Cranberry Orange Cheesecakes (dairy-free)

Mini cranberry orange cheesecakes that are dairy and gluten free—an easy and stunning addition to your holiday dessert table! With a cinnamon spiced crumb crust, a creamy baked citrus cheesecake filling made with cashews, coconut milk, and fresh orange juice, and a tangy cranberry topping. Garnish with sugared cranberries for a fun, festive individually-sized sweet treat recipe!

The fruitiest flavor combination of the holiday season—it’s bright and tart and citrusy-sweet and so good in mini cheesecake form! Because it’s cozy season, I still snuck some warm spices into the crust to compliment the fruit-forward flavor up top. And instead of one big cheesecake I opted to make them mini because a) they bake faster and b) they are better for sharing. It’s a dairy-free and gluten-free recipe that will be the perfect addition to any holiday dessert table—Thanksgiving or Christmas.

How To Make Baked Cranberry Orange Cheesecakes Without Dairy

This is a baked cheesecake recipe, but it still comes together super quick in the blender and bakes in half the time of a full cheesecake thanks to the single-serve muffin pan size. Plus no water bath required! Let’s break it down layer by layer…

Gluten-Free Spiced Maple Cereal Crust

The crust is not just a forgotten base for the cheesecake layers to come, I packed lots of yummy flavor into this crunchy crumbly layer too. A typical cranberry orange cheesecake might come with a gingersnap or biscoff cookie crust, so I mimicked that texture and flavor but with healthier and gluten-free swaps. Toasted brown rice cereal creates the crumb texture, coconut oil replaces the typical butter, ground cinnamon and ginger add warm winter flavor, maple syrup adds cozy sweetness, and a pinch of salt to round it all out.

Dairy-Free Baked Orange Cheesecake Filling

There are a few different creamy components involved in making a rich, luscious cheesecake without dairy or eggs. Raw cashews are a classic trick used in vegan cheesecake recipes, especially no-bake versions, but personally I find the flavor can be overpowering if that is the only base ingredient. So I like to blend the cashews with full-fat coconut cream and dairy-free cream cheese. That mix comes out ULTRA smooth and creamy with a little cheesecake tang, plus no one flavor is too strong so the citrus flavor we want comes to the forefront. For this dairy-free cheesecake filling you will need:

• Raw cashews. Roasted or salted will not work, they need to be raw and they need to be soaked either overnight (any temperature water) or at least 3 hours in hot water.
• Coconut cream. From a can, but you can shake it up and use all of it not just the solid part. You could also try full-fat coconut yogurt or greek yogurt instead.
• Dairy-free cream cheese. This ingredient is pretty easy to find and affordable these days, I personally buy the Violife sticks from Walmart. Make sure it’s softened to room temperature before blending so there are no chunks.
• Orange juice and orange zest. Fresh juice is best and has a LOT more flavor, so juice your own if possible. The zest imparts a lot of delicious bright citrus flavor too.
• Tapioca starch. Since this recipe is vegan friendly and made without eggs, the tapioca starch helps the filling set properly in their place. Corn starch or arrowroot would be fine too as a 1-for-1 substitution.
• Cane sugar. A granulated sweetener works best here, maple syrup or agave would add too much liquid and mess up the cheesecake texture.
• Vanilla extract. Fragrant and sweet to complement the citrus flavor.
• Coconut oil. You could skip this, it’s only a couple of tablespoons, but it does make the texture slightly better so I like to include it.

This filling comes together with just a push of the buttons on your blender. Then divide into the muffin cups, filling each almost to the top but leaving a little room for the cranberry topping to come, and bake for just 25ish minutes. You don’t need to use a water bath for baking this recipe, I didn’t use one, but you can if you want. The middles will fall a little after baking without, but I find that holds the cranberry sauce perfectly.

Easy Cranberry Topping

Thick like a compote but smooth like a sauce, this tart cranberry topping comes together in just a few minutes on the stovetop. You can certainly leave it chunky with soft juicy cranberry pieces spooned on top of the chilled cheesecakes just before serving. But personally I prefer to blend after cooking to create a really smooth, thick, saucy topping for the cheesecakes with a bold tart-sweet flavor. Fresh cranberries combine with orange juice and zest to complement the cheesecake filling flavor below. Cane sugar sweetener up these naturally tart berries, and a slurry of tapioca starch helps the sauce thicken a little more at the end. You can skip the slurry—your sauce might drip down the sides a bit, but will still be super delicious.

Recipe FAQs

More Holiday Cranberry Recipes You’ll Love

• Cranberry Gingerbread Crumb Bars
• Gluten-Free Orange Cranberry Bundt Cake

If you try these Cranberry Orange Cheesecakes, let me know what you think by leaving a comment or rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook for even more yummy recipes!

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