garnishing your pie.
The recipe does require some cashews soak, but you can speed up the soaking process by covering your raw cashews with boiling water to help them soften faster! Let the pie chill in the freezer so it firms up faster, too.
This Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie won’t melt as quickly as most other vegan cheesecakes since the chocolate helps it stay nice and firm. This is a big plus in my book – no one likes a melting dessert (except ice cream).
I wouldn’t recommend skipping the whipped coconut cream either. It helps cut through the richness of the two dark chocolate layers and adds some lightness to the chocolate cream pie. Bring this one to your next gathering and you’ll be the star of the party. Or, just make it on your next date night (with your beau or yourself!) and serve yourself a big slice ;) enjoy!!
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Chocolate Cream Pie
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
With a raw cakey chocolate crust and a decadently creamy chocolate filling, this gluten-free and vegan Chocolate Cream Pie will make you swoon!
Ingredients
For the cakey crust
- 1¼ cups (120g) almond flour
- ¾ cup (about 130g) Medjool dates, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes if they’re not soft, drain before using
- ¼ cup (21g) cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons (25g) coconut oil, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
For the chocolate filling
- 1½ cups (180g) raw cashews (soaked in water for at least four hours or preferably overnight, drain and rinse before using)
- ½ cup (114g) full-fat canned coconut milk
- 4 oz. (113g) Hu Kitchen Gems or other dark chocolate, melted
- ⅓ cup (113g) pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons (25g) refined coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 2 tablespoons (11g) cacao powder
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
To garnish
- 1 can coconut whipping cream
- Hu Kitchen Gems
Instructions
- Grease a 6” springform pan with coconut oil, or line an 6” cake pan with strips of parchment paper for easy removal, and grease well with coconut oil. You could also use an 8″ springform pan if you want a thinner pie. Set aside.
- Add the almond flour, pitted dates, cacao powder, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and salt to a food processor or high-powered blender and pulverize until it comes together into a sort of sticky dough. Don’t over process, or it will get oily! Press evenly along the bottom of the prepared pan.
- In the same food processor or high-powered blender used for the crust (no need to wash between – 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 creamy. Scrape down the sides as necessary. You may need to add a bit more coconut milk to get it to blend smoothly if your blender isn’t super high-powered.
- Pour the filling into the prepared pan over the chocolate. 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 for at least 6 hours, or until completely firm, before topping with whipped coconut cream.
- Once the filling is firm, garnish with whipped coconut cream and more Hu Kitchen Gems.
Notes
If you want to make this ASAP, you can pour boiling water over the raw cashews and just let them soak for about an hour or so. They might not get quite as soft, but after blending they’ll be almost just as creamy!
Is cacao powder the same as cocoa powder?
Hi Diday – technically they are different, but only in their processing: cacao is made from raw cacao beans, whereas in cocoa products, the cacao beans have been roasted. They can be used interchangeably, but note that cacao powder is more nutritionally dense.
Hi. It looks amazing! Thank you!! I was wondering if I can use cashew butter in place of the cashews and processing them.
Hi Cindy, I haven’t tested it that way but using 1 1/2 cups of cashew butter in place of the cashews would probably work well :) would love to hear how it goes if you try it out!
Okay this looks INSANELY creamy and beautiful! Cannot wait to try this, Rachel! Love the chocolate gems on top!
Hi
I really like your recipes and the photographs look great but I’m all the way in the UK and we use grams and millilitres here. Would you be able to tell me how many grams there are to a cup or any other conversion info for your recipes please? I have used conversion units from the net before and it’s always ended up being a disaster.
Hi Masuma, I just updated this recipe with grams! Hopefully this helps :)
Hey Rachel..this is amazing recipe till now..am a big fan of chocolate, this looks sooo yummy & sound so delicious, i will try to making this vegan chocolate cream pie from your recipe…in few days latter…Thanks for sharing…!
Thanks so much for the love! Hope you love the recipe, Santosh.
How long can this keep in the freezer? Can I make it the night before, and enjoy in the evening the next day or should it sit outside a bit? Could you use one type of coconut oil instead of refined vs not?
Hi Kat! It can be kept in the freezer for up to a few months if stored correctly, so overnight is definitely fine. I like transferring it to the fridge about 2 hours before serving so it can soften up. You could also let it thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving. Any kind of coconut oil will work (except the always-liquid coconut oil), but refined is preferred if you don’t want any coconut flavor. Enjoy!
