Eggnog cheesecake (lactose free, no-bake recipe)

By Ola on December 13, 2019 • ( 4 Comments )

no bake eggnog cheesecake (lactose free) in dim lighting

Enjoy as delicious dairy free eggnog cheesecake bars or a round classic eggnog cheesecake

Dairy free Eggnog cheesecake with a gingersnap or graham cookie crust is one of those classic Christmas desserts and now it’s made lactose free, dairy free, vegan (it’s raw-egg-free), gluten free and allergen free.

You can make it Paleo by using a nut based cream cheese and grinding up paleo cookies or making a raw nut and date crust or almond flour maple syrup crust.

This dairy-free, eggless eggnog mousse cheesecake is a fusion of eggnog cheesecake with eggnog mousse cake for a super fluffy, airy cake. I first tried making these a lactose free cheese cake, but since lactose free cheese is sold in tiny tubs, even with 2 tubs, it was not a dense enough cake, so to help hold its shape and firm up, I added a little gelatin (or agar agar for vegan). Its still a cheese cake but the tart cream cheese flavor is more subtle as its mixed with a lot of coconut whipped cream (and of course eggnog spices, so it no longer tastes overtly coconuty, its just the right amount of tartness to sweeteness and coconuty eggnog flavour.

Super easy foolproof no-bake homemade dairy free coconut-based Eggnog “cheese”cake made with vegan cream cheese or lactose free cream cheese, coconut whipped cream for an almost eggnog mousse-like fluffy texture and eggnog spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. And whether you choose to spike it and add a spoon of dark rum to the cake and/or top it with dark rum caramel sauce, is up to you. Nestled on a graham or gingersnap cookie crust (or for paleo sub, on a raw nut crust), its a pure delicious eggnog dessert for the Christmas holiday dessert season!

This coconut eggnog mousse cheese cake is made from scratch without store-bought eggnog, but with the spices ingredients that go in vegan eggnog, so no raw eggs, nor preservatives. And the coconut cream is a great substitute for heavy cream in a mousse cake like this one.

This ain’t no cashew cheesecake! Gloriously cashew-free cheesecake (and nut free) and without needing a freezer, this eggnog mousse cheesecake is the real thing, so fluffly and it has just the right texture and tartness from cream cheese offset by sweetness.

So how does lactose free cream cheese taste and do in a “cheese”cake? lactose free cream cheese has the same flavor and texture of cream cheese only a bit sweeter (like lactose free milk the lactose sugar in the milk is already broken down with an enzyme hence it has a sweeter taste). vegan cream cheese/cheeze like by Daiya or tofutti also works to be totally dairy free and vegan. I used some icing sugar and maple syrup in this cake so the combo of cream cheese and icing sugar give it almost an eggnog icing flavor when mixing, but once it sets, everything solidifies and the flavor becomes beautifully infused.

* gingersnap cookies can be used for a gingersnap cookie crust however they are harder and may stick to the pan more than a graham cookie crust, so i just used graham cookie crumbs with added ginger and cinnamon for a homemade gingersnap crust

eggnog cheesecake dairy free vegan — this lactose free eggnog mousse cheese cake is so light and fluffy!

Ingredients

graham cookie crust or gingerbread/gingersnap cookie crust:

1/2 cup vegan butter from almost a whole vegan butter stick (i used almost one buttery stick from a pack of 4, or sub coconut oil with varied results)
heaping 1.5 cups graham cookie crumbs or gingersnap* crumbs (or about 20 graham crackers, check label for dairy free graham cookie crumbs or gf/free from)
1 tsp granulated sugar, optional (a tbsp can be used if using parchment paper, since sugar sticks to the pan, regular sugar or coconut sugar)
tsp cinnamon
optional pinch of ground ginger
Liquid coconut oil (regular may solidify in the fridge) or Nonstick spray for greasing the pan well if not using parchment paper

Cream “cheese” filling:

heaping 2 cups of coconut cream from 2 cans of coconut cream, chilled at least 4 hrs and top solid cream part only (liquid drained )
400 g/approx 2 cups lactose free cream cheese or vegan cream cheese or nut based cream cheese for paleo cheesecake (or regular cream cheese) from 2x 200g containers
6-7 tbsp maple syrup ( to sweetness preference)
6.5- 8 3/4 tbsp icing sugar (to taste, to make it refined sugar free you can use all maple syrup, just the consistency may slightly change, but it will be delicious)
11/3 tbsp. gelatin (from 1 1/3 of a gelatin pouch, vegan sub 2 2/3 tbsp agar agar flakes or 2 2/3 tsp agar agar powder)
11/2-2 tsp ground nutmeg (to taste, adds a strong refreshing eggnog flavor, less for subtle flavor)
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste, adds sweeter flavor)
1/3 tsp ground cloves or sub ground mace (or more to taste)
3/4 tsp cardamom (or more to taste for chai nog flavor)
optional, 1 tbsp dark rum
1 tbsp vanilla extract
8″ springform (i realize the link is for a 9″ because the 8″ has gotten inflated in price and I suggest this pan as its anodized aluminum so no-bake desserts which are liquidy won’t react with the metal and create grey smears), lightly greased with coconut oil or a loaf pan lined with parchment paper
maple sweetened coconut whip with optional cinnamon sprinkle, for topping
toasted coconut or regular shredded coconut for topping, i even stirred a tiny bit into the filling

Directions

if using whole graham cookies (or making a raw crust), pulse them in a food processor. or save yourself the trouble and pickup a bag of graham cookie crumbs. mix the crumbs, sugar and vegan butter plus cinnamon and ginger in a mixing bowl until well mixed and pinchable.
grease a springform pan or line a loaf pan with parchment paper (with enough room on each side to easily pull it out) and pour the graham mixture in. use the bottom of a heavy glass to press it down evenly. chill crust for 30 minutes.
in the meantime whip the cream cheese and chilled coconut cream (only the solid part not the liquid), icing sugar and maple syrup, vanilla and spices using an electric mixer, for about 4 minutes until fluffy and free of clumps. adjust spices and sweetener to taste depending how “spiced up” and eggnogy you like your eggnog cheesecake and how sweet ( if you make it so at first it may taste just a touch too cinnamony, then when it sets it infuses in the flavor and the sweetness seems to decrease a bit once set from tasting like icing to tasting like cake. I used lactose-free cream cheese which has a naturally sweet taste, for vegan cream cheese like Tofutti adjust accordingly with sweetener and spices to taste.)
place gelatin in a small bowl and add a splash of cold water only enough to cover it fully, let it bloom (let it sit) for 5 minutes. then microwave it until its just dissolved (if you have a new powerful microwave you may need to do less than 5 seconds to not overcook it, for older microwaves it can be 10-16 secs or more. the gelatin should be smooth and fully dissolved but not brought to boiling. if you have a powerful microwave and it clumps up that means you over-microwaved it.) (for agar agar sub you will want to cook the agar in a tiny bit of water in a saucepan over low heat for a few minutes, stirring smooth any clumps, before incorporating it. this can also be done with gelatin over low heat without bringing it to a boil, and is a good idea if your microwave is too strong)
add a tbsp. of the gelatin or agar to the eggnog mixture and stir it in with a spoon. this is called tempering. now add the rest of the gelatin or agar into the eggnog mixture and stir it well making sure there are no clumps.
pull out the chilled crust. I like to line the bottom of the spring form pan with aluminum foil or to put it on a sheet pan just in case of spills, though its rare to spill much.
pour the filling over the crust, smooth with spatula if needed. cover top of pan and place it in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight. to serve remove the sides of springform or pull out the parchment paper if using a loaf pan as below, and serve with coconut whip, toasted coconut and rum caramel sauce.

see my rum caramel sauce or dulce caramel recipe (same recipe with variations) to top this eggnog cheese cake with some rum caramel sauce or dulce caramel!

*paleo sub graham cookies with soft paleo graham cookies or a raw nut crust made with walnuts and almonds and maple syrup plus a little medjool dates and cinnamon. Or use an almond flour based sponge for best results. nut crusts are hard and can stick to the bottom of the pan and mousse cakes are delicate so you don’t wanna pry too much. another paleo option is to make it crustless end enjoy this as cheese cake flavored eggnog mousse in a bowl! and use lactose free cream cheese to be soy free

For an allergen free, gluten free cheesecake get “Free from” graham cookies for the cookie crust

dairy free eggnog mousse — eggnog mousse cheesecake

Enjoy this coconuty lactose-free/dairy-free eggnog cheesecake!

For more Christmas desserts and Christmas recipes check out my holiday spread menu, which includes a creamy vegan coconut eggnog.

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