Christmas is coming up and that means something a little different to all of us I think. Different families may cook different foods and all have kinds of traditions and we all have those foods that just jog your childhood memories. For me, Christmas as a child meant Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake, one of my favorites of my mom’s dessert recipes.
My mom would make this cheesecake for pretty much every special occasion but it was an absolute guarantee around the holidays and I would be so excited for it! Cheesecake in general has always been one of my favorite desserts but this takes the cake (no pun intended).
Now, I didn’t want to adapt the original recipe at all because it is truly perfect but I also didn’t want to leave anyone out so I have here the recipe for both my mom’s recipe AND a vegan version that will knock your socks off. I’ve tested numerous ways of making vegan cheesecake and this so far has been my best recipe!
For this, I made my own Vegan Irish Cream BUT there is a vegan, almond milk version of Bailey’s out this holiday season which I have seen at our regular grocery store! The trickier part may be finding vegan chocolate graham crackers or cookies but have no fear! You can also use regular vegan wafer cookies and mix it with cocoa powder and coconut oil to give it a chocolaty flavor!
Honestly, I recommend everyone trying BOTH of these recipes for Christmas this year! They are smooth, sweet, decadent, rich and creamy. I was specially told by Andrew that you cannot tell the vegan version is actually vegan so serve it up and trick your relatives!
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Until Next Time,
Jackie & Andrew
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Irish Cream Cheesecake – Vegan Optional
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Holiday, Vegan
Description
Vegan and non-Vegan version of this extra rich, creamy and sweet Irish Cream cheesecake complete with a homemade Vegan Irish Cream. The perfect holiday dessert recipe.
Ingredients
Scale
- Non-Vegan
- 1 3/4 cups chocolate graham crackers
- 6 tbs butter
- 3 8oz bricks of cream cheese, softened
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup Irish cream
- 3/4 cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips
- 1 tsp flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Vegan
- 2 1/2 cups chocolate graham crackers** (see notes)
- 6 tbs coconut oil
- 2 8 oz tubs vegan cream cheese (I used almond cream cheese by Kite Hill)
- 12 oz silken tofu
- 3/4 cup vegan mini chocolate chips
- 1 tbs vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp potato starch** (see notes)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup vegan Irish cream** (see notes)
- Homemade Vegan Irish Cream (optional)
- 2 cans full fat coconut milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup strong coffee or espresso
- 1 cup Jameson or other Irish whiskey
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Instructions
- First, lets go over making the homemade Irish cream. You want to heat the coconut milk, sugar and vanilla on the stove and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and stir until the coconut milk cooks down and begins to thicken. Next stir in the coffee and salt and whisk briefly. Remove it from the heat then pour in the whiskey and stir to combine. You want to place this in the fridge and let it cool before baking with it.
- On to the cheesecakes. First preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make the crust by placing the graham crackers and either the butter or the coconut oil, depending on whether you’re doing regular to vegan, into a food processor and whirl until its combine. If you’re using butter, you’ll want to microwave it briefly to soften it before doing this. The non-vegan crust will have a kind of crumbly consistency. The vegan crust needs to be more like a dough that you can kind of roll between your fingers, it will also seem more oily than the non vegan crust. Please note, you will need more graham crackers for the vegan crust.
- Lightly grease a springform pan and pour the crust ingredients into it. You want to smash the crust down until it is fully spread and covering the bottom of the pan. Set it aside while you make the insides.
- For the non-vegan filling, you want to start by mixing the cream cheese and the sugar together. This is easiest if you use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer but you can also use a whisk or a hand mixer. Mix until creamy. Then you are going to add in the eggs cracking one egg at a time while mixing continuously. Allow the first egg to be fully absorbed and mixed before cracking the second egg and mix until all four eggs have been used and are fully incorporated. Be careful not to overbeat the mixture here. Add in the Irish cream and mix. In a small bowl, toss the chocolate chips in flour and then fold them into the cream cheese mix. Pour the whole mixture on top of the crust in the pan and sprinkle the top with some more chocolate chips. Bake for 45 minutes at 350.
- For the vegan filling, combine the vegan cream cheese, silken tofu, sugar, Irish cream, potato starch, vanilla, and flour in a food processor and pulse on low until the mixture is fully combined. This mix will be thicker than the non-vegan mix and should be very creamy. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the vegan chocolate chips. Pour the mix over the crust and sprinkle a few more chocolate chips on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
- When the cheesecake is done, remove it from the oven and set it aside to cool for about 15 minutes. After that, take a knife and run it along the edge of the pan to break the cake away from the pan. Note, the top will be cracked, that’s normal and okay! Place the cheesecake in the fridge and let it cool, the non-vegan will have to cool a minimum of 3 hours, the vegan a minimum of 5 but preferably overnight. It takes a while to fully set. Happy cooking!
Notes
*If you cannot find vegan chocolate graham crackers, any vegan chocolate cookie will be find or you can take vegan graham crackers and mix it with the coconut oil and cocoa powder.
*I use potato starch here but corn starch or arrowroot starch will work just find.
*I made my own vegan Irish cream but that’s not necessary because they sell almond milk baileys in the grocery store!
