High Protein Vegan Oreo Cheesecake

If you haven’t tried making a high protein cheesecake with silken tofu yet, this is your sign! I also use TVP to make the crust in this recipe. I know that’s a little too weird for some people, so you can always follow this recipe and just replace the crust with a normal graham cracker crust or maybe an Oreo cookie crust! I personally really like a TVP crust – it’s got a little more bite than a normal crust but I think it holds together well, has a nice subtle chocolatey flavor, and adds a significant amount of protein to the recipe. You will not be judged if you opt out for a cookie crust though 🙂

This high protein Oreo cheesecake recipe is actually really simple and quick to make; maybe most importantly, it’s hard to screw up! We use silken tofu for the filling, which can be found in most grocery stores and is typically shelf stable. If you can’t find it at your local store, it can also be purchased online! TVP is used for the high protein crust. While typically used in savory recipes, I use it in baked goods all the time and it works really well because it’s soy-based and doesn’t have much of it’s own flavor. TVP is also shelf stable and can be purchased in most grocery stores or online!

If a high protein cheesecake sounds interesting to you, but this flavor isn’t your favorite, I’ve got a few other recipes as well that you could try! I really like to have one of these around for a high protein snack. It’s also a great way to get to eat dessert every day while still hitting your protein goals!

Ingredients

Cheesecake Filling

• Extra Firm Silken Tofu – I really like to use the brand Mori-Nu for this. This brand makes shelf-stable silken tofu that can be found in most grocery stores in the International Food isle (in the US at least) and can also be purchased online! They have a few different firmness levels; I usually end up with Extra Firm because it has more protein on a calorie basis than firm and it’s pretty easy to find at my stores. There are also refrigerated varieties of silken tofu; these will work too, but the water content may be higher than what I’m recommending.
• Powdered Sugar – I would recommend sifting the powdered sugar for this. If you’re trying to reduce your sugar intake, you could probably substitute a sugar alternative or a flavored/sweetened protein powder, but I have not tried this to make sure it works well.
• Vanilla Extract – a must have!
• Flour – I used all purpose flour for this, but I think a gluten-free flour could work just as well.
• Baking Powder – for the texture.
• Salt – adjust to taste.
• Oreo Cookies – I recommend using the regular, not the double stuffed.
• Chocolate Chips – I really like using mini chocolate chips because you’re more like to get some in each bite. Enjoy Life is the brand I most often use because I can actually find it at the store. Feel free to use your favorite brand!

Crust

• TVP – Textured Vegetable Protein is just de-fatted soy flour. It goes by some other names as well, depending on where you’re located – I’ve heard it called soy mince, textured soy protein, etc. I usually use the brand Bob’s Red Mill. There are lots of good brands though, so go with whichever one you like/can find. This is a shelf-stable product that’s normally over by the gluten-free flour alternatives, and you can also buy it online. Just make sure to get the small granules and not the big chunks for this recipe.
• Ground Flax Seed – this is my egg replacement of choice when I bake! It’s a shelf stable ingredient that’s pretty cheap and easy to use. Just add water, mix and in a couple of minutes you get a gooey egg replacement!
• Brown Sugar – I like to use brown sugar for this, but if you’re trying to cut back on sugar you could probably use a sugar alternative or sweetened protein powder.
• Cocoa Powder – I think this is a must for a chocolatey crust.
• Salt – adjust to taste.
• Flour – I used all purpose but any kind of flour would likely work just fine!

Instructions

• Pre-heat the 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 form a gooey substance that will act as our vegan egg replacement.

Making the Filling

• In the food processor, pulverize the Oreo cookies until they are a powder and can be easily stirred into your filling.
• In a high powered blender, blend the tofu until very smooth and creamy.
• In a large bowl, pour the blended tofu out of blender. Stir in the vanilla. I usually use a whisk for this.
• 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 Oreo powder, flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together well until it is creamy and well mixed; there should be no lumps.

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. It should be a little 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 just use the back of a spoon and press everything down until it’s smooth and evenly spread out.
• Pour your cheesecake filling on top of the crust.
• Bake in oven for 40 – 50 minutes. It should be pretty firm when it’s done 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 right from the oven, the filling tends to crack a lot more – science I guess.
• Move to fridge for another 2 hours until completely cooled down (or eat at room temp – your choice!) Then serve!

Silly Little Haiku

Aren’t we so lucky?

Oreo cream is vegan

Thank you Oreo