I’m back with another recipe with an unwarranted list of vegan, gluten-free, no-bake, refined sugar free… and the list goes on. I am talking about mini cheese bites that are extremely creamy, rich, and made with clean and unrefined ingredients! The recipe is almost “raw” (which means no cooking process is involved). The only cooking processes required are to boil peanuts, which is used in part to create the creaminess of the cheesecake filling.

Almost all vegan cheesecake recipes on the web use soaked cashews since cashews are edible and creamy in their raw form. I have tried this, and while it is delicious, it can be pricey. On average, cashews are $11/lb. or even more, unless you get a good deal buying in bulk or wholesale. To make this recipe more budget friendly, I experimented with peanuts, which are EXTREMELY affordable, and to my surprise, the recipe was a success!

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No-Bake Cheesecake

** SCROLL TO BOTTOM FOR NUTRITION FACTS **

yield: 12 mini cheesecake bites

Ingredients:

For crust:

• 1/2 c. dates soaked in hot water (any date type will work)
• 1/2 c. walnuts

For filling:

• 3/4 c. boiled peanuts
• 1/2 c. full fat coconut cream
• 1/4 tbsp liquid sweetener
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

1. In a food processor or blender, pulse the dates and walnuts together to form the crust and press down into the mini muffin tins. Place in the freezer.
2. In a food processor or blender, blend all the filling ingredients and strain through a sieve to remove any lumps.
3. Pour the filtered mixture onto the crust.
4. Add toppings if you would like. I used nutella and a homemade strawberry chia jam.
5. Freeze in the freezer for at least 2 hours.

Notes:

• I soaked raw peanuts for 24 hrs. and they were still hard and inedible so I cooked them in the pressure cooker on high for 10 min. to soften them up.  If you do not have a pressure cooker, you may boil the peanuts on a stove top for 30-40 min.
• The filling texture is slightly grainy (very slight!) but if you do not like this, you may strain the filling for maximum creaminess.
• You must freeze the cheesecakes for around 2 hours so the filling hardens up and is easy to handle. If you want to store for additional days, the cheesecakes last in the freezer for up to 2 months, but you should thaw at room temperature for a few minutes before eating. Thawing will allow the creaminess of the cheesecake to return after being frozen for a while.
• Line the bottom of the muffin tin with a strip of parchment paper for easy removal.

These cheesecakes are an ultimate crowdpleaser and although it is vegan, it doesn’t taste vegan at all! I let some non-vegan friends sample it and they were baffled as to what ingredients I could have possibly used. I’m looking forward to using other unique foods to naturally dye the cheesecakes and try new flavors. If you would like me to try a new flavor, please comment below and I will be sure to experiment!