Learn how to make a delicious, vibrant and flavorful Vegan Almond Blueberry Cream Cheese with no cashews, no oil and no added sweetener! The color is gorgeous, the texture is smooth and creamy and the flavor is naturally sweet and delicious. Perfect on toast or bagels!
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VEGAN ALMOND BLUEBERRY CREAM CHEESE
I love, love making homemade vegan cream cheese recipes. I have tried many store-bought vegan cream cheeses and have not cared for any of them! They all taste so overly sour to me and nothing at all like a tangy, but well-balanced cream cheese that I used to love pre-vegan. Therefore, I prefer making my own. Not to mention, they are so much healthier!
The most popular cream cheese recipe on my blog is this 5 Ingredient Strawberry Cream Cheese. It is absolutely divine and so rich in strawberry flavor. I wanted to create a blueberry version, but decided to totally make a totally different type of recipe! That recipes uses cashews and yogurt, but since non-dairy yogurt can be hard to find for some and cashews are pricey, I put my thinking cap on.
This recipe has no cashews, but uses slivered, skinless almonds and lite coconut milk, lemon juice and vinegar and NO added sugar or sweetener of any kind! The secret is freeze-dried blueberries! They are so darn sweet, they honestly taste like candy. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s. Unbelievably delicious, so that the cream cheese needed no sweetener added whatsoever. And, NO, this will not work with fresh blueberries! If you want to use fresh, make this recipe instead.
But, this new vegan blueberry cream cheese is not only better, but easier and is for using dried blueberries only.
HOW TO MAKE ALMOND BLUEBERRY CREAM CHEESE
First, you will need to gather these 5 ingredients:
- toasted slivered almonds
- freeze-dried blueberries (fresh will NOT work here! I buy mine from Trader Joe’s but you can find these online too)
- canned lite coconut milk
- apple cider vinegar
- fresh lemon juice
To make, you must soak the almonds overnight. This is not a step that can be rushed or skipped. If you do, you will end up with a gritty cream cheese. Soak for 12 hours, the longer the better.
After soaking, drain and rinse and add them to a food processor. Process them into a fine crumble so they are not so big.
Add the dried blueberries, milk, vinegar, lemon juice and salt. Process for a minimum of 5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides a couple of times as needed. It will seem too gritty in the beginning, so process for several minutes and just be patient. It will eventually turn smooth and creamy, with a light, whipped texture. As seen in photo.
Tip: My processor did the job beautifully, but if you processor is not working, even after several minutes, you can try in your vitamix. I prefer the amount of space in a processor though, so I like to use it for cream cheese recipes that use a small amount of liquid.
Serve on bagels or toast for breakfast. Or, for a twist, add a dollop on top of ice cream!
OTHER VEGAN BREAKFAST RECIPES TO TRY:
- Best Vegan Fluffy Pancakes
- Vegan Gluten-free Chai Waffles
- Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Waffles
- Vegan Chocolate Crepes
- Vegan Gluten-free Buttermilk Pancakes
- Vegan Vanilla Cake Waffles
- Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- Fluffy Vegan Blueberry Pancakes
- Vegan Gluten-free Corn Flour Pancakes
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Almond Blueberry Cream Cheese
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (60g)
toasted slivered skinless almonds - 2/3 cup (160g) canned lite coconut milk, shaken first (I do not recommend other milks, as they will not be as rich or creamy and yield a runny texture, but SEE NOTES))
- 56 grams freeze-dried blueberries (I bought mine at Trader Joe's. Make sure they are freeze-dried, which are dry & crunchy, NOT the dried chewy ones.)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon (15g) fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- You must soak the almonds overnight. This is not a step that can be rushed or skipped. If you do, you will end up with a gritty cream cheese. Soak for 12 hours, the longer the better.
- After soaking, drain and rinse them well. Add them to a food processor. Process them into a fine crumble so they are no longer whole pieces.
- Add the dried blueberries, milk, vinegar, lemon juice and salt. Process for a minimum of 5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides a couple of times as needed. It will seem too gritty in the beginning, so process for several minutes and just be patient. It will eventually turn smooth and creamy, with a light, whipped texture. KEEP processing until it is completely smooth, as different food processors may take longer.
- Use right away or place in the fridge to chill overnight first. I like it cold.
- Serve on bagels or toast or on top of ice cream!
Notes
- The freeze-dried blueberries are key to this cream cheese. Fresh blueberries will NOT work. The dried gives them their incredible, rich flavor and also the amazing, thick texture. For a cream cheese using fresh blueberries, see my original Blueberry Cream Cheese made with cashews.
- I buy my dried blueberries either at my local HEB store or Trader Joes. But they can be found in multiple places online as well.
- While I strongly recommend the lite coconut milk for the richest, creamiest texture. If you are allergic, you can try another creamy milk. Perhaps macadamia or soy may work? I have not tested any other milk and therefore, cannot guarantee the results.
- This cream cheese will last 1-2 weeks in the fridge.
would it taste like regular cream cheese if I left out the dried blueberries? I would like it plain.
No, because all the ratios are written based on using blueberries. Blueberries provide a lot of the thickness and flavor. If you want plain, I’d find a vegan one plain already online or I have one in my cookbook that is chive and dill that you could omit.
Holy crap that color!! I love using dried fruit, they make the best dyes without any crap! This looks like perfection!!
Thanks girl! Yup, I use it for many things as well! Not to mention, the flavor in freeze-dried fruit is much, much stronger than fresh, as well as the color!
Can we just take a moment to admire the insanely beautiful color of this cream cheese?!? Wow! We’ve made and loved your other cream cheese recipes so I’m excited to give this one a try! I love that you used almonds instead of cashews here and still achieved a wonderful, smooth texture. While I have yet to find a gluten-free, vegan bagel, I know we will enjoy this on toast or with crackers!! Blueberries are a shared favorite in our house so I’m extra excited to give this a try! I’ll report back once we make it 🙂 Hope you’re having a beautiful weekend! xo
Thanks Brandi my wife is learning a lot since she got your book you are doing an amazing job keep it up.
Made this recipe yesterday! It is amazing!!! Creamy and smooth with a touch of sweetness! I highly recommend making this! Another Vegan 8 winner!
Yay! Really happy to hear you loved it Karen, thank you so much for making it!!
I was surprised by how much this tastes like real cream cheese!!! So good! I followed this recipe except I only bought one bag of blueberries from Trader Joe’s. It was still wonderful!! I will make this again!!!
Thank you so much Ronna, so glad you enjoyed it!
What can I use instead of apple cider vinegar? Could I just use extra lemon juice?
Yes that should be fine, just will taste more lemony instead of cream cheese-like! Apple cider vinegar really gives a cheesy taste.
Would apple juice work better then lemon juice?
No, the lemon juice is much more sour and works to aid in the cream cheese flavor. Apple juice is just sweet, not really sour.