Easy and Healthy Cheesecake Bars
These Gingerbread Dairy Free Paleo Cheesecake Bars are SO creamy and spicy-sweet! A vegan friendly, healthy and gluten free dessert for the holidays!
The other day someone asked me how I liked my coffee.
Without even batting ONE EYEBALL, my mouth said “inside some spicy-sweet and SOSO cozy paleo cheesecake bites of BLISS.
I think they were expecting a normal-person answer like “black” or “with a RIDICULOUS amount of stevia.
They were very very confused until these creamy-dreamy-layers of compl-EATLY dairy AND lactose free gingerbread bars were explained. It’s a little something like this:
Why You Will Love These Cheesecake Bars
- It is a velvety smooth and RIDICULOUSLY rich “cheesecake,” that, just like the best healthy gluten free gingerbread muffins and mango gluten free gingerbread cake, is mish-mashing with the sticky-sweet gingerbread flavors of molasses, lots and lots of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
- A foundation of crispy-crunchy GOODNESS that is comprised of a coconut flour crust, swirling with fall-perfect-flavors.
Cozy fall feels for your face? ON POINT.
There is, in fact, MORE coffee speckling the layer of tasty, creamy paleo cheesecake. Considering there are not one, BUT TWO, layers of rich coffee taste in these bars, I feel VRY VRY okay telling people that THESE are how I “like my coffee.”
Now that everything has been broken down and explained, I can see you jumping on board the eating-your-coffee train RIGHT ALONG WITH ME.
I mean, do you remember the gingerbread gluten free biscotti? Coffee and gingerbread are a match made in heaven. Two peas in a pod. One of them is the peanut butter to the other’s one’s JELLY.
Fun facts about these cozy bites of cheesecake YUM: they were actually inspired by last year’s mint chocolate cashew cream no bake bars. I had every intention of making these no bake paleo cheesecake bars, but Mr. FFF? He had WORDS about that. And NOT GOOD ONES.
The last sentence might have been made up – but he DID say the rest. Apparently gingerbread and cold, unlike coffee, are NOT 2 peas in a pod.
Sometimes I wish he would just let me be, you know? But, without him and his taste buds that can “taste healthy” much better than mine, you guys would have been victim to the Great Cauliflower Brownie Fiasco of 2016.
You don’t even want to know.
INGREDIENTS
For The Cheesecake:
- 3 tablespoons Flax Meal
- 7 1/2 tablespoons Warm Water
- 2 cups Roasted Cashews soaked in water overnight, 270 grams
- 1 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
- 5 tablespoons Coconut Sugar
- 5 tablespoons Molasses
- 3 tablespoons Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Coconut Oil melted
- 2 1/2 teaspoons Ground Ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Coffee Grounds
- 3/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
- pinch of Salt
For The Crust:
- 1/3 cup Coconut Oil at room temperature, should be the consistency of softened butter
- 2 tablespoons Honey or agave for vegan version
- 1 tablespoon Molasses
- 3/4 cup Coconut Flour sifted*
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon Coffee Grounds
- pinch of Salt
how do you make Gingerbread cheesecake bars?
- It starts with a base of cashew cream. To make this, let cashews (I like roasted) sit in water OVERNIGHT until nice and soft. Then, drain them and blend with other liquid, such as the almond milk we are using here.
- Add a binder to suck all of that cashew cream tightly together. I also wanted to make you a vegan cheesecake, so we’re using flax eggs and applesauce for the VRY VRY necessary binding qualities.
- Add a LITTLE bit of liquid coconut oil. Since coconut oil is hard when it’s cold, this helps really set the cheesecake as it chills.
- Bake until the cheesecake just begins to rise – NO MORE. This gives you ULTIMATE levels of creamy-dreaminess.
TIPS & NOTES:
- With all gluten free baking, please weigh your flour to ensure perfect results.
- You want the cheesecake mixture ready to pour on the crust right away, so have make sure you have the flax stirred in before the crust comes out of the oven. If you don’t pour it on immediately, sometimes the crust separates from the cheesecake when baking.
I tried.
I also share the gingerbread coffee vegan cheesecake bars recipe on Food Fanatic, so be sure to check them out there!
Other Recipes You Might Like:
Best Healthy Gluten Free Gingerbread Muffins
Gingerbread High Protein Oatmeal Recipe
Gingerbread Dairy Free Paleo Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the Cheesecake:
- 3 tablespoons Flax Meal
- 7 1/2 tablespoons Warm Water
- 2 cups Roasted Cashews soaked in water overnight, 270 grams
- 1 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
- 5 tablespoons Coconut Sugar
- 5 tablespoons Molasses
- 3 tablespoons Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Coconut Oil melted
- 2 1/2 teaspoons Ground Ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Coffee Grounds
- 3/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
- pinch of Salt
For the Crust:
- 1/3 cup Coconut Oil at room temperature, should be the consistency of softened butter
- 2 tablespoons Honey or agave for vegan version
- 1 tablespoon Molasses
- 3/4 cup Coconut Flour sifted*
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon Coffee Grounds
- pinch of Salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line an 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving some to hang over the edges of the pan to use as a handle.
- Place the flax meal into a small bowl and add in the warm water. Whisk until combined and then place into the refrigerator to thicken up.
- Drain the cashews and place them into a high-powered blender. Add all the remaining cheesecake ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat together the coconut oil and honey until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Your crust mixture will be a little bit runny.
- Press evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake JUST until the edges are golden brown, about 7-8 minutes.
- When there is about 2 minutes of baking time for the crust left, stir the chilled flax mixture right into the blender, stirring to mix it really well with the cashew mixture. **
- When the crust is done, it will have risen in a few spots. Use a small spoon to quickly press it back down firmly, making sure to not leave any cracks in the crust.
- Immediately pour the cheesecake mixture over the crust and spread out evenly.
- Bake until the cheesecake rises and the top feels completely set, about 45 minutes.
- Let cool on the counter completely and then cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, up to overnight.
- Slice and DEVOUR!
Notes
- * With all gluten free baking, please weigh your flour to ensure perfect results.
- ** You want the cheesecake mixture ready to pour on the crust right away, so have make sure you have the flax stirred in before the crust comes out of the oven. If you don’t pour it on immediately, sometimes the crust separates from the cheesecake when baking.
WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PER SERVING: SMART POINTS: 10 POINTS+: 6 OLD POINTS: 5
(per 1 bar)
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