Raw Vegan PB Cheesecake love!

VeganMommyDee's Raw Vegan PB Cheesecake

VeganMommyDee’s Raw Vegan PB Cheesecake

 

 

I made one of my favourite cheesecakes earlier this week … raw vegan peanut butter cheesecake! Anyone who knows me well knows that I’m a PB and over all nut freak. PB makes everything perfect! This was my 1st try making this cheesecake and I’m really happy with the outcome. So happy indeed that I’m sharing my recipe with you all right away. I’ve had many people ask me for this recipe once I posted a picture of it on Instagram. My new years resolution was to try and put pen to paper and actually write down my recipes so I did just that when I made this cheesecake. I’m not a fussy person and I love to bake and cook so I’ve become the queen at winging my recipes. I barely measure and don’t fuss about exact measurements. When people ask me for recipes, ask me to please consider writing a cookbook or teach cooking classes this becomes a problem however. I blame the way I am because of my mom (just joking) because she never used measurements when I used to cook/bake with her as a child. She intern leaned the a little of this and a bit of that type of measuring from her mother as well. I’m breaking the cycle now and these days I’ve made a conscious effort to try and write down the measurements that I’m using when I’m cooking or baking. So going back to this awesome raw cheesecake I didn’t overly sweeten mine so if your a major sweet tooth then add more sugar to your cheesecake. I’m a sweet tooth who has converted to an almost sugar free lifestyle so I try and limit how sweet I make my desserts. It’s really difficult sometimes but I just try and use dates and stevia when baking in order to make my desserts as healthy has possible. I love the natural sweetness that dates bring to desserts and what’s even better is they have many nutritional benefits. Hooray!

 

Here is my very simple recipe …

 

Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cheesecake

 

You will need:

  • 1 spring form pan ( I use a 9″ pan )
  • 1/3 cup Pure organic coconut oil
  • 1  400 ml can of coconut milk ( you will only use 1/2 of the can however)
  • 5 cups Raw cashew halves
  • 1 TBSP Maple syrup
  • 2 cups Medjool dates
  • 3 Powdered Stevia packets
  • 1/3 cup vegan mini chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 cup Unsweetened natural peanut butter
  • Food processor

 

Method:

  1. The 1st step which is the most important step of all is soak your cashews for at least 4 hours before making this recipe. I prefer to soak mine overnight. I just put the cashews in a glass bowl and cover them with fresh water the night before I’m making any cheesecake.
  2. Soak your dates in very warm water for 10 – 15  minutes so they can soften and become really plump. I also pop the can of coconut milk into the fridge while my dates soak. I find when the can is cold the cream becomes a little thicker and easier to scoop up after.
  3. You are going to start off with making the crust for the cheesecake by adding 2 cups of the raw cashews into the food processor with 7 pitted dates. Process until the dates have been incorporated well.
  4. Lightly oil your spring form pan with a little coconut oil
  5. Transfer the crust mixture into the spring form pan and press down well and evenly distribute it around the base of your pan.
  6. Now you can go ahead and make your filling by adding the following ingredients into the food  processor:                                                                                                                                                                                                              The remaining 3 cups of the the raw cashews, 1 TBSP of maple syrup, 1/3 cup coconut oil, 3 packets of stevia,  1  1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/2 of the can of coconut oil (skim the thickening coconut cream from on top as you don’t want the liquid for this recipe) and the remaining pitted dates. Process very well. Make sure to scrape down the processor’s bowl in order to make sure everything is combining well.
  7. Once combined well and it’s a nice creamy consistency then add your filling into the spring form pan and smooth it out evenly.
  8. Top with mini vegan chocolate chips
  9. Pop it into the freezer to set for at least 4 hours so the cheesecake can set nicely.
  10. Remove it from the freezer about 20-30 minutes before your want to slice it up and serve it. You can keep any left over slices in the fridge in an air tight container.

So incredibly easy to make right? The only thing you have to remember to do is soak your nuts and your dates so that your cheesecake turns out wickedly good! 🙂

Enjoy!

~Debbie~

*Remember to visit me on Instagram and take a look at how I try and live a healthy balanced lifestyle! I’m VeganMommyDee on there as well.*

 

A lovely slice of VeganMommyDee's Raw Vegan PB Cheesecake!

A lovely slice of VeganMommyDee’s Raw Vegan PB Cheesecake!

 

 

Eat Healthy, Be Healthy!

Health

Eat Healthy, Be Healthy!!! Everyday we make choices about our food, so make health conscious ones! Don’t make choices that are going to leave you guilt ridden. Even the most popular comfort foods can be made in healthier ways. I’ve made delicious healthy mac & “cheese” and pot pies which people love! They couldn’t believe they were vegan and healthy because they tasted so good. This is why I keep trying to tell people that healthy CAN taste good! Actually it can taste pretty darn amazing!

