This easy Vegan Streusel Muffins recipe combines crunchy crumble cake and creamy cheesecake into one delicious dessert that is eggless and dairy-free but tastes like the Original! These portable mini cheesecakes are easier to make than you think and require only a few simple ingredients.
The Best Vegan Cheesecake Streusel Muffins Recipe
Cheesecake for breakfast? Or muffins for dessert? Whatever the case may be, anything with cheesecake on it is a huge YES for me! And can be for you too with this easy Cheesecake Crumble Muffins recipe. These buttery muffins with a surprise creamy cheesecake center and crunchy sweet crumbles on top will certainly put a smile on your face first thing in the morning and will satisfy your sweet cravings for dessert! They are so good – you will find yourself munching on them all day long!
They might look like they come straight from a bakery window display – but you will be pleasantly surprised to know that they are very easy to make with a very simple ingredient list. The cheesecake filling is obviously not made of cream cheese, heavy cream or sour cream, but this vegan version still captures the tangy and creamy goodness of traditional New York Cheesecake even without the egg and dairy! Plus, these can be made ahead of time, so you can make an entire batch to store for later.
Ingredients Needed and Substitutions
For the Dough and Streusel
- Flour: you can use all-purpose flour, spelt flour or gluten-free flour.
- Baking powder: this will give the muffins the height and fluffiness they need!
- Sugar: you can use any type of sugar for this recipe. Brown sugar will give them a deeper sweetness and added moisture.
- Vegan butter: make sure they are chilled when added with the rest of the ingredients. You can dice them first and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to use them.
- Cold water: this will help give the dough and crumbles the right texture and consistency as you knead.
- Salt: just a pinch.
For the Cheesecake Filling
- Vegan quark: you can use any brand you like. This will give the cheesecake filling a tangy flavor and rich texture. You can also use thick dairy-free yogurts like Greek or Styr.
- Dairy-free cream: you can use soy or coconut cream for this recipe.
- Sugar: or any other sweetener of your choice.
- Cornstarch: this will help in keeping the cheesecake filling stable and firm.
- Vanilla extract
- Lemon zest: this is optional, but will give the filling a fresh and bright flavor!
How to make Streusel Cheesecake Muffins
As always, I recommend checking out the recipe video and these step-by-step instructions first. Then you can find the full recipe with the exact measurements in the recipe card below!
Step 1: Make the dough
Start by combining flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Then add vegan butter and a little water to the dry ingredients and knead with your hands to form a smooth shortcrust pastry. Wrap 1/3 of the dough in cling foil and refrigerate.
Roll out the remaining 2/3 of the dough on a lightly floured work surface and cut out circles. Then place in greased muffin tins and press down evenly. Prick the bottom a few times with a fork.
Step 2: Whip up the cheesecake filling
Mix all the ingredients for the cheesecake filling with an electric hand mixer until creamy. Spoon the cheesecake mixture into the muffin cups and crumble the remaining chilled streusel dough on top. Sprinkle with a little sugar if desired and bake at 356 °F (180 °C) for about 30-35 minutes.
Step 3: Allow to cool and enjoy!
Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool completely. They will still be soft after baking, but will firm up as they cool. It’s best to put them in the fridge for another 30 minutes to set. Carefully remove the vegan cheesecake muffins from the pan and enjoy!
Possible Variations
Another great thing about these delicious cheesecake streusel muffins is that they are easy to customize! You can add or change up a few things to keep your muffins from becoming boring or predictable! Here are some ideas for you to explore:
- Make them chocolatey! To make chocolate cheesecake.muffins, you can just add some cocoa powder like in my apple chocolate crumble cake. For the chocolate cheesecake filling, feel free to follow my vegan chocolate cheesecake recipe. However, you can also make a dreamy chocolate and vanilla version of these muffins using my Russian Chocolate Cheesecake recipe. I am sure all the chocolate lovers out there would go bonkers over them!
- Cinnamon Streusel. If you love cinnamon, add some cinnamon to the crumble dough.
- Fruits and berries. Make the cheesecake filling fruitier by adding different types of berries and fruits like blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, mango, mandarin, and lemon. Use whatever fruits are in season and enjoy them all year long.
- Add more flavors. You can also use flavored quark / thick yogurt, such as vanilla Skyr. If it is already sweetened, then I recommend adding less sugar.
- Poppy seeds. If you have tried my Cherry Crumble Cheesecake with Poppy seeds and loved it, then you can make a muffin version using this easy recipe.
- Make them gluten-free. Use a gluten-free flour blend instead of all-purpose or spelt flour.
Tips when Making Cheesecake Crumble Muffins
- Make sure that you press the shortcrust dough evenly into the prepared muffin pans. Do not make them too thin or the cheesecake filling might ooze out.
- Pricking the bottom of the shortcrust dough ensures that steam can escape during baking. This will give you perfectly baked and formed muffins.
- Do not overfill the muffin molds with the cheesecake filling or they might spill over during baking.
- You have to let the muffins cool completely and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to allow the filling to be fully set.
- To make the muffins sugar-free, you can use a sugar substitute.
Storing Notes
If you are making these ahead or storing leftovers, make sure to keep them in a sealed container. They will keep in a for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. However, you can also freeze them!
These Streusel Muffins with Cheesecake Filling are:
- Dairy-free and egg-free
- Gluten-free possible
- Easy and simple
- Super creamy
- Moist and fluffy
- Topped with crunchy crumbles
- Customizable
- Bakery-quality
- Perfect as breakfast snack and dessert!
More Recipes for Vegan Muffins and Cupcakes
- Apple Carrot Muffins
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
- Blueberry Crumble Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
- Vanilla Cupcakes
- Chocolate Cupcakes
- Berry Muffins
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
- Mini Apple Pies
Recipe Video
If you try this easy Vegan Cheesecake Crumble Muffins recipe, feel free to leave me a comment and a star rating! And if you take a photo of your mini streusel cheesecakes and share iton Instagram or Facebook, please tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka because I love seeing your creations! Happy baking! 🙂
Vegan Cheesecake Crumble Muffins
Author:You do not have a fitting cake pan at hand right now? Try my Cake Pan Conversion Calculator!
Ingredients
Streusel Dough
- 2 cups (240 g) flour all-purpose, spelt or gluten-free flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar type of choice
- 5.3 oz (150 g) vegan butter diced and chilled
- 2 tbsp cold water or as needed
Cheesecake Filling
- 14 oz (400 g) soy quark „Vegan Skyr“ or sub silken tofu or vegan cream cheese or another thick dairy-free yogurt
- ½ cup (120 ml) dairy-free cream e.g. soy cream or coconut milk
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar type of choice
- 3.5 tbsp (25 g) cornstarch
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp lemon zest optional to taste
Instructions
*Note: Check out the recipe video + step-by-step photos above!
- Preheat the oven to 356 °F (180 °C) and grease a 12-cup muffin pan (for easier removal, you can line the pan with paper liners).
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add the vegan butter pieces and a little water and knead with your hands to form a smooth shortcrust pastry. Wrap ⅓ of the dough in plastic wrap for the crumbles and place in the fridge.
- Roll out the remaining ⅔ of the dough on a lightly floured work surface and cut out circles. Then place in the prepared muffin cups and press down evenly. Prick the bottom a few times with a fork.
- Put all the ingredients for the cheesecake filling in a mixing bowl and mix with a hand-held electric mixer until creamy.
- Divide the cheesecake cream among the muffin cups. Remove the remaining ⅓ of dough from the fridge and crumble on top of the muffins. Sprinkle with a little sugar if desired and bake for about 30 minutes. Then turn off the oven and leave the muffins in for 5 minutes longer.
- Remove the muffins and let them cool completely. (They will still be soft after baking, but will firm up as they cool. It's best to put them in the fridge for another 30 minutes to set.)
- Carefully remove the cheesecake muffins from the pan and enjoy!
Notes
- To make a chocolate version, you can make the dough of my Apple Chocolate Crumble Cheesecake and the filling of my Chocolate Cheesecake.
- If you like you can add blueberries, mandarins or other fruits or poppy seeds to the cheesecake filling.
- To make the muffins gluten-free, you can use a gluten-free flour blend.
- You can also use flavored quark / thick yogurt, such as vanilla Skyr. If it is already sweetened, then I recommend adding less additional sugar.
- The muffins will keep in a sealed container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
- More information about the recipe are mentioned in the blog post above!
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