These Mini No-Bake Santa Cheesecakes are the ideal dessert for Christmas Day. The combination of a buttery biscuit base, creamy coconut cheesecake filling topped with whipped cream and a fresh strawberry is delicious! They are the perfect vegan and gluten-free dessert for Christmas.
This recipe has been made in collaboration with Planet Organic, the best store for organic and vegan ingredients, products and more! All opinions expressed in this post are my own. (For more information along with affiliated links, check out my disclosure policy.)
No-Bake Mini Santa Cheesecakes
It looks like Santa Claus has come to town early. These are the cutest Christmas cheesecakes around! They’re also no-bake, vegan, easy to make and can be made gluten-free! The chocolate base along with the coconut cheesecake filling is luscious. The cheesecakes come to life when you place the strawberry Santa on-top!
Layers of a no-bake mini Santa cheesecake
You’ll be pleased to know that these cheesecakes take minutes to make, require little ingredients and are easy to make with 3 layers – biscuit base, cheesecake filling and cream topping. Being no-bake mean’s you wont need to touch your oven at all for this recipe (which is great news for our energy bills).
Base:
- I love a buttery biscuit base. You can add it to absolutely anything and it would make it taste dreamy! I used plain vegan friendly digestives, along with melted dairy-free butter and cocoa powder for a chocolate touch. You’ll want to melt the butter and stir it into the crumbled biscuits and cocoa to for the base. If you wanted to make this recipe gluten-free, you will want to use gluten-free biscuits for the base.
Cheesecake filling
- My simple, easy and delicious no-bake cheesecake recipe is unmatched! It’s light, creamy, melts in your mouth and best of all, is simply blended together in one blender. You’ll add all of the ingredients into a high speed blender and whizz up until thick and creamy. It usually takes 5-8 minutes, stopping and scraping down the edges of the blender a few times. To flavour the cheesecake I added in some coconut flakes. They will blend up smooth in the high speed blender. Alternately you can use desiccated coconut or a drop of coconut flavouring. I used products from Planet Organic, my favourite online store. They have the most amazing range of vegan products. I used their own brand cashew nuts, coconut flakes, along with vanilla, vegan cream cheese and biscuits bought in their online store.
Decoration
- Have you seen a cuter cheesecake? I think not. The decoration of these cheesecakes is simple but effective, and only contains 3 ingredients. I whipped up some dairy-free cream, added it into a piping bag and topped each cheesecake with a swirl of cream. To create the Santa, chop a strawberry in half, pipe in some cream and add on the top of the strawberry (this acts as Santas hat). You will finish off the Santas with some melted chocolate for the eyes.
Tools you’ll need to make these mini cheesecakes
You’ll be happy to hear this recipe requires tools you probably already have in your kitchen. I have linked them below with shoppable links:
- Deep loose base cookie cup tin
- Spoons
- Piping bags
- Piping tips
- Knife
- High speed blender
- Saucepan
- Kitchen scales
- Heat proof spatula
- Mixing bowl
How to make No-Bake Mini Santa Cheesecakes
- Base
Make your buttery biscuit base: Blitz the biscuits in a food processor along with cocoa powder and melted dairy-free butter. Press base into the cookie cup tin. Set aside. The tin I use is now discontinued, but I have found a similar one on Amazon, which I have linked here!
- Filling
Make your cheesecake filling: Blend all filling ingredients until super smooth.
Divide the filling evenly, pouring it on top of the crust. Chill overnight until set. - Decoration
Whip up dairy-free cream until thick. Add into a piping bag, pipe on top of the cheesecake. Cut a strawberry in half and place into the cream. Pipe cream on top of the strawberry half then place the top of the strawberry on top for the Santa ‘hat’. Melt dairy-free chocolate, add to a piping bag and pipe on the eyes. Serve and enjoy!
No-Bake Mini Santa Cheesecakes FAQ
What tin to use?
To help get the perfect shaped cheesecakes, you’ll want to use mini loose base, push up tins. The great thing about these tins is that you don’t even have to grease the sides for the cheesecakes as they pop right out! Click here to shop.
Are they Vegan?
- YES! This recipe doesn’t use any animal derived ingredients or tools. All ingredients used are vegan, including dairy-free cream cheese and dairy-free butter.
Can I make this recipe gluten-free?
- You sure can. In fact, I made this recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free biscuits. It is already gluten-free and coeliac friendly, not that anyone would be able to tell! You want to keep in mind about any possible cross-contamination. If you are coeliac, make sure every single ingredient you use doesn’t contain any gluten-containing ingredients. It’s worth checking out Coeliac UK for more details on gluten-free products. It’s a great read!
Can I freeze the cheesecakes?
