These easy No Bake Vegan Banana Pudding Cheesecake Bars are simply delicious. We put a twist on this classic southern dessert by making bars. Made with a buttery nilla wafer crust and an easy no bake banana pudding cheesecake filling.
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As experienced home cooks rooted in Southern traditions, we love reimagining classic comfort foods without compromising flavor or nostalgia. These creamy, indulgent cheesecake bars feature two simple components: an easy-to-make cookie crust and a luscious plant-based banana cheesecake filling. Whether hosting Sunday dinner, Easter, Mother’s Day brunch or satisfying a sweet tooth, this recipe proves that vegan eating can honor tradition and taste extraordinary.
Craving more dessert recipes with a twist? Try our easy to make sweet potato madeleines and vegan gingerdoodles.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Super simple to make, cheesecake but without the fuss of turning on the stove.
- These no bake vegan banana pudding cheesecake bars have a lighter texture with the addition of whipped cream and made without eggs.
Key Ingredients And Substitutions
For the Cookie Crust:
- Nilla wafers - this is the classic cookie found in all traditional Southern recipes and the one we’ve always used for banana puddings.
- Graham cracker - while Nilla wafers are the go-to choice for a traditional banana pudding recipe, we actually prefer the graham cracker crust for these bars. It adds a satisfying crunch, even after freezing. We still incorporate the Nilla wafers as garnish.
For Plant-based Cheesecake Filling:
- Banana - trust us when we say the key here is that the bananas are overripen so that you get that great sweet banana flavor.
- Vegan Whipped Cream - to help give the bars a lighter texture and for a nice dollop on top.
- Powdered Sugar - powdered sugar of course adds sweetness but also contains corn starch that helps create a firm texture.
- Vegan Heavy Cream - Country Crock plant based heavy cream is great. Trader Joe's also has a very similar store brand vegan heavy cream. We also tested with the Silk Vegan Heavy Cream.
- Vegan Instant Banana pudding mix - gives nice creaminess and great flavor.
Detailed ingredients, measurements, and instructions are provided at the end of this post in the printable recipe card below. This recipe has not been tested with substitutions or variations not listed. If you make any changes, please share your results in the comments!
Step By Step Instructions
STEP 1. Prep. The vegan cream cheese and whipped cream should be room temperature, set out before beginning recipe.
Prepare pan. Spray bottom of 8x8 pan with a little nonstick spray. The spray helps for the paper to stick to the bottom of the pan.
STEP 2. Prepare Crust. A easy way to crush the Nilla wafers without bring out the food processor is to use a ziplock bag and rolling pin or any thing heavy to hit your bag with.
You can also use your food processor to crush them into fine crumbs.
STEP 3. In a medium bowl add the cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Mix together. The mixture should resemble moist sand.
Empty into pan. Evenly and firmly press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.
Place the pan in the freezer while you make the filling.
STEP 4. Prepare filling. In a large bowl with a hand mixer beat the cream cheese, sugar for about 2 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
STEP 5. On low setting beat in the mashed bananas, vegan cream, vanilla extract, sugar and pudding mix. Scraping down the sides as necessary to prevent clumps in the mixture later. Mixture will be thick.
STEP 6. Gently fold in vegan whipped topping until just combined.
STEP 7 Assemble. Pour mixture into the pan on top of the Nilla crust. Smoothing the top evenly. Cover and freeze for at least 6 hour or overnight.
STEP 8 Serve. Once completely frozen and the bars are firm, remove the pan from the freezer. If you leave it in the freezer overnight, you may need to leave it out for 15 minutes until you can cut it. Careful lift via parchment paper sides. Place on flat surface. Using a large knife cut into 9 bars. (Tip - run knife under warm water in between slicing to keep edges of bars clean and neat)
When you're ready to serve. Optionally garnish with fresh banana slices, dollop of vegan whip cream and Nilla wafters if desired. Brush banana slices with a little lemon juice so the bananas don't turn brown.
Expert Baking Tips
- This recipe uses the following product brands: Violife cream cheese, Country Crock Plant cream, Jell-O brand Banana Cream pudding is accidentally vegan and So Delicious CocoWhip whipped cream.
- Use room temperature ingredients. You want room temperature cream cheese and heavy cream for a smooth filling. This allows both to mix with the other ingredients properly for a super creamy cheesecake.
- Brush banana slices with a little lemon juice so the bananas don't turn brown. Or wait until just before serving to slice the banana for garnishing. Bananas will turn brown if they are not used right away.
Storing Instructions
Refrigerator. store covered in the fridge after the 6 hours of freeze time, they will maintain their shape after being sliced. These bars will stay good in the fridge for about ¾ days. After that, the bars will start turning a little brown.
Freezing. you can freeze for up to 3 months. I like to wrap any bars in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store in ziplock bag. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving. I did find that the crust and topping will soften slightly.
Make Ahead. You can make these bars in advance, up to 48 hours in advance. Prepare the recipe and cover the bars with plastic wrap or foil.
More Banana Recipes
- Easy Banana Ginger Turmeric Smoothie10 Minutes
- Marbled Banana Bread1 Hours 25 Minutes
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Banana Pudding Cheesecake Bars
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Equipment
- 1 8x8 inch pan
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups Nilla wafers (5 oz ) - crumbled
- 2 tablespoons Brown sugar - packed
- 8 tablespoons Vegan butter, melted
Vegan Cheesecake Filling
- 1 cup Mashed ripe bananas - 2 ripe bananas
- 1 cup Vegan heavy cream
- 8 oz Cream cheese - softened to room temperature
- 1 package Banana Cream instant pudding mix - yes its accidentally vegan (3.4oz)
- 1 cup Whipped cream - thawed (We used Coco-Whip)
- ½ cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Toppings/Garnishes
- Nilla wafers - optional
- Sliced bananas - optional
- Dollop of vegan whipped cream - optional
- Mint - optional
Instructions
Prep
- Cream cheese and whipped cream should be room temperature, set out before beginning recipe.
- Spray bottom of 8x8 pan with a little nonstick spray. The spray helps for the paper to stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Line with the parchment paper for easy removal of bars later and set aside.
Prepare crust
- Crush Nilla wafters in a ziplock bag or in a food processor into fine crumbs.
- In a medium bowl add the crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Mix together. The mixture should resemble moist sand.
- Empty into pan. Evenly and firmly press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.
- Place the pan in the freezer while you make the filling.
Prepare filling
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer beat the cream cheese, sugar for about 2 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
- On low setting beat in the mashed bananas, vegan cream, vanilla extract, sugar and pudding mix. Scraping sown the sides as necessary. Mix will be thick.
- Gently fold in vegan whipped topping until just combined.
Assemble
- Pour mixture into the pan on top of the Nilla crust. Smoothing the top evenly. Cover and freeze for at least 6 hour or overnight.
Serve
- Once completely frozen. Pull out from freezer and careful lift via parchment paper sides. Place on flat surface. Using a large knife cut into 9 squares. (Tip - run knife under warm water in between slicing to keep edges of bars clean and neat)
- Optionally garnish with fresh banana slices, dollop of whip cream and Nilla wafters if desired.
Notes
Storing Instructions
Refrigerator. store covered in the fridge after the 6 hours of freeze time, they will maintain their shape after being sliced. These bars will stay good in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. After that, the bars will start turning a little brown. Freezing. you can freeze for up to 2 months. I like to wrap any bars in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store in ziplock bag. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving. The crust will soften slightly after thawing. Make Ahead. You can make these bars in advance, up to 48 hours in advance. Cover the bars with plastic wrap or foil without any garnish. Thaw overnight in refrigerators before serving.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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