Craving strawberry cheesecake AND strawberry crumble? These Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake Crumble Bars have the best of both worlds! Rich, creamy, and sweet, they’re a wonderful dessert for any celebration.
Have the best strawberry season ever with these cheesecake bars, as well as my Easy Vegan Strawberry Shortcake, Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes, and Strawberry Rolls recipes!
These Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake Crumble Bars are like a strawberry cheesecake and strawberry crumble mash-up. The goodness of both crowd-pleasing summer baked goods goes into these bars, making each one delightfully sweet, creamy, rich, and fruity.
To make them, a creamy yet light and airy vegan cheesecake filling is poured over a graham cracker crust before it’s topped with strawberries and a sweet crumble topping. The bars are baked until lightly golden, then placed in the fridge to set. Slice ‘em up after a few hours and enjoy!
These bars are especially perfect when you don’t want to make an entire cheesecake. The recipe makes approximately 12 bars, so there’s enough for everyone at the get-together or summer celebration! Or, store them for later and enjoy one whenever a craving hits.
Why you’ll love these strawberry cheesecake bars
- Two great desserts come together – The creamy richness of vegan cheesecake is combined with sweet, fruity, and lightly crisp strawberry crumble in these delicious cheesecake crumble bars.
- Celebrate strawberry season – With fresh strawberries in every bite, they’re a must-make during summertime, AKA strawberry season!
- Perfect for a crowd – Pass these handheld cheesecake bars around at the pool party, baby shower, July 4th celebration, or any occasion.
How to make vegan strawberry cheesecake crumble bars
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Stir the graham cracker crumbs, melted vegan butter, and sugar together in a medium bowl until it resembles moist crumbs. Press them into the bottom of a square baking pan.
Next, beat the vegan cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth. Beat in the coconut cream, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, and lemon juice until creamy and smooth. Pour the filling over the crust in the pan, then top it with the diced strawberries.
Stir the flour, brown sugar, and melted vegan butter together in a small bowl to make the crumble. Sprinkle it over the strawberries.
Bake the crumble cheesecake bars until the cheesecake filling is set but still slightly jiggly. Set the bars aside to cool, then place them in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Once they’re cool and fully set, slice them into squares and enjoy!
To make these bars completely irresistible, drizzle the homemade strawberry sauce from my Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake recipe or add a dollop of vegan whipped cream on top right before serving.
Frequently asked questions
Nope! Feel free to make these bars with fresh raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or pitted and sliced stone fruit, like cherries, plums, or peaches, instead.
I found that Tofutti and Miyoko’s vegan cream cheese worked best in this recipe. Just like in my Vegan Cheesecake recipe, Violife and Trader Joe’s vegan cream cheese do not work here and will likely make the filling very soupy.
Sure. Make the crust with the almond crust from my Cashew Cheesecake recipe or replace the graham cracker crust with gluten-free graham crackers or gluten-free ginger cookies. For the crumble, use gluten-free flour instead of regular all-purpose flour.
For the best results, serve the bars after the filling has set or else the crumble will start to lose its crisp texture and become soggy. If you end up with leftover cheesecake bars, you can wrap them individually in plastic and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake Crumble Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups vegan graham cracker crumbs
- 5 tablespoons melted vegan butter
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
Cream Cheese Filling
- 16 ounces vegan cream cheese, Tofutti or Miyoko's (2 containers) do NOT use Trader Joe's
- 1/2 cup coconut cream or dairy free yogurt
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Toppings
- 2 cups fresh diced strawberries
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 5 tablespoons melted vegan butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9 inch square pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, add the graham cracker crumbs, melted vegan butter and sugar and stir until it resembles moist crumbs. Press them down into the bottom of the prepared pan, evenly and firmly.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment (or a handheld mixer), beat the vegan cream cheese until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Now add the coconut cream, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla and lemon juice and beat until creamy and smooth, scraping the sides as needed.
- Pour into the pan over the crust and spread evenly. Top with the diced strawberries.
- In a small bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar and melted vegan butter for the crumbly topping.
- Sprinkle the crumb topping on top of the strawberries.
- Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. The cheesecake will still look jiggly, but it will firm up as it cools.
- Let cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, if possible.
- Use the parchment paper to remove the bars from the pan, slice into squares and serve.
Notes
-
Tofutti and Miyoko’s brand vegan cream cheese are the best here. A lot of brands do not work, like Violife, Trader Joe’s and others. I can only guarantee the brands I’ve had success with, which are Tofutti and Miyokos.
- For gluten free, use gluten free graham crackers or a similar type cookie, or my almond crust.
Could you add more cornstarch in order to make the cheesecake consistency thicker? These will be sitting out of the fridge for a while and I don’t want them to completely lose their shape. Thanks!!
You probably could but I’m not sure it’s necessary; they are quite firm once you’ve chilled them.
I see the notes say Violife doesn’t work, but has anyone tried it with the new Violife blocks yet??
I just found a block of Violife which is so yummy, but the ingredients looks almost identical to me so I don’t believe it will work for baking. I could be wrong. I haven’t tried it myself yet.
Great recipe! These were described as “the best dessert I’ve ever made” by more than one person. I used Tofutti, raspberries instead of strawberries, and a 8×8 pan so I added 5 mins to the baking time. They freeze well and need to be kept in the fridge or freezer to keep their shape.
Really good, I used philadelphia brand vegan cream cheese and it worked well (although the filling turned out as more of pudding consistency than cheesecake)
Great recipe Nora. Thank you so much. I am a big fan of your recipes in general.
Dee
In case anyone was wondering the dairy free Philadelphia cream cheese did not work for me, it was a soupy mess. Love your recipes Nora! Almost made them all! 🙂
These were outstanding. I followed the recipe exactly except used black mulberries instead of strawberries. Tofutti cream cheese and trader Joe’s plain cashew coconut yogurt. They would be great to bring to a dinner/party, can’t imagine anyone not liking them. thank you so much for another great recipe Nora
You are welcome, Harriet! Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful ideas and review! They sound delicious with mulberries! Wishing you happy cooking!
These were really delicious! I plan to make them again and would love to try with raspberries. I used Siggi’s dairy-free strawberry yogurt in the filling, which worked great. My only note is the strawberries on top were still a bit runny after setting in the fridge for 8 hours, so when I make it again, I will aim for more like 12+ hours for it to set in the fridge.