Inspired by Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cheesecake (Vegan)

If you are looking to prepare a Christmas tree cheesecake for the holidays but are deterred by non-vegan ingredients, we have a recipe that might help. Inspired by the famous Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes, we came up with this vegan cheesecake recipe below. You can make about 10-12 slices of creamy, fluffy cheesecake with so much ease. It shouldn’t take you more than 6-7 hours from preparation until it’s ready to eat.

Serving Size

10 – 12 slices

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour 20 minutes

Cooling Time

5 hours

Ingredients

The Crust

• 5 tbsp. canola oil
• 1½ cups vegan cracker crumbs
• ¼ – ½ cup of granulated sugar

The Filling

• 1 – 1½ cups of granulated sugar
• 32 oz. (two 16 oz) vegan cream cheese
• 16 oz. coconut cream
• 5 tbsp. cornstarch/arrowroot starch
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. lemon zest

Ingredients for Topping/Decoration

• 2 tbsp. vegan sprinkles
• 2 tbsp. green sanding sugar
• 12 oz. vegan melting chocolate
• One tube of red icing

Baking Tools

• This Christmas-tree-shaped cutter
• High-sided sheet cake pan

Notes

• You may use melted coconut oil in place of canola oil.
• In place of the ingredients for the crust, you may get about 8 inches of vegan pie crust.
• You may substitute the coconut cream with full-fat coconut milk.
• Ensure the cream cheese you use does not have too much water. For optimal creaminess, the cream cheese should contain no water.

Preparation

Before you do anything, preheat the oven to 350F.

Preparing the Crust

1. Line the inside of the sheet cake pan with aluminum foil.
2. Next, cut parchment paper in the size and shape of the bottom of the pan.
3. Place the cut parchment paper inside the pan and coat lightly with oil.
4. Add all the ingredients for the crust into a bowl and stir well.
5. Pour the well-mixed ingredients into the coated sheet cake pan.
6. Press the ingredients firmly along the bottom and sides of the pan.

Preparing the Filling

1. Add sugar and cream cheese to a large mixing bowl. Then whisk until smooth. If you are using an electric mixer, whisk on low speed.
2. Once the cheese-sugar mixture is smooth, add the other filling ingredients. Whisk everything together until smooth.
3. Pour the smooth filling mixture into the crust and spread it uniformly.

Baking

1. Place the sheet cake pan containing the crust and filling into the preheated oven and bake for 45-55 minutes. Once it’s time, turn off the heat.
2. You may let the cheesecake sit in the oven for up to 5 minutes after turning the heat off. Alternatively, you may get it out immediately and let it cool.
3. Once the cheesecake is cool, place it in the refrigerator for around 5 hours to allow it to congeal.

Topping

1. After at least 5 hours, remove the cheesecake from the refrigerator. Then cut out around 10-12 slices using the Christmas-tree-shaped cutter.
2. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet or baking pan that can contain all the cheesecake slices.
3. Place the vegan melting chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and melt it in a microwave according to the instructions.
4. Get the melted chocolate out of the microwave and allow it to sit for about 2 minutes.
5. Dip each cheesecake slice in the melted chocolate until fully coated. Then remove gently while scraping off excess chocolate.
6. After coating all the slices in chocolate, decorate the slices with red icing, sprinkle them with the green sanding sugar and drizzle the vegan sprinkles on them.
7. Refrigerate the slices for around 5-10 minutes or until the coating hardens.

Once the coating hardens, your vegan Christmas tree cheesecake slices are ready.