High Protein Biscoff Cheesecake

Ok, so Biscoff cookies don’t seem to be as popular in the States as they are in the UK, which is super sad because they are DELICIOUS! Biscoff also feels like a very holiday-ish kind of cookie. That being said, I think this is a great high protein cheesecake for winter/holiday time! It’s easy to make and will help you to still hit your protein goals even though your mostly eating sweets and Christmas cookies!

This cheesecake gets its protein from the silken tofu used in the filling and the TVP used in the crust. Both of those things sound kind of weird (I get it), but I’ve made a lot of these and I love them! The TVP crust is certainly more adventurous than the silken tofu filling, so if you’re thinking that sounds awful, feel free to make a graham cracker crust instead – or better yet, a biscoff cookie crust!

If a high protein vegan cheesecake sounds interesting to you, but you’re not down with Biscoff, I’ve got a few other cheesecake recipes you could try instead!

Ingredients

Cheesecake Filling

• Extra Firm Silken Tofu – I usually use the brand Mori-Nu for silken tofu because it’s shelf stable and they usually have a few different firmness levels (that all have different protein % on a calorie basis). You can usually find these in the International Food isle at the grocery store, or online! There are refrigerated varieties of silken tofu as well, that hang out near the other tofus.
• Powdered Sugar – I would recommend using powdered sugar for this, but if you’re trying to cut back on sugar, you might be able to get away with using a sugar alternative or a sweetened protein powder instead.
• Vanilla – a must have!
• Flour – I used all purpose flour for this recipe, but I think you could definitely use a gluten-free flour instead! If you try this out, please comment and let me know what you did and how it turned out!
• Baking Powder – for the texture.
• Salt – adjust to taste.
• Biscoff cookies – I used the regular size. If you want it to be even more Biscoff-y, feel free to use more cookies!
• Chocolate Chips – I like to use mini chocolate chips so I get some in every bite! Typically I use Enjoy Life because they’re about the only vegan chocolate I can find at the grocery store; they are also delicious!

Crust

• TVP – Textured Vegetable Protein – this is just de-fatted soy flour! It has other names it can go by such as soy mince, textured soy protein. TVP is a shelf-stable ingredient that’s usually near the gluten-free flour options at the grocery store or you can just buy it online. I typically use the brand Bob’s Red Mill, but there are a lot of good options! For this recipe, just make sure you buy the small granules!
• Ground Flax Seed – this is my preferred egg replacement for this recipe. If you have one you like better, feel free to use that instead! I like ground flax because it’s cheap, shelf-stable and easy to use. You just add water, mix it up and wait about five minutes and you end up with a gooey egg replacement.
• Brown Sugar – if you’re trying to cut back on sugar, you could probably use a sugar alternative or a sweetened protein powder.
• Cocoa Powder – I like making this crust a nice subtle chocolatey flavor, so cocoa powder is a must!
• Salt – adjust to taste.
• Flour – I used all purpose for this, but I think any gluten-free flour could work just as well.

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 350F.
• In a small bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons of ground flax seed with 9 tablespoons of water. Let sit for a minimum of 5 minutes. It should turn into a really gooey substance that we will use for our vegan egg replacement.

Making the Filling

• In the food processor, pulverize those Biscoff cookies until they are a powder and can be easily stirred into your filling. If you want it super Biscoff-y, feel free to add more here.
• In a high powered blender, blend the tofu until very smooth and creamy.
• In a large bowl, pour the blended tofu out. Stir in the vanilla
• Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl (if you don’t have a sifter, you don’t necessarily need to sift this, I just think it makes the filling creamier and smoother). Whisk together well.
• Add in the biscoff powder, flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together well until it is creamy and well mixed; there should be no lumps.
• Stir in the chocolate chips.

Making the Crust

• In a medium size bowl, mix all of the ingredients listed in the crust section together. I literally just used a fork and make sure everything is very well mixed. The crust “dough” should be slightly wet but mostly just pliable

Assembly

• In a deep pie pan, dump your crust “dough” and evenly smooth it out on the bottom of the pan and up the sides. I use the back of a spoon for this. Just press down and smooth it out until it’s evenly distributed.
• Pour your cheesecake filling on top of the crust and smooth out evenly.
• Bake in oven for 40 – 50 minutes. It should be pretty firm when it’s down with a slight jiggle left in the middle of the cheesecake.
• Let it cool at room temperature (on the counter) for 2 hours. If you put it directly in the fridge, the filling tends to crack more.
• Move to fridge for another 2 hours until completely cooled down, or eat it at room temp!

Silly Little Haiku

Biscoff is elite

Silken tofu for cheesecakes

It’s a game changer