Paleo Strawberry Cheesecake (vegan, raw)
This paleo strawberry cheesecake is super creamy, vegan and raw and is loaded with extra flavor thanks to freeze-dried strawberries!Â
Spring has finally arrived! For many people, this means stepping away from heavy, wintry comfort foods and focusing on lighter, healthier eating. This paleo strawberry cheesecake is a great way to welcome spring!
I got a few comments about my paleo lemon bars being full of fat. And they are. Just like this cheesecake! But it’s healthy fat. Embrace it. :D
The recipe
I first made this strawberry cheesecake last year with in-season strawberries that were sweet and had a nice, strong strawberry flavor. The cheesecake came out awesome!
Then I tried it again about a month ago. German strawberries probably won’t be in season until next month, so I tried the recipe with frozen strawberries, thinking they’d be better than the fresh ones. Turns out that those are almost bitter and hardly taste like strawberries. So then I tried fresh strawberries, which again, hardly taste like strawberries and aren’t at all sweet.
I was not happy with the result. I thought maybe there was an issue with my recipe, so I kept tinkering with it and even tried other vegan strawberry cheesecake recipes. I didn’t like any of them.
So, obviously, the strawberries were to blame. My solution? I added half a cup of freeze-dried strawberry powder. Lots of concentrated strawberry flavor! You can also use the same amount (33 grams) of freeze-dried strawberries. If you’re using tasty, sweet strawberries, you might not need it.
For another tasty paleo treat with strawberries, try these Paleo Strawberry Pudding Souffles from Perry’s Plate!
Unless you’re serving the cheesecake to a crowd, you might want to make this recipe as mini cheesecakes using a regular muffin pan and muffin liners. You can pop the cheesecakes in the freezer and take one out whenever you’re in the mood. I made it as a full-sized cheesecake with Easter in mind.
If you’ve never tried a cashew-based cheesecake before, the texture is slightly different from cheesecake made with cream cheese. This one is kind of like a creamy, silky pie, or like softened ice cream.
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Paleo Strawberry Cheesecake (vegan, raw)
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 cup (110 grams) walnuts
- 1/3 cup (70 grams) pitted dates
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons (10 grams) unsweetened shredded coconut optional
For the cheesecake:
- 1 1/2 cups (218 grams) cashews
- 3/4 cup (168 grams) coconut oil
- 1/4 cup (60 grams) coconut cream
- 9 to 10 tablespoons Grade A maple syrup
- 3 cups (460 grams) strawberries fresh or frozen and defrosted, room temperature (do not use cold berries!)
- 1/4 cup (60 grams) lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup (33 grams) freeze-dried strawberry powder only likely needed if your strawberries aren't flavorful
Instructions
- Line the bottom of a 6.5" or larger springform pan with a piece of parchment paper. This will make cutting the cheesecake easier.
- Place the 1 1/2 cups of cashews needed for the filling in a small pot, pan or mug and cover with boiling water. Let sit for 1 hour. Drain the water.1 1/2 cups (218 grams) cashews
- Prepare the crust. Place all the crust ingredients in a high-powered blender (or a food processor, which will actually make the pieces more uniform in size) and process at low speed until the mixture starts to clump together. Don’t process so long that it becomes pasty. When you pinch some of the mixture between your fingers, it should easily clump together. Use the bottom of a shot glass or your fingers to press the mixture firmly over the bottom of the parchment-lined pan.1 cup (110 grams) walnuts, 1/3 cup (70 grams) pitted dates, 1 tablespoon coconut sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons (10 grams) unsweetened shredded coconut
- Place the pan in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
- Wipe out the blender jar using a paper towel and pour in all the filling ingredients (using 1/2 cup of maple syrup and not adding the freeze-dried strawberries yet) in the blender. Blend for about 30-60 seconds at high speed until totally smooth. Taste and add more maple syrup if it’s not sweet enough and if the mixture doesn’t taste strongly enough of strawberries, add in about 2 tablespoons of the freeze-dried strawberries or powder at a time until you’re happy with the taste.1 1/2 cups (218 grams) cashews, 3/4 cup (168 grams) coconut oil, 1/4 cup (60 grams) coconut cream, 9 to 10 tablespoons Grade A maple syrup, 3 cups (460 grams) strawberries, 1/4 cup (60 grams) lemon juice, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, pinch salt, 1/2 cup (33 grams) freeze-dried strawberry powder
- Pour the filling over the chilled crust and freeze for about 4 hours or until firm in the center. You can also chill the cheesecake, but it’ll take about 8-12 hours to set. If you freeze the cheesecake for 6-8+ hours, the filling may be a little icy straight from the freezer and the cheesecake will be very hard. Let defrost at room temperature for about 3 hours before cutting. Keeps well refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
Notes
- The cheesecake is very tall in the 6.5″ pan I used. I think using up to an 8″ or 9″ pan should be fine. There’s definitely enough filling, and I’m pretty sure there’s enough crust (which is also quite thick in the 6.5″ pan).
