Dairy-Free, No Bake Berry Cheesecakes
The perfect summer dessert has arrived, and I don’t use the word perfect lightly. This treat is low sugar, refreshing, full of healthy fats & antioxidants, and if you’re looking for something healthy to bring to a 4th of July BBQ well you’re in luck!
The other reasons I’m loving these dairy-free mini cheesecakes is that there’s no baking involved at all. All you need aside from the ingredients is a food processor, blender, and muffin tins. I’m also really fond of the silicone liners, but no worries if you don’t have them since you can always just spray with cooking spray or even pour into a full-size tart pan which I may do next time.
What can I substitute for a food processor?
My food processor is out on my counter because I use it pretty much daily. It’s great for a quick chop, blending, pulsing ingredients, and especially things like crusts. But if you don’t have one for this recipe, you can simply add ingredients to a large bowl and use a pastry cutter or a fork to break up the pieces. It will take a bit more time, but you’ll be getting a good workout in the meantime. Once you add in the wet ingredients, it will get easier. But if you plan on making more homemade food, a food processor can be an excellent investment.
Ingredient Spotlight: Berries, Coconut, Gelatin...oh my!
Now let’s talk about the fun stuff….the wholesome ingredients.
Berries
You can certainly use any fruits for these, but in my book, berries are the most delicious, and healthiest fruits you can purchase. In the summertime, there are always bowls of mixed berries in the fridge and in the winter, we get em frozen. They have the highest level of antioxidants of any fruit and are hands-down best for blood sugar control. In this recipe we use a mix, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand. Frozen is totally fine too, but go organic for your berries since they’re always on EWGs (environmental working group) dirty dozen list which means the conventional versions are most likely filled with pesticides. Especially strawberries!
Coconut for all the things
Now for the vegan base….full fat, canned coconut milk. In this case, I used Nature’s Charm since I work with it in just about all my recipes. It has a touch of sweetness already so you don’t need to add much more. You can also use any from a can, (not the diluted milks in the fridge section near the almond milks). Just be sure your canned coconut milk doesn’t contain any additional fillers. This brand will work as well.
Coconut is high in medium chain fats which give you the blood sugar balance and real-food satiety of a fat along with the energy-boosting benefits of a carb. It also contains anti-microbial as well as antioxidant properties. Now we have a paleo friendly, and vegan friendly (see notes below), summer dessert base.
What are the benefits of of gelatin?
Gelatin is a colorless, tasteless, animal protein comprised of glycine and proline (2 amino acids that are quite limited in the American diet since they’re found primarily in bones, organs, and fibrous animal tissues.) Gelatin has a fabulous reputation for promoting skin health, joint support, and gut health as it lines the intestinal wall and helps to reduce inflammation. There’s also some pretty exciting research on what it can potentially do for cellulite. (ladies do I have your attention?).
Aside from these benefits, the amino acid glycine acts as an inhibitory neurotransmitter aiding in anxiety and sleep quality.
For more benefits (and another killer recipe), head over to the blueberry tart.
Note: If you are vegan and need to omit the gelatin, you’ll just use an extra cup of cashews to thicken and set in the freezer as mention below. I’ve done it both ways and it comes out just fine.
How to choose the right gelatin?
Nope we’re not talking about the jello-brand gelatin, (though it’s super cute when you’re a kid)….remember it’s time to upgrade our ingredients if we want to make any kind of nutritional dent. Similar to collagen and whey products, always go grass-fed, non-denatured. I use further food or vital proteins.
5 year old, Tommy testing to see if they’re “done”.
Dairy-free, no bake mini berry cheesecakes
For the crust
2 cups raw walnuts
2/3 tsp sea salt (½ tsp plus an extra dash;)
1/4 cup date paste (I use this brand, or make my own)
For the base
1 can evaporated coconut milk (or 1 can full fat coconut milk plus 2 extra tsp date past
1/4 cup date paste
1 cups raw cashews soaked 4 hours or overnight
1 Tbsp grass-fed gelatin (for vegan option, sub out the gelatin for one more cup cashews and freeze when complete)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
¼ tsp sea salt
In food processor, combine walnuts, sea salt and paste. Pulse until well incorporated. Split evenly among 12 muffin tins lined w silicone wrappers or sprayed with cooking spray.
Set aside
In blender, combine coconut milk, date paste, cashews, gelatin, lemon juice, and sea salt. Blend until very smooth and divide among muffin tins evenly (fill each to top).
Top each with fresh or frozen organic berries.
Place in the fridge or freezer. I love them frozen in the summertime and they’re much less messy but the fridge works well too!
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