Dessert

Raw Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

Posted on May 1, 2014

Hello cheesecake lovers! I made this little beauty for myself for my birthday (how nice of me!). It was quite tasty and the chocolate chip garnish was a most necessary addition. I could have even sprinkled more and not been sad! Inspired by DAMY’s Caramel Blondie Brownie Cheesecake

Note: Before you get all caught up on hoping to enjoy this in just a few hours, please just take a deep breath, know that it can’t happen so instantly because the cashews and dates must be SOAKED. I know, bummer. Now that you’ve taken a deep breath, put 2 cups of dates in a bowl of water to soak, and 3 cups of raw cashews in another bowl of water to soak and WALK AWAY. In a few hours, come back here and make the magic happen!

PREPARE PAN

Grease or line with parchment paper a 9″ springform pan

CRUST

1 Cup Pecans

1/2 C Walnuts

1 Cup Pre-Soaked Pitted Dates (a few hours or less is fine)

Pinch of Sea Salt

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse till combined but still textured. Press into bottom of pan.

FILLING

3 Cups Pre-Soaked Cashews (a few hours minimum)

1/4 Cup Coconut Oil

1/4 Cup Maple Syrup

1 T Vanilla Extract

2 T Lemon Juice

Place all ingredients in food processor and turn on, occasionally you will need to scrape down the sides of the food processor to get the little bits into the mix. You want to process until it is COMPLETELY smooth. Spread with spatula onto crust, and place in freezer while you make the topping.

TOP IT OFF

1 Cup Pre-Soaked Pitted Dates (pre-soaked)

4 T Maple Syrup

3 T Almond Butter

Pinch of Sea Salt

3 T Coconut Oil

2 t Vanilla Extract

Pulse until smooth, spread over filling and sprinkle with a generous amount of chocolate chips. My favorite chocolate chips are Enjoy Life Semi Sweet because they are dairy and soy free 🙂

FREEZE

Place in freezer to solidify- ideally a few hours but if you’re impatient and must have it ASAP, an hour will do, it will just be more ‘cream pie’ like. If you’re able to wait the few hours for it to freeze, make sure to let it thaw at room temperature about 15 mins before attempting to slice. Enjoy!