- The nutrition information provided is calculated as a courtesy and is only an estimate. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian. For the most accurate nutritional data, consult a professional or use your preferred calculator. The values don’t include the optional strawberry powder.
Awesome recipe! Texture and flavour were amazing
Yay! I’m glad to hear that you liked it. Thanks for your comment. :)
Flavor and texture were great! Easy and quick to make. I used frozen Organic strawberries and didn’t need any freeze dried berries or additional syrup. Definitely in our favorites list.
Awesome! So happy to hear that. :) Thanks for your comment!
I think my favorite part was licking the blender clean with my spatula. I don’t get to do that with non-vegan recipes. It was so delicious! I am thinking of making a strawberry ice cream with the filling recipe. Thanks for making this recipe!
Haha. I’m happy you enjoyed the licking the blender clean! That’s always a bonus with egg-free recipes (though the eggs don’t usually stop me ;)) I hope your ice cream works out well! Sounds like it’d be great. Thanks for your comment!
Oh also-I used agave instead of ample syrup–works just as well!
Great to know! Thanks for the tip. :)
Made this baby today, and it’s pretty good. Though I might alter the title a little, maybe “strawberry coconut lemonade cheesecake” lol. Obviously, not gonna taste like omni cheesecake, but it’s still quite delicious. It’s a perfect summer treat. Didn’t need freeze dried strawberries or the powder though, the strawberries I got were pretty juicy. Maybe because they were super ripe? Anyway, as my first raw vegan dessert, I’m pretty happy with it. Going to try a blueberry recipe next! Cheers!
I’m happy that your first raw vegan dessert came out well! :) My cheesecake didn’t come out very lemony or coconutty. Maybe the freeze-dried strawberries covered up that taste? I’m glad you still liked it! Thanks a bunch for your comment.
This sounds wonderful! But, can I substitute the maple syrup for raw honey? And can I substitute the walnuts for almonds?
Thanks! I think the honey flavor would be quite strong. You could try agave, though! Almonds would be fine. And sorry for the slow reply! I’m in the process of moving and haven’t had internet since Sunday.
I’m making this right now and cannot for the life of me get the Strawberry filling to be completely smooth. Everything but the canned coconut cream was room temp. Help!
It could be that the cold coconut cream is the issue! Are there little white specks of cream? If so, then just dump everything into a saucepan and heat it very gently. That’ll get rid of the white specks! And you’re using a high-powered blender, right?
Hi! I was just perusing your vegan recipes and saw this lovely looking strawberry cheezcake. I was wondering though, instead of using cashews in place of the cream cheese, have you ever tried using Kite Hill almond milk cream cheese? If you haven’t tried it for anything, it is by far THE best cream cheese replacement out there. And their ricotta is wonderful as well. They make their own cheese cakes but I have always wanted to try making my own, as I also love to bake healthy alternatives to traditional favorites. I use it for so many things but haven’t tried baking with it just yet.
Hello! I currently live in Germany and we have different brands of everything, so unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to try that cream cheese. Sounds great, though. :) Thanks for the tip!
I can’t wait for strawberry season! Love freeze dried strawberries, they add so much more flavor!
They really do! Love them.
This looks so gorgeous. That pink colour is beautiful!
Thanks so much!
WOW!! This cheesecake is absolutely stunning!!!
Thanks a bunch!
This is so gorgeous! I had no idea iHerb had such a great selection of healthy ingredients!
You have to check them out! They have so many GF cooking and baking goodies at such great prices. :)
This has got to be the prettiest cheesecake I’ve ever seen. The healthiest as well!
Aww, thanks! So nice of you to say. :)
Oh my goodness, I love your hack to use dried strawberries with your frozen strawberries. Genius!
Thanks a bunch!
This would be perfect for Easter! That color is stunning!
Thanks a bunch! I think it’d be great for Easter, too. :)
That color is just beautiful!! Love how clean and fresh this recipe is!
Thanks a bunch!
Love how you came up with the idea to add freeze dried powder to make this absolutely perfect! Also, that color. In love.
Isn’t it pretty?! And thank you!
It sure looks very tasty and very strawberry. So smooth and silky too.
Thanks so much, Charlotte! :)
Strawberry cheese cake looks great, does it satisfy the picky cheese cake lover?
I would love to try this.
If you’re used to regular cheesecake with cream cheese, then you need to expect something a little different. ;) This one is kind of moussy or like softened ice cream. It’s hard to describe!
Ok, I’ve been on the fence about cashew cheesecake, but I think this is just the right inspiration for me to try!
I hope you’ll enjoy it! This one doesn’t really taste just like regular cheesecake but if you want a cashew dessert that does taste just like it’s regular counterpart, you have to try this paleo key lime pie! The filling really tastes just like the kind with eggs and sweetened condensed milk. :) Thanks for your comment!