Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

Cheesecake is just the ’ best, ya know? It’s such a great treat to indulge in when you’re craving something sweet. In the spirit of Valentines Day, I created these sultry strawberry cheesecake bites you can whip up this year either for yourself, your sweet, or maybe all your single gal pals! In that case, your friends would probably love some cute cupcakes with pink frosting to celebrate the occasion, too. Any excuse to stuff your face with vegan goods, am I right? 

You’ll quickly learn that a food processor and high powered blender are a vegan’s best friend in the kitchen. The crust in this recipe only has 3 ingredients (not including sea salt), and the filling has 5! There’s officially no reason why you can’t whip up a vegan cheesecake recipe at home.

These little cuties are raw and gluten-free, and because of that it’ll give you just the energy boost you need for sexy time… or staying up all night gawking at Tinder. 

 

Ingredients

CRUST

1 C pecans

6 medjool dates, pitted, soaked for 10 minutes in hot water

1/4 C shredded coconut

1/4 tsp sea salt

FILLING

1 C raw cashews, soaked for 20 minutes in hot water

1/2 C frozen strawberries

1/4 C agave nectar

1/4 C melted coconut oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

SWIRL/TOPPING

1/2 C frozen strawberries, melted

mini muffin cup pan

 

Instructions

For the crust, drain the water from the dates and place in a food processor along with the remaining ingredients. Process until the nuts are crumbled and the crust is sticking together on it’s own.

Press about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the mixture into the bottom of each mini muffin cup.

Drain cashews from the soaking water and rinse under fresh water. Then add them to a high-powered blender along with frozen strawberries, agave nectar, melted coconut oil, and lemon juice. Blend until smooth. Pour this mixture into a bowl and set aside. Clean out the blender to make the strawberry puree for the swirl.

Allow the strawberries for the swirl/topping to melt at room temperature or heat over low heat in sauce pan for a few minutes until soft. Then blend this in the blender into a smooth puree.

Take a scant tablespoon of the cashew filling and pour on top of the pressed crust. Then take a 1/2 teaspoon of strawberry puree and dollop on top of the cashew filling. Take the end of a toothpick and swirl the two mixtures around to make a swirled pattern.

Freeze the cheesecakes for 1 to 2 hours until solid. Remove them from the mini muffin trays and allow to thaw for 10 to 15 minutes before biting into them so they’re softer.