I love raw desserts, especially in the summer when baking at the oven doesn’t seem as enjoyable. A dessert is still a dessert and you don’t want to eat a ton. But if you want to eat healthy, and still be able to enjoy truly delicious and decadent whole raw plant based foods here is another one of my favorite dessert creations. If you haven’t worked with buckwheat, you are in for a pleasant experience. Buckwheat groats can be found in the bulk sections of most health food stores and are gluten free. They can be soaked and sprouted and eaten as a breakfast cereal with some almond milk and fruit as is. Or, they can be dehydrated after soaking and sprouting, and using as a crunchy topping for raw ice creams, smoothies and grawnolas. I use soaked buckwheat groats in many of my different raw bread recipes. Here in this blueberry cheesecake bar recipe, they serve as the perfect gluten free base for the bars. You can substitute oats if you don’t have buckwheat groats!
Ingredients
CRUST
- 1 cup buckwheat groats
- 1 cup dried coconut
- 10 dates pitted
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp. coconut oil
CHEESECAKE
- 3 cups raw cashews soaked for 2 hours
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries (frozen or fresh)
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup coconut butter softened
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 10 dates pitted and soaked for 2 hours
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
- 3 Tbsp lecithin (non-gmo soy lecithin is healthiest)
CRUST
Place buckwheat, coconut, dates, vanilla and coconut oil in to a food processor and process until it becomes crumbly. Stop the machine a few times to scrape down the sides. Press crust into the bottom of a parchment lined square pan. You can use any size, I used a 9 inch square pan and the bars come out nice and thick. Use a bigger pan for thinner bars, or a springform pan if you want to serve it as a whole cheesecake that you slice. Set the crust aside while you make the cheesecake batter.
BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE
Place all of the ingredients except the lecithin into a high speed blender and blend for 3-5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Stop the blender and add the lecithin and blend until well combined.
Pour the blueberry cheesecake batter onto the crust and freeze for 3-4 hours. Slice and Enjoy!
