Gingerbread is one of the best things ever! Unfortunately, I’m horrible at baking and haven’t found a good vegan and healthy gingerbread cookie that I like or isn’t too complicated to make. Enter the raw cheesecake (I’m good at those). In case your wondering no I didn’t make the little gingerbread men on top of the cakes; they are little gingerbread biscuits that I’ve been buying for my baby for the longest time. They come from the baby food section and are delicious and healthy too (this isn’t a sponsored post either).
I also love that gingerbread gives me an opportunity to use up some molasses! It’s such a nutrient dense sweetener that I barely ever use. I’m not really a fan of the taste unless it’s in gingerbread but I love the health benefits. I had every intention of eating molasses by the spoonful daily when I was pregnant because it’s so rich in iron that it can be taken as a supplement. I had mildly low iron during my third trimester. I now know this is normal and probably didn’t need to worry about it too much but at my midwives suggestion I took some iron and I reacted horribly to it! (no surprise as I react horribly to everything) so turned to molasses instead! It worked pretty well although unfortunately, I couldn’t stomach the taste due to being pregnant so I added it to chocolate smoothie weird drink concoction instead (the things you do when you can’t take supplements). Every time Christmas rolls around I get excited about getting an iron hit from everything gingerbread flavoured! Just thought I’d add the above little section on molasses in case anyone stumbles across this and needs help with their iron levels (so many women do) it works better than any supplement and has no nasty side effects. Just make sure you get a good quality un sulphured variety.
I took these little cheesecakes to a birthday party and was told that they were an absolute hit with the children so they are a great healthy treat for kids if you’re looking for healthier options for your little ones over Christmas.
The recipe was adapted from Bakerita (one of my favourite healthy treat bloggers) and is vegan, raw, refined sugar-free, gluten free and dairy free. Enjoy!
| Raw Vegan Gingerbread Mini Cheesecakes | Print |
- BASE:
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 1½ cups raw pecans
- ½ tsp ginger
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- pinch salt
- FILLING:
- 2 cups raw cashews (soaked for about 4 hours)
- ½ cup organic coconut cream
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 2 TBSP coconut oil
- 3 TBSP good quality molasses
- Juice 1 lemon
- 1 TBSP vanilla extract
- 2 tsp allspice
- TOPPINGS:
- coconut yoghurt and mini gingerbread men biscuits (optional)
- For the base: whiz all the ingredients together in a food processor until crumbly but sticky.
- Divide evenly and press down into the base of mini cheesecake tin or muffin tin. Set aside.
- For the filling add all the ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour evenly over the base and set in the freezer for about 4 hours to set.
- Top with coconut yoghurt or cream, firm gingerbread biscuits or chopped pecans.
