Easter Cheesecake Cookies (Vegan GF)

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I'm Amy

sweets & snacks

Softy, chewy and golden cookies studded with three types of chocolate treats. These cookies are easy to make, naturally vegan, easily gluten-free and perfect for Eastertime.

I have wanted to use my vegan mini egg style chocolates for a while and today is the day. These Vegan Easter Cheesecake Cookies were so fun to make, and I have had my eye on a few similar non-vegan recipes that inspired this completely vegan and delicious cookie version.

What is the “cheesecake” element? This is thanks to the vegan cream cheese in the cookies and adds a really lovely, baked cheesecake-style texture. It keeps them light and slightly airy with a really chewy middle and crisp golden edge. There are a few vegan cream cheese options in the shops so use your favourite one. I know that cream cheese in the UK is different to that in America (which comes in blocks and is firmer, to my knowledge, but you can use whatever you have for these cookies).

What else goes into these Vegan Easter Cheesecake Cookies?

Vegan cream cheese: as mentioned above, there are a few different brands in the UK, just use your favourite one (preferably one that is not too “wet” or runny) and I like Nush foods plain almond m*lk cheese.
Vegan butter or margarine: if using butter, make sure it’s softened slightly beforehand to make it easier to beat together. I have not tested this using coconut oil but make sure it is softened, if you are using it and it will affect how much the cookies spread. The key to the buttery texture and taste is achieved by the butter or margarine spread.
Sugar: for this recipe, I use both caster and light brown sugar, while I do love coconut sugar, for the typical cookie taste, colour and texture, it can be really great to use a mixture of both. Most typical American style, chewy cookies use a blend of the two. That said, I am sure you can swap both of these for an equal amount of coconut sugar*.
Aquafaba: this is our egg replacer and is also known as chickpea water or brine. Drain a tin of chickpeas, save the rest for a curry or hummus and then transfer the liquid to a glass jar. Whip the liquid until frothy and bubbly before using for this cookie dough.
Vanilla essence: for the cookie sweet flavour. You can skip it if you don’t have any.
Plain flour: you could also use your favourite baking 1:1 GF flour blend. All GF flours vary so I recommend using a 1:1 blend that you recommend for other bakes and that has xantham gum to help bind the dough.
Bicarbonate of soda: just a little for the rise and texture.
Salt: to bring out the sweet flavours.

With the base of the cookie dough ready, now it’s time for the three types of chocolate. All of them have their part to play in making every mouthful of these Vegan Easter Cheesecake Cookies a real delight.

Chocolate chips: make sure they are dairy-free. You could also use chopped chocolate if you do not have any chips.
Chocolate M&M’s: or something similar. These are brightly coloured little rounds of chocolate. I used these ones from Doisy and Dam.
Chocolate Mini Eggs: or something similar. There are a few vegan options in the UK market of the much-loved mini egg but if you can’t find any, you can use extra chocolate chips, M&Ms or other chocolates. I also used these ones from Doisy and Dam.

Fold in all the chocolate to the dough for Vegan Easter Cheesecake Cookies which will be quite wet and soft so needs to chill in the fridge. I like to chill the dough for at least 1-2 hours which really firms up the dough, making it easy to scoop and makes for the optimum bake. They spread as the cook, so space them apart a bit and before baking, pop on a few extra chocolates.

The one question I always ask myself before baking cookies: to press down or not to press down? Here, the answer is there is no need to press down the cookies. They naturally spread to fairly flat cookie shapes.

Take these Vegan Easter Cheesecake Cookies out the oven while the centre is slightly soft and gooey, but the edges are golden and crisp. Allow them to cool and them with ice cold milk or a lovely cup of tea or coffee.

These are chewy, sweet and have so much chocolate in too, they’re such a great bake and fun, too. If you are looking for more cookie and biscuit recipes, how about my: