Dairy-Free Marble Cheesecake

I told you guys I would be back with more cheesecake recipes! This one is incredibly delicious. Or as Bill would say, “diabolical“.

I was considering trying to make an Oreo Cheesecake, but I felt like that might be a stretch. I really felt like I would need to use gluten-free Oreo type cookies, which we ALL know are sold at Whole Foods. Don’t tell me you’ve never walked through the cookie aisle at WFM and considered buying those, and eating the whole package. I know I have.

I felt like I could keep things slanted more toward Paleo by doing a marble cheesecake. I do have a recipe for Crispy Chocolate Cookies, which you can absolutely use for this recipe, but I loved using Simple Mills cookies, because not only are they delicious, but they are small and cute, and perfect for decorating the top of your cheesecake! They also eliminate one step of cooking, which is huge when you are baking a cheesecake.

I used one whole box of cookies for the crust, and then dove into a second box for the topping. I would have used both boxes for the crust, so that I could bring the crust up the sides like I did with the Lemon Cheesecake, but I wanted to make sure that I had enough cookies left for the topping. Next time around, I will try this recipe in a 6 inch cake pan, which is my favorite size for baking cakes, because I did want it to be just slightly taller. I did not whip the egg whites for this recipe, so the batter was not as tall as the Lemon Cheesecake. It still turned out beautifully!

This recipe was really fun to make, and even more fun to eat! The next time we need to bring a dessert to an event, this is the one I will be bringing!

Enjoy!
-Hayley

This delicious cheesecake is fun to make, and even more fun to eat! This is a great dessert to serve at a holiday or family gathering, and will have your guests coming back for more.

Serves: 12

Ingredients

5.5 oz 5.5 oz 5.5 oz Double Chocolate Crunchy Cookies (Simple Mills), plus additional cookies for the topping
3 Tbsp 3 Tbsp 3 Tbsp Organic [*Spectrum Brand, sustainably sourced] Palm Oil Shortening
16 oz 16 oz 16 oz Kite Hill "Cream Cheese" - Original
1 cup 1 cup 1 cup Coconut Cream, All of the cream from the can of coconut milk, which equals about a scant cup.
1 tsp 1 tsp 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup 1 cup 1 cup Maple Sugar, granulated
1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp Himalayan Pink Salt
4 whole 4 whole 4 whole Pastured Eggs
1/4 cup 1/4 cup 1/4 cup Organic Cocoa Powder

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Pour the contents of one box of Simple Mills cookies into a mini chop, and pulse until the cookies are a fine meal.
Add 3 tablespoons of palm shortening, and pulse again until you have a crumbly dough.
Pour the dough into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form cake pan, and press into an even layer across the bottom.
Place the cake pan on a cookie sheet, and bake for 8 minutes.
Remove from the oven, and allow to cool.
Lower the oven temperature to 300.
In a high speed blender, or food processor, combine the Kite Hill cream cheese, coconut cream, vanilla, maple sugar, salt, and eggs. Blend on high until smooth.
Pour 3/4 of the batter into a medium size mixing bowl.
Add the cocoa powder to the remaining 1/4 of batter, and blend on high until evenly combined.
Pour half of the vanilla batter into the cake pan, and pour a few dollops of the chocolate batter on top. Using a butter knife, swirl the chocolate into the vanilla.
Repeat this process with the remaining batter.
Bake at 300 for 30 minutes, then turn the heat up to 325, and bake for a remaining 25 minutes.
Allow the cheesecake to cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
Top the cheesecake with whipped coconut cream, and additional chocolate cookies if desired,