Raw Vegan "Cheesecake" or Pumpkin "Cheesecake"

Just In Time For The Holidays!

There's a great little co-op where I live called Life Grocery and their cafe makes the most yummy raw, vegan cheesecakes, key lime, and pumpkin pies. After spending a fortune on these little gems, I decided to attempt to recreate their recipe a few years ago and it worked. I've seen several other vegan cheesecake recipes since then but my hubby begs for this for every event or holiday so I haven't strayed from this one. To make it a pumpkin cheese just add the pumpkin as instructed below!

Crust

2 cups walnuts

1/2 cup pitted dates

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes ( you can use sweetened but it has added sugar)

Pinch of sea salt

1 tsp Saigon cinnamon

"Cheesecake" Filling

2 1/2 cups whole cashews (soaked in water for an hour)

1/3 cup lemon juice ( don't skip this)

1/3 cup of raw honey ( you may use agave nectar as well)

3/4 cup coconut oil

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup water ( add more slowly to achieve cheesecake texture if needed)

*** for pumpkin cheesecake add in 1/4 cup of pumpkin

Crust

Put walnuts, salt, cinnamon, and dates into food processor. Process nuts and dates until well processed but don't add the coconut yet!

Sprinkle the coconut on the bottom of a glass pan (the coconut stops the crust from sticking to the bottom of the pan). Next, press the walnut and date mixture down into the pan to form the crust.

Filling

Put all of the "cream cheese" ingredients into your blender or food processor. Add a little water if necessary to help with the blending. Just add a little at a time. Once you've reached a cream cheese consistency, pour mixture on top of crust and place in the freezer for about an hour to firm. You can then put the "cheese cake" in the fridge and remove just before serving. I topped mine with toasted coconut flakes.

Note: I used stevia for my second one and loved it so for those of you who don't want the added sugar, you can use liquid stevia but just be careful. I slowly added drops of stevia to mine so as not to over do it! I strongly recommend making the first one with raw honey or agave just to see what it is suppose to taste like and to get a feel for the consistency.

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