We're finally in the age where there's an increasing number of options when it comes to vegan food products. Back in the day we used to have to forego cheesecake or take matters into our own hands if we decided to eschew animal products. Then Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese came out and everyone rejoiced because they could finally have cheesecake and New York style bagels that were easy to make and didn't suffer from flavor compromises. But then a huge Doh! moment occurred. It's chock full of trans fats! Toffutti answered the call with Better Than Cream Cheese Non-Hydrogenated. Other companies are now following suit with their own vegan cream cheeses such as Follow Your Heart Cream Cheese Alternative. Which of the lot is recommended for your cheesecakes this season? Read on to find out.

Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese

This is the original vegan cream cheese. If you get vegan cream cheese on a bagel in a cafe there's a good chance it's this stuff. It tastes amazing and it's a tragedy it contains hydrogenated oils. This vegan cream cheese exhibited a creamy mouthfeel and delicate flavor that's extremely close to real cream cheese all the way through to the finish.

Ingredients: Water, non-hydrogenated soybean oil, isolated soy protein, maltodextrin, tofu, nondairy lactic acid, sugar, locust bean, guar and carrageenan gums, salt, vegetable mono- and diglycerides, and potassium sorbate (added as a preservative).

Serving: 2 Tablespoons
Protein: 5 grams
Fat: 1 gram

Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese Non-Hydrogenated

Health experts recommend hydrogenated oils be avoided at all costs. This posed a little problem for Tofutti so they reformulated Better Than Cream Cheese to make a reformulated option. Tofutti's non-hydrogenated version should taste just as good as the hydrogenated version because the only thing they're doing is swapping out the hydrogenated fats with a blend of other fats including palm oil right? Wrong. Think of this version as new coke. Due to this swap of fats they had to do a major reformulation. This vegan cream cheese had much more subdued flavors than it's hydrogenated brother and also tasted somewhat grainy. This could be due to some of the vegetable starches that haven't been incorporated completely. It's still a good vegan cream cheese but you're not going to be fooling anyone who's accustomed to the flavor of real cream cheese.

Ingredients: Water, expeller pressed natural oil blend (soybean, palm fruit, olive), maltodextrin, soy protein, tofu, non-dairy lactic acid, organic sugar, blend of natural gums (locust bean, guar, cellulose, xanthan, carrageenan), veg mono and diglycerides, salt.

Serving: 2 Tablespoons
Protein: 7 grams
Fat: 1 gram

Follow Your Heart Cream Cheese Alternative

This is the new player on the market. Follow Your Heart has been making a name for themselves with their nationally distributed vegan cheeses. Like Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese Non-Hydrogenated, Follow Your Heart's vegan cream cheese is also non-hydrogenated. This vegan cream cheese was excessively gummy, likely due to the large list of vegetable starches in it's ingredient list. It also exhibited a slightly salty flavor with a prominent lemon finish on the palate. That said, this vegan cream cheese would still be wonderful paired with crackers or vegetables on an hors d'oeuvres plate.

Ingredients: Filtered Water, Palm Fruit Oil*, Soybean Oil*, Inulin (Chicory Root Extract), Soybeans*, Soy Protein, Agave Syrup*, Sea Salt, Soy Protein*, Lactic Acid, Rice Starch*, Lemon Juice Concentrate*, Natural Flavor, Locust Bean Gum*, Xanthan Gum. *Denotes ORGANIC

Serving: 2 Tablespoons
Protein: 2 grams
Fat: 8 grams

The Verdict

All three of these vegan cream cheeses are great alternatives to the real thing. Due to the recommended avoidance of hydrogenated oils, I can't recommend Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, even though it's flavor won out over it's other competitors.

Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese Non-Hydrogenated came in a close second in the taste department and it's what I use in my cheesecakes and other sweets. A little trick for vegan cheesecake is to add a little soy yogurt to up the cheesecake flavor ante to more realistic levels. This solution enables Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese Non-Hydrogenated to still work wonders in vegan cheesecakes so you get the best possible flavor without the major health consequences.

Follow Your Heart Cream Cheese Alternative's excessive gumminess, salt and lemon flavors probably wouldn't do wonders in your vegan cheesecake but there are lots of hors d'oeuvre and sandwich applications where those flavors would make these foods excel. It also contains 76% organic ingredients which is a bonus. It will be interesting to see what the future has in store for vegan cream cheese. I predict more non-hydrogenated options and an increasing number of blended flavor choices. Competition is good in this regard because we all reap the benefits.

What are your favorite vegan cream cheeses and why? Let us know by leaving your comments below.