These raw vegan mint chocolate peppermint cheesecakes are fun, fresh, and a delicious afternoon tea treat. Combining a cacao and nut crust with a creamy peppermint and cashew-based filling makes for a decadent dessert for all at any time of the year but also great as Christmas cheesecakes. Plus, this recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, refined sugar-free, and simple to make!

raw vegan cheesecakes mint, spirulina and lime

If there’s one type of vegan dessert that I have well and truly embraced, then it would be cashew-based gluten-free, dairy-free cheesecake! The cashews and coconut cream combined into a thick cream is decadent, rich, and super more-ish. So much so, that after creating a variety of full-sized vegan cheesecakes, I thought it was time to think smaller with these mini vegan cheesecakes.

Depending on the size of your dessert rings, you can make 1-2 portion mini cheesecakes perfect for serving at events and for a vegan afternoon tea treat served alongside mint tea.

Unlike my usual fruity filling combination, though, this time, I’ve done something a little bit different. These mint cheesecakes combine peppermint with a little lime juice and Spirulina (for natural color), over a cacao powder and nut crust – for a delicious mint and chocolate combination worthy of any event.

Topped with a little additional dairy-free dark chocolate, and these peppermint cheesecakes are a delicious ‘after eight’/peppermint patty style dessert in cheesecake form (and with no cream cheese at all!). And, if you’re not quite sold on the whole mini cheesecakes idea, then you can still feel free to adapt this recipe into larger ones or even raw peppermint bars.

The Ingredients

For The Crust

Raw vegan cheesecakes recipe - mint, spirulina and lime plus raspberry, rose and earl grey tea

Hazelnuts – feel free to swap these out for some shredded coconut instead.
Almonds – You could also use leftover almond pulp from making almond milk.
Medjool dates – If using other date varieties, it may not be as sweet and may need more.
Desiccated coconut – You can also use leftover coconut pulp from making coconut milk.
Raw cacao powder – You could also use cocoa powder if preferred.
Maple syrup – or rice malt syrup or agave, if you prefer.
Himalayan salt – or the salt of your choice.

The Cashew Cream Base

Cashews – Soak the cashews for at least 1 hour in boiling water or overnight in cold water. You’ll achieve creamier results with the long soak.
Coconut oil
Coconut Cream – you can use the cream from tinned coconut milk or make your own coconut cream.
Maple syrup – Or the sweetener of your choice
Vanilla pod – you could also use vanilla paste or vanilla extract.

For the Mint flavor

Peppermint extract
Spirulina (only needed for color and not taste – can use natural green food coloring, if needed/preferred)
Lime juice – or lemon juice if that’s all you have available.

Toppings (optional)

Dark chocolate
White Chocolate
Edible flowers

How To Make The Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecakes

Step 1. Prepare the Crust

First, prepare the crust by blending all the crust ingredients together in a food processor until mouldable to the touch. You may want to process the nuts first into chunky breadcrumb consistency, as they’re harder to blend than the other ingredients.

Next, you need to separate this between your cheesecake molds. There are two ways to do this; first, you can divide the mixture equally by spoonfuls/weight and press into the molds (this is great if you have a ‘presser’ that comes with the dessert rings, to make sure the crust is even).

Alternatively, you can do what I did, which is to roll the crust out into a large rectangle over between two pieces of baking paper.

Then press the molds onto it. I’ve found this way, you get an even crust throughout the batch.

These can be chilled while you prepare the filling, though it’s not necessary.

Step 2. Prepare the peppermint cheesecake filling

To create the filling, first, you want to create the vanilla cashew base by blending all the ingredients till creamy and smooth. This may take some time to become completely smooth rather than grainy, so try to be patient and scrape down the sides of the machine occasionally.

Once ready, I like to split the batter in half to create peppermint swirl cheesecakes.

When transferring half of the mixture to a second bowl, make a note of how many ‘cups’ there are per bowl.

In one bowl, add in the peppermint filling ingredients. I’ve included the amounts I tend to add per cup of filling. Feel free to adjust this if you want a subtler or stronger flavor.

Fold in or blend the ingredients until thoroughly mixed. If using Spirulina for color, then only add a little bit at a time as the color will get very dark quickly (not to mention you don’t want to taste the Spirulina). Plus, the cheesecakes get darker once frozen – so if you want beautiful pastel colors, then the filling will need to be very pale.

Fun fact: I actually added WAY too much Spirulina in the picture directly below after misreading my own recipe that I’d made multiple times before (doh!) and had to re-do the batch and save the ‘ugly green’ batch for off-camera.

Step 3. Assemble The Mini Cheesecakes & Freeze

Next, it’s time to assemble the cheesecakes. There are multiple ways you could do this.

Fill the cheesecakes 1/3 – 1/2 with the vanilla base and then top with the mint filling.
Make it multi-layered, alternating the base and mint layers
Follow idea one but keep a spoonful or two of the base to add to each cheesecake at the top and swirl with a toothpick for a beautiful mint swirl look.

Or, do what I did this time around, which was to add a very small amount of the mint filling to the vanilla base (so it was a VERY light green shade) and then follow idea 3 for a two-tone green cheesecake. You can use a spoon or piping bags for the filling. I find piping bags to be less messy!

Note* If you want very ‘clean’ layers, then it’s best to place the cheesecakes in the freezer in-between layering so the first layer can thicken up before pouring over the next layer. Otherwise, they’ll be a bit more ‘rustic’ like mine below.

Then Freeze until completely set (a few hours at least).

Step 4. Decorate and serve

When it comes time to serve, then remove from the freezer around 15 minutes before serving for the perfect creamy consistency.

These raw vegan cheesecakes go perfectly with some fresh berries and a little bit of chocolate drizzle.

How To Store

These raw vegan cheesecakes should be stored in the freezer, covered, for up to two months.

Don’t leave them out of the freezer for too long, as they won’t hold their shape when thawed to room temperature.

Recipe Notes

You can adapt these into a wonderful candy cane style Christmas cheesecakes by topping the dark chocolate with some crushed candy canes.
If using coconut cream from a tin, chill a can of coconut milk overnight. When ready to use, open the tin and scoop out the thick cream (for this recipe). The remaining liquid can be used for smoothies, baked goods, and more.
Feel free to omit the cacao powder from the crust and add a little vanilla powder instead. You could also use a Graham cracker crust (or using these Healthy Chocolate Digestive Biscuits Recipe minus the chocolate) if preferred.
These cheesecakes get darker as they freeze, so always make the mixture 2-3x lighter than you want the final results to be. You can see what I mean in the images above.

Delicious ombre pink and green raw vegan no-bake cheesecake with a gluten-free pistachio base and cashew nut based cherry cheesecake filling!

You can find loads more cheesecake and tart recipes on the blog in the dessert section or with the search bar.

If you give this chocolate peppermint cheesecakes recipe a try, then let me know your thoughts in the comments. Also, feel free to tag me in your recreations @AlphaFoodie.

Raw Vegan Mini Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecakes