Paleo Mini Strawberry “Cheese”cake

The first time I made a “Cheese”cake with cashews I was blown away! I thought that there was no way that a cheesecake made with cashews could possibly taste good. Well, since then I have been obsessed with making this delightful treat in a mini version. This way I can freeze these tasty guys and defrost them one at a time when feel the urge for a treat.

Another bonus: because the base of these treats is cashews, they don’t cause a blood sugar spike like the old-school cream cheese dessert would. These leave you feeling very satisfied.

Equipment:

Cupcake pan

Food Processor

Small blender

Parchment cut into small strips

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 ½ c Pecans

1 ½ TBS coconut oil, softened

6 Dates soaked in hot water for 2-5 min

pinch of sea salt

Filling:

1 ½ C cashews soaked overnight or 6- 8 hours

¼ C  fresh-squeezed lemon juice

½ C strawberries

3 TBS maple syrup

*1 TBS grass fed collagen (optional and bonus)

4-5 strawberries for garnish.

Let’s do this!

Crust- Place the crust ingredients into a food processer and blend till well combined and sticky. To check if the crust is ready, make sure it sticks together when you pinch it.

Next roll 12 quarter-size balls from the crust “dough”. Place a parchment strip down in each cupcake mold so that the strip is half in the mold and in the air. This will help you use it as a handle to get the cheese cakes out of the mold. Place the crust ball in each individual cupcake mold. Next press down the ball until it forms a crust in each cupcake mold.

Filling-

Blend the filling ingredients together until smooth. Now this can take some patience! If you have one of those high-powered blenders like a Vitamix you’ll have a smoother consisitancy. But if not, don’t fear, this recipe is sooo good, even if there are a few lumps, you will be forgiven. Do not give up on this recipe because of your blender! Ok, back to blending. You will have to use the tamper often and stop and scrap the sides down. I start mine on low and slowly work my way up to level 5 or 6.

Once you have the ingredients blended well together, pour the filling into each individual cupcake mold. *If you have a little extra filling, it’s okay! I save mine to add to my smoothie the next day.

If you want to make the mini “cheese”cakes look even prettier, thinly slice strawberries and place a slice on each cake.

Refrigerate the “cheese”cake for 24 hours and use the handles made by the parchment paper and a knife to carefully get each mini “cheese”cake out.

Enjoy!!

Notes-

To freeze, place on a sheet pan and freeze for 2-3 hours, then store in a Ziploc bag.

You could probably make this as one big “cheese”cake… I haven’t tried this yet. If you do, let me know how it worked out for you!

Strawberries not in season? Try blueberries or your favorite fruit. Let me know how you liked it!

Tags: Paleo, Healthy Hub Wellness, Jenn Visser, treats, whole foods, whole foods challenge, strawberry, strawberry cheesecake, vegan cheesecake, dessert, dessert recipe, massage