Chocolate Biscoff Tart (No-Bake & Vegan)

This easy, no-bake chocolate Biscoff tart features a press-in speculoos cookie crust and is filled with a silky smooth chocolate mousse enriched with cookie butter. Flavors of caramelized sugar, hints of warm spices enrobed in dark chocolate for decadence that’s both egg-free and dairy-free!

Before we dive into how to make this rich and delicious no-bake vegan dessert, here’s a little background on what Biscoff speculoos and cookie butter are for those of you who haven’t tried them before. Be warned, they are addictive! As the kids say, ‘if you know…you know’.

What are Biscoff Speculoos Cookies?

Biscoff is a popular brand of speculoos (aka speculaas or Windmill cookies) – a classic crunchy biscuit or cookie from Belgium which are often served with coffee. In fact, the trade name ‘Biscoff’ is a combination of the words ‘biscuit’ and ‘coffee’ according to the Lotus Biscoff. While traditionally a treat for St. Nicholas Day, these simple but delicious cookies have gained popularity all over the world as an everyday cookie.

What do Speculoos Cookies Taste Like?

Speculoos are delicately flavored with hints of cinnamon and caramelized sugar. They don’t have the bite that other spice cookies like gingersnaps have but have more personality than a sugar cookie. Dipped in a hot cuppa, they dissolve perfectly in your mouth without being soggy. They have become a favorite among bakers looking for something a little more interesting than graham crackers to use in dessert recipes.

Biscoff is often the easiest brand of speculoos to find in most grocery stores and on-line, although you can find it as a house brand by some grocery chains like Trader Joes in the US and Loblaws in Canada.

What is Cookie Butter?

Cookie butter (aka cookie spread or speculoos spread) is a sweet, addictive paste made from crushed speculoos cookies plus a few other ingredients to make them spreadable. It has the consistency of smooth peanut butter and can be used to your heart’s desire whether that’s a fun sandwich, melted slightly to dip fruit in or drizzled over ice cream….you name it! There’s even a crunchy Biscoff cookie spread version which has bigger cookie bits throughout.

Are Biscoff Cookies and Cookie Spread Vegan?

Yes, Biscoff cookies and their cookie spreads are vegan friendly. While several other brands of speculoos and cookie spreads I’ve tried have also been free of animal products, always double check the list of ingredients. Formulations can change and different companies use different recipes.

How to Make a No-Bake Chocolate Biscoff Tart

There are 3 really easy layers in this vegan tart recipe:

1. No-Bake Cookie Crumb Crust: Just 3 ingredients mixed and then pressed into a tart pan.
2. Chocolate Cookie Butter Filling: So silky and easy! Combine the filling ingredients in a blender then pour into the prepared tart crust, and chill until set.
3. Cookie Butter Topping: Melt a little cookie butter and pour over the chilled chocolate Biscoff filling. Feel free to decorate the top with a drizzle of melted dark chocolate and cookie crust crumbs!

This is such a simple tart to make despite its showstopper appeal and rich flavors. The hardest part is waiting for the filling to cool and set!

How to Make a No-Bake Biscoff Cookie Crust

Press-in cookie crusts are a great alternative base for pie or tart crust that isn’t shortbread or rolled pastry. That means no rolling or finicky steps – cookie crumb crusts are virtually foolproof. If you can crush up cookies, mix them with two other ingredients and press them into a pan, you can make a cookie crust!

1. Break the cookies up into fine crumbs. You can do this in a food processor, or you can place the cookies into a strong, large, sealable plastic bag – press out the air, seal, then use a rolling pin to crush the cookies. Really take out any stress on those cookies – any cookie chunks left will weaken the crust.
2. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar and melted vegan butter.
3. Lightly grease a 9” (23 cm) tart pan with a removable bottom or a springform pan. Using a tart pan with a removable bottom makes slicing and serving the tart much easier. A slightly smaller sized pan will also work but both the filling and the crust will be thicker. Keep in mind a small slice goes a long way, this baby is rich! Reserve a few tablespoons of the mixture for garnishing the tart later.
4. Press the cookie crumb mixture into the tart pan – add it all in but start pressing the mixture into the sides first. Using the side of a dry measuring cup is helpful to press along the sides, while using your fingers to press the top of the sides down for an even crust. Press the rest of the cookie crust into the bottom, again using the dry measuring cup. Make the crumbs as compact as possible for clean slices later.
5. Chill for 30 minutes while you make the filling!

Can I Bake this Cookie Crust?

Yes! While this vegan tart shell does not need to be baked, baking will make it crisper. If you’d like to use it as a base for a vegan cheesecake or a tart which has a different filling that requires baking, you can do so!

To bake the tart before filling it with a no-bake filling, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C, gas mark 4), line the bottom of the oven with foil to catch any dripping butter. Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until fragrant and slightly darkened in color. Let it cool to room temperature, then cover and chill it in the fridge for up to a couple of days before adding the filling.

How to Make Chocolate Pie Filling with Biscoff Cookie Spread

This vegan chocolate cookie butter tart filling is very rich like a fancy dessert but is actually very easy to make!

1. Combine the silken tofu, cookie butter, melted vegan butter, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a blender or food processor. Run the appliance until the filling is completely smooth and there are no bits of tofu left intact.
2. Blend in the melted dark chocolate.
3. Pour into the prepared Biscuff crust and chill until set!

How to Make Cookie Butter Topping

The final layer on this chocolate speculouus tart is melted cookie butter. Cookie butter melts very easily in the microwave or over a double boiler. Pour a layer over the set chocolate tart filling, and spread it around. Once chilled, it sets up pretty quickly over the cold chocolate filling; it’ll be ready within 10 minutes of being placed back in the refrigerator.

You can serve the tart as is at this point, or decorate it with melted chocolate and cookie crust crumbs.

Feature Ingredients and Substitutions

Speculoos cookies: as this won’t be a speculoos cookie crust without speculoos, this ingredient shouldn’t be substituted. That said, most any thin crunchy cookie works in this recipe. I use Lotus Biscoff speculoos because that’s what’s most readily available, but any brand of speculoos will work!

Vegan butter: use stick or block style vegan butter. Vegan butter or margarine sold in tubs has a higher water content and does not set up as firmly as the block style. The fat in the vegan butter solidifies once the tart shell is chilled which is what helps hold the crust together. Lower water content also ensures that the crust is crisp and not soft. If you don’t have any vegan butter, you can substitute it with 5 tablespoons of refined coconut oil.

Confectioners’ sugar: Confectioners’ sugar helps bind the crumbs together. Confectioner’s sugar has a small amount of cornstarch in it. When coupled with the moisture in the vegan butter, it helps bind the crust for a bake-free option. If you don’t have any confectioners’ sugar, you can leave it out with great results. Regular granulated sugar will make the crust a bit gritty so it does not make a good substitute.

Dairy-free dark chocolate: the best chocolate to use is one that you love the taste and mouthfeel of! Dark chocolate provides a robust chocolate flavor and I usually go with chocolate bars with 60-70% cacao content. You can use chocolate chips but many have ingredients that prevent them from melting as nicely. In turn, they don’t create a tart filling that is as silky smooth.

Silken tofu: this is a nut-free/cashew-free secret ingredient because NO ONE can taste it in the pie filling. Silken tofu has virtually no flavor unlike regular tofu. It falls apart very easily and has the silkiest texture, hence the name! It is perfect for carrying the flavors of your star ingredients while providing a luscious texture and mousse like body. Silken tofu cannot be substituted with regular tofu in this recipe. If you can’t find silken tofu in the refrigerated section, try the shelf stable section for it sold in tetra-paks. Many Asian markets carry it.

Cookie butter: like the speculoos cookies, cookie butter is one of our key ingredients in this recipe. As such, it cannot be substituted without changing the entire flavor of the tart. There’s really nothing quite like cookie butter!

Can I Make this Tart Gluten-Free?

This vegan tart contains store-bought cookies and cookie spread which contain wheat flour and so naturally contain gluten. If you’d like to make the biscuit crust gluten-free, you’d need to swap out the Biscoff speculoos cookies for gluten-free speculoos. Currently, Lotus Biscoff does not make them but they are available under other brands. Finding a gluten-free cookie spread is a little more difficult though. To date, I haven’t found any but that’s bound to change given the popularity of cookie butter!

Make Ahead and Storage:

This vegan dessert contains tofu so it needs to be kept refrigerated in an airtight container. The tart can be made ahead of time and will remain fresh for approximately 5 days.

While the tart shell can be tightly wrapped and frozen for up to a few months, I don’t recommend freezing the filling. While tofu can be frozen, its consistency changes once defrosted. The filling can split and not be as creamy.

More Vegan Tart Recipes:

Chocolate Orange Truffle Tart with Candied Kumquats

Chocolate Raspberry Dream Tarts

Bakewell Tart

Strawberry Hibiscus Tart with Pistachio Shortbread Crust

If you make this No-Bake Chocolate Biscoff Tart, please give it a rating in the recipe card and leave a comment below! Follow along on Instagram where you can tag me in your creations using my recipes! You can also follow me on Pinterest for vegan recipe inspiration and on Facebook. Thank you for reading!

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The Nutrition Information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the Nutrition Information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.