Recipes

Making a vegan snickers cheesecake: the market recipe

Three layers: a date-and-nut base, creamy peanut butter–date caramel and dark chocolate ganache. Fully plant-based and sweetened with dates and maple syrup — the recipe as I make it myself for the market in Almere.

July 16, 2026 · 60 min · 8 pieces

Vegan snickers cheesecake bars with dark chocolate ganache, cashew crumble, dates and cashews on baking paper

Of all the cakes I sell at the Saturday market in Almere, this is the one people raise their eyebrows at most: a snickers cheesecake that's fully plant-based and sweetened with dates and maple syrup. No cream cheese, no whipped cream, no refined sugar in the filling. And yet it tastes exactly as you hope: caramel, peanut and dark chocolate.

This is the recipe as I make it myself — no adapted “home version”, just the same three layers, from a rectangular loaf tin — good for 8 slices.

Cross-section of a vegan snickers cheesecake bar with date caramel and peanut filling
This is how I make them myself: bars from a rectangular loaf tin. A round springform tin of ±18 cm works too.

How this cake works

The cake consists of three layers, and none of them needs the oven:

  • The base — cashews, almonds and dates, blended to a sticky dough. The dates bind, the nuts give bite.
  • The caramel layer — the heart of the cake. Soaked dates and cashews, blended with peanut butter and soy milk to a thick, creamy date caramel. This is the layer that makes it “snickers”.
  • The ganache — dark chocolate melted with coconut milk. Glossy, firm in the fridge, melts on your tongue.

Where it goes wrong (and how to prevent it)

Two things decide whether this cake works. One: really soak the dates and cashews for the caramel layer for at least 2 hours. Soaked too briefly means a grainy layer, however good your blender is. Two: patience between the layers. Each layer must be firm before the next goes on, otherwise they sink into each other. The freezer is your friend.

Use peanut butter with 100% peanuts — no added sugar or palm oil. That really makes a difference to the taste of the caramel layer.

Allergens

This cake contains nuts, peanuts and soy. It's made without gluten-containing ingredients, but in a home kitchen it may contain traces of gluten due to environmental contact — not recommended for people with coeliac disease or severe gluten allergy.

Prefer ready-made?

Every Saturday I'm at the market in Almere, Stadhuisplein, with this cake (by the slice). Want a whole cake for a birthday or party? Then look at ordering a cake. And if you love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, but want something for on the go: the Choco Peanut Butter Power Balletjes in the webshop are made from almost the same ingredients. Our Dubai Pistachio Cheesecake — the same no-bake base, different filling — you can order online.

Questions about the recipe? Ask them on Instagram @adabakesnl — I read everything myself.