I’ve noticed that people can do pretty well making good food choices for meals for the most part but find it very difficult to snack healthy. One of the biggest lessons I leaned on my weight loss journey was to swap unhealthy snacks with healthy ones. If you’re a chip lover try eating homemade sweet potato chips or making yummy kale chips as an alternative. They are so tasty and guilt free! Even my teen has grown to love them and makes them at my house! If your more of a sweet tooth then swap things like sugar loaded ice cream with a healthy homemade version. Process frozen bananas and peaches or mango, freeze in a container for 10-15 minutes to set. How simple is that? Anyone can make it! When your on the run and busy carry nuts and seeds with you or fresh fruit. Everyone who knows me is totally used to me pulling out healthy snacks from my purse when I’m hungry. If you’re not prepared then you will be tempted to pick unhealthy food choices, so be prepared!

I wasn’t always a healthy individual and for most of my life I made poor food choices. I went from being the over weight child to a teen with an eating disorder and I was down to a size 1/2. After having all my children I then ended up very over weight and feeling horrible. I had a very significant amount of weight to lose in order to feel healthy! In 2009 I started to make little small improvements to my diet and becoming a little active. In 2010 I became more active and started walking a lot. Yes walking! So simple right? It was so effective though and the weight started coming off finally and people around me were noticing! By 2013 I lost about 80 lbs and I never dreamed I could accomplish that but I did. Am I done with my health journey? Nope. I have a little more weight to shed but I’m now focused on toning and becoming stronger everyday. So to anyone out there struggling to shed some weight … you can do it! If I can so can you! Keep going! Keep trying! Rome wasn’t built in a day and your weight isn’t gonna come off over night either. Be patient with the process, make healthy food choices and be consistent with your workouts and it will happen!

Debbie ~

My Quote

Pancake Tuesday!

It's Shrove Tuesday / Pancake Tuesday today!

It’s Shrove Tuesday / Pancake Tuesday today!

 

It’s Pancake Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday … whatever ya wanna call it it’s fine by me! If you’re not familiar with it then just click on Shrove Tuesday & Fat Tuesday and the links will fill you in. As per tradition I made pancakes for my kids to enjoy this morning. I put together some super fast and easy pancakes while packing school lunches and getting my crew out the door on time. I made super Cinnamon vegan pancakes and Cinnamon & Blueberry pancakes as per my 9 year old’s request. When I’m in a big hurry (like today) I use a premixed flour pancake mix sometimes which contains healthy whole grains like brown rice, teff, spelt and quinoa flour. I like having a bag of the premixed flour handy but they sometimes contain sugar and I prefer sugar-free options. To sweeten my pancakes I’ve only been using sugar-free powder stevia and I love the results! I find the liquid stevia way too bitter in taste however so I stick to the powder form. That way the only sugar we are actually putting on our pancakes is the 100% natural Canadian maple syrup and the natural sweetness from the berries. I sometimes skip the maple syrup and just add a touch of pure organic coconut oil on top as an even healthier alternative … yea bring on the yummy good fats! Below is the in a rush on a school day recipe I used this morning 🙂

 

CINNAMON / BLUEBERRY CINNAMON PANCAKES

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of your favourite flour mix
  • 1 tsp. aluminum free Baking Powder
  • 1/4 cup filtered water
  • 1/3 -1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 melted tbsp. of coconut oil
  • 3 packets of stevia
  • 3 tbsp. flaxmeal mixed with 9 tbsp. of water, let sit for a couple of minutes to thicken up
  • 1 tbsp. cinnamon, or to taste
  • 1 pint of blueberries, I usually save some for garnish on top
  • You will also need vegan butter or coconut to coat your pan for cooking

 

Method:

  1. Mix your flaxmeal with water and let it sit.
  2. In a medium-sized bowl add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and stevia. Mix well.
  3. Heat a frying pan with a vegan butter or coconut oil
  4. In a small bowl add the water, milk and the coconut oil and mix well. When adding the milk add in 1/3 cup and you can add more if needed afterward.
  5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry. Add in extra milk if you find your batter is too dry. Also add in the flaxmeal as well and combine. Don’t over mix however or your pancakes wont be as fluffy.
  6. Transfer the pancake mix to your preheated frying pan or griddle. They cook up fast so keep an eye on them.

 

NOTE:

  • As far as the blueberries go I usually add them in to my batter once I’ve made some plain cinnamon ones as some of my kids prefer them without the blueberries. Then I gently add the blueberries into the batter and cook up the rest.

 

*This recipe makes about 6 good-sized pancakes so I normally double it.*

 

Enjoy! 🙂