This recipe for dairy-free cheezecake was an entry in our Spring Fling Dairy-Free Recipe Contest, created and submitted by Talia Hassid. To qualify, the recipe includes Coconut Milk Yogurt and Coconut Milk Creamer by So Delicious Dairy Free.
Peanut Butter Ganache sits atop a Chocolate and Beer Filling, all nestled in a gluten-free Potato Chip Crust in this legendary dairy-free cheezecake recipe.
Talia just barely missed a win with this amazing recipe! Sarah tested it and her whole family approved (hence why we have added it to the “Sarah’s Recipes” section). Everything about it was fun and delicious. The only problem was, there were so many incredible entries, and this dairy-free cheezecake was much more involved than many of the other recipes and it didn’t shout “spring” like the others. Talia still won a Runner-up prize with her delicious recipe for Ice Cream Cookie Cakes, and in our books, this dairy-free cheezecake is definitely a winner – contest or not!
Special Diet Notes & Options: Frat Party Dairy-Free Cheezecake
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, gluten-free, and vegetarian.
For a soy-free and dairy-free cheesecake, Daiya offers a Top 8 allergen-free cream cheese alternative, and Earth Balance has 2 soy-free buttery spreads.
For a peanut-free, tree nut-free and dairy-free cheesecake, use sunflower seed butter in place of the peanut butter in the ganache.
- 1 10-ounce bag regular salted potato chips (not Kettle Cooked - Talia uses Whole Foods Brand rippled sea salt potato chips), reserve a few chips for garnish
- ½ cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons dairy-free margarine (such as Earth Balance Buttery Spread), melted
- 2 6-ounce containers So Delicious Dairy Free Vanilla Greek Style Coconut Milk Yogurt
- 1 8-ounce container dairy-free cream cheese alternative (Talia uses non-hydrogenated Tofutti)
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ¾ cup gluten-free beer (Talia uses Bard’s)
- 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips, melted (plus extra for garnish)
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons organic agave
- 1 tablespoon organic cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup creamy natural peanut butter
- 6 tablespoons So Delicious Dairy Free Original Coconut Milk Creamer
- 5 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare a 9” springform pan for a water bath by covering the outside of the pan with foil, up and around the sides (but not into the inside of the pan), to ensure no water will leak into the dairy-free cheezecake. Line the bottom of the springform pan with parchment paper. Lightly grease the sides of the pan.
- Crush chips in a food processor or grinder until it turns into fine crumbs.
- Combine chip crumbs, flour, salt, and melted margarine in a bowl and mix very well. Press mixture into the bottom of your springform pan.
- Bake crust for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. While the crust is baking, prepare your filling.
- Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
- Pour onto prepared crust.
- Place springform pan in a larger baking dish (like a roasting pan), and fill the large pan up with water, about halfway up the springform pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. A toothpick will not come out completely clean, but the cheezecake will continue to set as it cools.
- Once the dairy-free cheezecake filling has cooled, prepare the peanut butter ganache.
- Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, and stir until smooth.
- Pour ganache over cheezecake, and spread with a spoon to the edges of the cake.
- Refrigerate the cheezecake overnight.
- When ready to serve, remove dairy-free cheezecake from springform pan, and top with crumbled reserved potato chips and dairy-free chocolate chips.