Awesome recipe Rachel! Crust is delish and the filling is divine. My non vegan guests absolutely loved it! Definitely a keeper :) Thank you for sharing!
This makes me so happy to hear, Michele! Thanks so much for the feedback :D
Is there any other Hu chocolate you would recommend in place of the gems? I can’t seem to find a store that sells them, and if I but them online, the shipping is more than the cost of the product. Thanks in advance!
Hi Veronica! Whole Foods has started carrying them, but if you can’t find them, one of their plain bars works perfectly here too! It’s the same chocolate, just in different forms.
Hi all of these recipes look sooo good!!! I am gluten and lactose intolerant however and …I follow the low fod map eating plan, sadly. Ibs issues.
I dont know if you know about the lowfod map issues. I am debating buying the book. It all looks so yummy!!!
Hi Patricia! I don’t follow the low FODMAP diet or specifically reference it in my book, so while there may be some recipes that fit into the diet, I’m not sure how many it would be!
Hi. It looks amazing! Thank you!! I was wondering if I can use cashew butter in place of the cashews and processing them.
https://www.kitchensaman.com/best-mixer-grinder-under-3000/
Hi Masroor, yes that should work out just fine! Enjoy :)
I have been waiting to make this, and behold, Thanksgiving was the reveal. This is a very delicious pudding/mousse type dessert. Mine came out looking like dark chocolate, unlike the pics from the recipe which tend to be lighter. Maybe that is camera/studio lighting? Anyway, I thought I would post some things of note about my experience;
1. The ingredients are expensive, more so now that prices have gone up on a lot for these specialty items; Medjool dates, cashews, almond flour, even syrup and Hu Kitchen Gems, all pricey. If you can source these items cheaply or get sales, do so. The Whole Foods’ way, expect to serve up a $25 to $30 cake (I doubled the recipe.)
2. I doubled the recipe to make a nice tall 8″ springform pan size. In doing so, I would recommend using a food processor, not a Vitamix or other commercial blender, for the crust. The dough was much too sticky for the Vitamix to grind finely, and it made my blender smell of smoke/electrical smell, which I guess is common when overheated (oils from the wires.) It left the crust with a gritty mouth feel.
3. I would probably not use the recommended coconut whipped topping next time. It came out way to thick and muddy, even after whipping it considerably…and it had a STRONG coconut flavor, which is nice with chocolate, but it never picked up any of the extract flavorings. I will use a stabilized vegan cool-whip type you can find in Whole Food’s and other places next time.
4. For serving, I made the mistake of serving it right out of the fridge. It is very firm cold, so much so, it was hard to cut a piece in getting it out. Let the cake sit for a good hour out of the fridge before serving, it will result in the intended pudding/mousse softness, yet holds its shape….perfection.
Thanks so much for the detailed feedback, Kan! Super super helpful :) definitely agree about using a food processor if you’re doubling the recipe. Blenders have a hard time with drier things like this if there’s too much of it.
This recipe took me from a Bakerita fan to a Bakerita super fan! We devoured it on Thanksgiving and I actually made another one the next day to have with our leftovers. We thought the base needed a little crunch though, so I added some chopped toasted pecans into the food processor when I made the base. Then I decided to test the freezing method this time and while it certainly firmed it up, we preferred it at room temperature. It’s definitely worth leaving it out on the counter for 20 minutes or so before serving it up. The chocolate will melt in your mouth. Now go make this right away!
Woohoo – so glad you loved it! Thanks so much for the feedback, Jami!!
Are there any substitutions I could use for the cashews to make it nut free ?
That’s a little tricky since the entire cream part is cashew based! You could try using something like sunflower seed butter in it’s place, but it will taste a little different.
I’m allergic to almonds. Is there a substitute you’d recommend for the almond flour in the crust?
You can use any other nut or seed you’d prefer, just pulse to break down into a flour before using :) tiger nut flour would work too!
Thanks for the speedy response, Rachel. I’ll give that a go!
If I could give it ten stars, I would. It’s perfect: incredibly delicious, beautiful, easy to make. I made it 4 times in 3 weeks and I’d like to have it in my fridge permanently! I use Lindt Excellence 78% so the top layer is darker. Thank you so much!
So glad you’re loving it, Irina! Thanks so much for the kind feedback.
Hi! How tall of a springfoam pan do I need for this if I do the 6 inch?
Hi Liz, the springform pans I’ve had are usually pretty consistent with their height! The one I have is about 3 inches tall.
Love this:) can I use coconut CREAM instead of MILK?
Hi Lindsay, that should be fine.