Vegan Sweet Potato Cheesecake Recipe

Prep time: 40 mins

Cook time: 35 mins

Chill time: 4 hours – overnight

Servings: 8

Ingredients

Crust:

• 3 cups ginger snaps crumbs
• 1/2 cup of melted vegan butter
• Sweet potato cheesecake:
• 1-1/2 cup raw cashews, softened
• 1 cup roasted sweet potato (I used 3 small)
• 1/2 cup oat milk (any plant milk works but I like the creaminess of oat milk)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (start with 1/4 and increase to your taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon pink sea salt

Salted caramel sauce:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vegan butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened canned full fat coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or more to taste)
• 1 tsp pink sea salt

Toppings:

Pecan pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Wash and scrub your sweet potatoes thoroughly. Prick you sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Cover your sheet pan with foil and place sweet potatoes on top. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Let cool.
2. Turn oven down to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch round baking pan throughly and set aside.
3. To make the cookie crust: grind up the cookies in a food processor (or do it old school style by placing the cookies in a ziplock bag and crushing them with a rolling pin). Once the cookies are crushed, place them in a medium bowl and mix with melted vegan butter. Pour the crumb mixture into the 9 inch round baking pan. Spread the crumbs evenly in the bottom of the pan and press down firmly with your hands until a solid layer of crust is formed. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until the edges are golden. Remove from the heat but leave the oven on.
4. To soften the cashews: Boil the cashews from 12-15 minutes or until soft. Drain before using.
5. To make the vegan sweet potato cheesecake: Add all of the cheesecake ingredients to a food processor or blender. Blend until as smooth as possible stopping to scrape down the sides when necessary. You want the mixture to be super smooth.
6. Pour the mixture over the cookie crust and spread evenly. Bake for 25-35 minutes until the edges look dry and begin to crack a bit. Let cool at room temperature, then transfer to the refrigerator and allow to chill for at least 4 hours (overnight is best!).

Serve the cheesecake slices topped with salted caramel sauce and pecan pieces.

Enjoy!