Vegan Turtle Cheesecake Bars
Servings: 16
Ingredients
- For the crust
- 2 cups pecans or cashews
- 1 1/4 cups pitted dates finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon of water if needed
- For the cheesecake
- 2 cups cashews soaked for at least six hours or overnight
- ½ cup canned coconut milk
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted and cooled
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- For the caramel:
- 1/4 cup creamy nut butter I used cashew but you could use creamy almond butter
- 1/8 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/8 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup pecans optional
Instructions
- To make the crust, line an 8” square pan with parchment paperl. Set aside.
- In a high-powered food process or blender, blend the pecans, pitted dates and salt until it comes together into a sort of sticky dough and starts to pull away from the edges, about 1-2 minutes. If it's not coming together add one tablespoon of water.
- Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Set aside.
- To make the cheesecake, in a high-powered blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend for 2 full minutes, or until the mixture is smooth and creamy. To make it more smooth add a little more coconut milk .
- Pour the cheesecake filling into the pan over the prepared crust. Smooth out the top and tap the pan against the counter a couple times to release any air bubbles.
- To make the paleo caramel, add the nut butter, maple syrup and coconut oil together in a medium microwave safe bowl. Heat on high for 30 seconds and stir to combine. Place back in the microwave and repeat until smooth. Add the vanilla and salt and mix well. Drizzle over prepared cheesecake. Top with additional pecans.
- Place in the freezer to set for at least 2.5 hours or until completely firm. Serve frozen or thaw a few minutes.
- Keep vegan cheesecake in the freezer for up to 3 weeks.