- Yes. I like to freeze the undecorated cheesecakes in a sealed container in the freezer, then remove from the freezer when ready to serve and decorate before serving. This was, it keeps the strawberries fresh and
How to store the cheesecakes
- As the cheesecakes contain cream cheese, you’ll want to keep the chilled in the fridge. Store the cheesecakes in a sealed container in the fridge until ready to serve and enjoy.
Do I need weighing scales to make this recipe?
- My recipe card has a cup measuring tool, but I would strongly advise you use scales and gram measurements for this bake. Well, saying that, I mean for all my bakes. Using grams is a much more accurate way to ensure each bake turns out perfect every single time. I fund using cups like guessing, it’s not an exact match of the ingredients.
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram and Facebook! And if you want to pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!
Print
- Total Time: Overnight
- Yield: 6 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
The perfect holiday cheesecake recipe. No-Bake Mini Santa Cheesecakes with a buttery chocolate biscuit base, coconut flavoured cheesecake filling, topped off with fresh whipped cream and a strawberry Santa.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the base
- 100g of plain digestive biscuits (you can use gluten-free)
- 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
- 50g of dairy-free butter / margarine
Ingredients for the filling
- 125g of cashew nuts (see step 1)
- 250g of vegan cream cheese
- 75g of icing sugar
- 50g of coconut cream
- 20g of coconut flakes
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract / seeds from 1 vanilla pod
Ingredients for the decoration
- 100ml of good quality dairy-free whipping cream
- Fresh strawberries
- 20g of dairy-free dark chocolate
- Icing sugar (to dust)
Instructions
Method (base)
- Add the dairy-free butter / margarine into a small saucepan, place on the hob and heat over low until fully melted. Remove from the heat and add into a medium sized, heat-proof mixing bowl.
- Add the biscuits and cocoa powder into a blender / food processor and blend until fine. Pour the spiced biscuit crumbs into the melted butter and stir together using a wooden spoon or spatula. It should resemble wet sand, and when you press it between your fingers, should hold its shape. Press approximately 1 & 1/2 tablespoon of mixture into each cookie cup tin, making sure to compact it in using clean hands. The more compact it is, the less likely it will crumble.
- Place into the freezer whilst you make the filling.
Method (cheesecake filling)
- The cashew nuts will need to be soaked overnight in water. See notes (at the bottom of the recipe card) for more details.
- Drain the cashew nuts from the water and place them into a food processor/blender along with the dairy-free cream cheese, icing sugar, coconut cream, coconut flakes and vanilla. Whizz up on high speed for around 5 minutes until smooth. Add some more coconut cream if needed. I use a ‘Kitchenaid Powerplus blender’. It’s best to use a high-speed blender if possible as the mixture is quite thick, and you want it as smooth as possible. You might need to stop the mixture a few times and scrape down the sides to make sure everything is incorporated and smooth.
- Equally pour the mixture into each tin, making sure to tap the cheesecakes onto the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Place into the fridge overnight to set.
- Once set, remove from the fridge, and push out the cheesecake (as the base is loose bottomed). To make it easier, place the tin into the freezer for 15-20 minutes to help firm up the cheesecakes, then slide a knife around the edges of the cheesecakes to help loosen them from the tin. Making the cheesecakes firmer will help push them out the tin and won’t damage them.
Method (decoration)
- In a stand mixer, whip up some dairy-free cream until thick. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a star tip nozzle. Pipe a swirl of cream on top of each cheesecake.
- Cut the green leaves off the strawberry, then cut the strawberry in half sideways (as seen in the video here). Place the bottom half of the strawberry on top of the cheesecake, in the cream, pipe a small swirl of cream on top of the strawberry, and place the top of the strawberry on top.
- Decorate the top of the strawberry hat with a blob of cream to resemble Santas hat.
- Fill a small saucepan 1/4 full with water and place on the hob over medium heat. Add the dairy-free chocolate into a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl over the pan, creating a bain-marie. Allow the chocolate melt, stirring with a heat proof spatula. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes then transfer into a piping bag. Snip off the tip and pipe two dots for Santas eyes.
- Dust the cheesecakes with some icing sugar then serve.
Notes
To store: Store in the fridge. Best eaten within 2-3 days of making.
Cashew nuts: The cashew nuts need to be soaked overnight in water. Just make sure the water is covering the nuts! This makes them softer, which creates a grain-free and smooth cheesecake filling.
Cream cheese: To be honest, any dairy-free cream cheese will work perfectly in this recipe. My favourites to use are: ‘Violife Cream Original’, Sainsbury’s own Free From Cream Cheese’. Any soft, and creamy cream cheese is great!
Coconut cream: Chill a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight, turn it upside down and open. Pour out the liquid and use the thick, white cream.
- Prep Time: Overnight
- Category: cheesecakes
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: American
they’re so cute. I cant wait to make them with my kids over new years xo B
Author
Hello, Aw thank you so much! Happy baking xx