Mud Pie Cheesecake

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a pie pan with oil or spray. In a medium-sized bowl, smash 15-20 sandwich cookies to crumbs, mix with the melted margarine, and press the mixture into the pie pan.
2. In another medium-sized bowl, blend the sugar, vegan cream cheese, egg replacer, and vanilla on medium speed until smooth.
3. If mixture seems dry, add nondairy milk or water 1 tablespoon at a time and blend. Remove the icing from some of the remaining cookies, and stand them around the perimeter of the pie pan (like a wall).
4. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the cookie crumb layer, and spread evenly (all the way to the cookie wall). Cover loosely with a foil tent for some of the baking time so the cookie wall doesn't burn.
5. Bake 50-60 minutes. Pie is done when a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate 3 hours. Top with vegan pudding before serving.
For real choco-holics, you can add 1/3 cup cocoa powder to the cream cheese mixture during blending, and/or top the finished pie with more cookie crumbs, coconut, slivered almonds, etc. I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does.
Source of recipe: This recipe is my own invention, created for my son's birthday. (He loved it.)