5 Step Vegan Cheesecake (made with cashews)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Boil your cashews by adding 4 cups of cashews into a medium or large saucepan, cover them with water and bring the pot to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a low boil and cover. Cook for 25 minutes until the cashews are soft, mushy, and have soaked up most of the water. Drain the cashews and set aside.

While waiting for the cashews to boil, prepare pie crust. If making the graham cracker pie crust - crush the graham crackers until they are fine and then mixing them with the sugar and butter. If making the vegan and gluten free oatmeal pie crust (my favorite), mix the oats, flour, melted vegan butter, and sugar together. Pack either mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan and bake for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl add boiled cashews, cream cheese, coconut whipped cream, sugar, almond milk, lemon juice, and vanilla to a large bowl. Use a handheld immersion blender to blend the contents of the bowl together until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Pour the mixture over the pie crust and return to the oven. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until the edges are golden. It will still look soft in the middle, this is ok. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool. Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours before serving! For best results, refrigerate overnight.