These delicious vegan mini mango cheesecakes are made with a date-walnut-coconut base that’s accented with ginger, and a cashew, maple, mango, and cardamom filling.

Way back in the fall of 2016, when I lived in a student apartment building, I would sometimes host Friday dessert and board game nights with my roommates and some European exchange students. It gave me a good reason to try my hand at some of the vegan dessert recipes from food blogs like Oh She Glows and Minimalist Baker that I was perpetually drooling over. And, of course, the company was good, the games fun, the conversation enjoyable, and the feeling of togetherness and hygge certainly helped me through my first few months of living away from home. It’s really hard to believe that four years have passed since those days, and much has changed. What’s remained the same, however, is my love of the social aspect of eating. I don’t find that I have a huge sweet tooth these days, but I still love sitting around the table and enjoying dessert with people. 🙂 It’s always a pleasurable and relaxing way to end the day.

The inspiration for these mini vegan mango cheesecakes came to me like a lightning strike, which, thankfully, has been happening quite often lately. (Knock on wood, haha.) I’d been talking about making a variation on my chocolate cheesecakes for awhile, and with very ripe mango on my countertop, it was a no-brainer. Mango, being a tropical fruit, pairs beautifully with cashews, cardamom, and coconut oil as a vegan cheesecake filling, atop a base made of walnuts, coconut, dates, ginger, salt, and coconut oil.

You might be wondering why I keep making mini cheesecakes instead of a regular-sized cheesecake like a normal person. The reason is that I am somehow still without a springform pan! I should put that on my list of things to buy ASAP. But in the meantime, I’m quite enamoured with the mini format. They’re not only adorable, but also conveniently in individual serving sizes already. Thus, the sometimes finicky step of slicing the cheesecake is eliminated!

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED

FOR THE CRUST: Walnuts, shredded coconut, pitted Medjool dates, ginger, sea salt, and coconut oil.
FOR THE FILLING: Soaked cashews, pure maple syrup (or agave or even raw honey if you eat it), non-dairy milk, coconut oil, lemon juice, mango, cardamom, and turmeric.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

MAKE THE CRUST: Add the walnuts, coconut, dates, ginger, salt, and coconut oil to a food processor fitted with the ‘S’ blade. Process until crumbly and the mixture holds together easily.
Line a muffin tin with 6 paper cups. Divide the walnut date mixture between the cups and press down firmly into the bottoms of the cups.
MAKE THE MANGO CASHEW FILLING: Add soaked cashews, maple syrup, non-dairy milk, coconut oil, lemon juice, mango, cardamom, and turmeric to an upright blender. (I recommend a powerful blender, such as a Vitamix or Blendtec, for best results.) Blend until ultra smooth, pausing to scrape down the sides as needed. This will take a couple of minutes, so protect your ears and be patient!
Pour the mango cashew filling over the crusts.
Transfer the muffin pan into the freezer and freeze until firm, at least two hours.
Remove cheesecakes from the freezer 5-10 minutes before serving to allow them to soften, if desired.
Store any leftover cheesecakes in an airtight container in the freezer.

I hope you love these vegan mini mango cheesecakes! If you make them, let me know how you enjoyed them by leaving a comment and rating below. And if you post a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen.

Enjoy!