Catchy title eh?
Ok, let’s get one thing straight, right now. I love sweets. Like I REALLY love them. Making desserts is pretty much my favorite thing to do. It’s hard coming up with paleo desserts. My desserts often fail. I still eat them. I waste nothing. Making desserts for people just makes me so happy. I stare at them to watch their reaction to see if they like it. If I don’t get the response I want, I hate them. And our friendship ends. Thankfully I still have a few friends left.
But this dessert is something unreal. LIKESERIOUSLYOMGUNREAL. Laura stared at me with “Holy Balls” eyes when she tried this dessert. She said it definitely was a 10 and couldn’t believe how much it tasted like cheesecake. I.Was.Pumped. I want to make a kitty pool out of this dessert and live in it. Then make out with it. I honestly may make it every week. Sh*t could get ugly. Not literally. This will make your bum much happier than real cheesecake.
Anywho. Guess what I did the other day!? Went to a sporting event!!! NBD. Yeah, you want to see me out of my comfort zone? Place me at a baseball with thousands of screaming drunk people. I’m awkward there. If you follow me on instagram @paleomg, you could probably tell I was out of my element since 3 or the 5 pictures included alcohol. I drank ALMOST a full glass of a Strongbow, 3 sips…wait wait…4 sips of a Blue Moon, and I ate a blackberry out of a purple margarita, I think it had some alcohol in it. I just got wild!! But here is the kicker, I ACTUALLY had fun. I was with Laura so that’s a given that I would at least smile throughout the game, but I truly enjoyed the full 4 minutes of the game that I watched.
I can’t talk anymore. I need to eat my cheesecake. I’m not even joking.
No Bake Caramel Cheesecake (minus cheese)
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1 cup almond butter
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2/3 cup walnuts
- 1 heaping tablespoon coconut butter or homemade coconut butter
- 1 heaping tablespoon raw honey
- pinch of salt
For the filling
- 1.5 cups roasted, unsalted cashews
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 2–3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2–4 tablespoon canned coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the caramel
- 12–14 medjool dates, pitted and soaked in water for an hour
- 5–6 tablespoons canned coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- salt to top it all off with
Instructions
- Place dates in a bowl of water to soak.
- Let’s first make the crust!! Add walnuts to your food processor and blend until you get a meal, almost a walnut butter. Then add the rest of your crust ingredients and blend until well combined.
- Add crust mixture to an 8×8 glass baking dish lined with saran wrap, press down until evenly distributed. I sound so professional right now.
- Wipe out the inside of your food processor, no need to scrub, then add your cashews and blend until you begin to get a clumpy mess.
- Then add your coconut oil, lemon juice, vanilla extract and honey and puree until well combined.
- And lastly, add your coconut milk, 1 tablespoon at a time to break down the cashews completely. I used about 3 tablespoons for mine until the cashews became this soupy paste.
- Pour your filling onto the crust and use a knife or spoon to spread mixture throughout the entire pan, covering the crust, then place in the freezer for about 1-2 hours or until completely hard.
- Once your dates have soaked for about an hour, remove them from the water, and add them to a food processor and pulse until dates have broken down (less than a minute).
- Then add your coconut milk tablespoon by tablespoon to the dates while the food processor is still running. Then add your water as well.
- And add your vanilla extract and pinch of salt.
- Process until you get a caramel. Just let it run for a while. Pick your nose. Look at a trash magazine and BOOM. Caramel. May take 3-5 minutes, tops.
- Spread caramel over hardened cheesecake filling.
- Top with some course salt.
- Place it freezer for about 30 minutes until everything has set.
- Cut bars into the sizes you want. The saran wrap will help you pull them out without destroying their gorgeous looks. Just pull on the side of the saran wrap and it will pop right out.
- Eat. Eat and remember how wonderful it is to be paleo.
- PALEO IS AWESOME!
Notes
I am not saying how many it served. Sergio had once piece. Laura and I had the rest….oops. Whatever. Life is good.
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More Bar Ideas For Ya:
Chocolate “Peanut Butter” Cookie Bars
No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cream Bars
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Not only am I obsessed with your recipes but it makes me super happy when I already have the ingredients hanging in my pantry. So damn excited to try this one, I do love me some caramel anything. <3
I have been following your blog for about a month, and all I can say is it changed everything. I thought that “baked goods” were forbidden since I am eating paleo. Well, obviously not. Thank you for that!
To my question: How did you get so fit? I started crossfitting five months ago and I can feel the difference, but it is not showing. I want less fat so I can show off my muscles. But it is not happening to me… Do you restrict your calories? How do you do it?
I don’t restrict calories and I eat a good amount of fat in the form of avocados and coconut. I compete in Crossfit so I’m in the gym a lot. I have also and still often do paleo-zone. Check out the zone diet on google and it will explain it all, but I just stick with paleo foods.
Elin–I’ve been doing CrossFit for a year now and paleo since last Sept, and it’s only been what seems like recently to me that the muscle definition has been there. But in looking back through pictures and people seeing me that haven’t for a while, everyone has said they notice quite a difference. I was skinny fat before I started and actually never lost any weight, i lost inches, and have gained so much more–muscle definition, confidence, better body image, etc. Around my four-five month point, I kind of hit a wall it seemed and it didn’t feel like I was making any progress, and then suddenly I was. I also would try and tell myself that the fat didn’t go on overnight, I’m not going to get muscle definition overnight either. Anyway, stick with the CrossFit, stick with the paleo and eventually it will all click.
Juli–gotta try these this weekend!! Sounds awesomazing.
love that last layered shot! Looks fabulous, although truthfully I dont have a raging sweet tooth and sort of hate making desserts! I’m much more of a meal girl.
Wish I had your minimal sweet tooth Katie! Can’t keep my hands off desserts – especially when they look as good as this does! Another fantastic recipe JB 🙂
JULI! I’ve been jonesing for some cheesecake lately. Last time I gave in and ate some I was SO sick I missed a week of CrossFit! Seriously, I thought I was dying… or was in so much pain that I wished I was.
You have given me life!!! haha 🙂
i am obsessed with you… in a totally non-creepy way but semi creepy enough to keep it interesting. i just started eating paleo & your blog has kept things spicy so i’m not bored like i have been my whole life eating cheez-its and pizza. halleluiah! keep the great recipes comin!
I wish you were my friend so you would make these for me!! I would happily chow on them!!
This is just the kind of dessert I love… I’m glad we’re not friends or I would be big as a house.
OH EM GEE! It’s like you’re reading my mind and what I’m craving. I am so making these at this weekends pool party! Love you Juli! Keep them coming!
Oh, Juli. I thought we were friends. But here you are, trying to make me fat. Why do you want to make me fat?
This looks IRRESISTIBLE. I’m going to commission my willpower-laden friend to make this and give me one little serving. And hopefully I have enough willpower to keep from going to her house for all the rest. I know where her spare key is. That’s dangerous.
So I see from your “recipe” on how to make coconut butter that you say it is the same thing as coconut creme concentrate. So I can always use them interchangeably? The Tropical Traditions concentrate is SOLD OUT. But I can find product called Coconut Butter.
yes ma’am!