Raw Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Squares

What peanut butter dreams are made of...

Look you could tell me peanut butter is bad for you all day long. My ears are unavailable for this kinda talk. I have been eating peanut butter since I was a wee young girl by the spoonful. It. is. my. favorite.
My favorite.
I'll never quit you, peanut butter.
Not never, not know how.
Sincerely, 
Me.

Ok- sorry about that. Just wanted to clarify my love for peanut butter. If you for some reason do not feel this special way about peanut butter- by all means substitute almond butter in this recipe. Or if your nut free, sunflower seed butter could possibly work too.
​ Try it, ya never know!


I almost gave up on this recipe- half way through cause it just was not turning out right. But I pushed through & voila. I'm so glad I didn't. Cause this genuinely might be the best dessert I've ever made. Seriously. I had to force myself to create something new after this cause I would've made it again- and again, and again. And probably again.
​Well lets be real- I will be making this a lot in the future.

​Keep scrolling down for the recipe.

RAW CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CHEESECAKE SQUARES
Recipe by: Krysten Jorgensen, The Daily Kale

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1 cup almonds
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• Pinch of salt
• 10 pitted dates or about 1/2 cup 

For the filling:

• 1/2 cup cashews
• 5 tbsp peanut butter
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup or 5 tbsp  + 1 tsp coconut oil (melted)
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

For the chocolate drizzle:

• 1/4 cup chocolate chips (70% cacao or higher)
• 1 tbsp cacao powder
• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp maple syrup 

Directions:
​

1. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Make sure it's lined both ways so this won't be touching any of the actual pan.
2. For the crust: In a food processor, blend just the almonds for about 10-15 seconds until they are in fine/little bits. Add in the rest of the crust ingredients and blend for about 15 seconds until evenly combined. If needed: add in 1-2 tbsp. of water so that the crust starts to form when you blend it for another 5-10 seconds. Now you've got your crust. 
3. Place the crust in the pan. And push with your fingers or fist to flatten it out evenly so it's covering the entire bottom of the lined pan. 
4. Place all filling ingredients inside of the food processor and blend until completely creamy & smooth. Add in the extra tbsp of water if it is not creamy/silky. Keep blending until it's evenly blended. I let my processor run for about 1 minute. Making sure it's as creamy & combined as possible.
5. Pour the filling into your loaf pan on top of the crust. Use a spatula to make the filling even out. Or tap the pan a couple of times on the counter until it evens out.
6. Heat up about 1/4 cup water in a small pot until just boiling then turn off.
7. In a small stainless steel bowl, combine all of the chocolate drizzle ingredients. Put it on top of the small pot and let the mixture melt, while stirring. *Reminder, the flame is turned off for this. You don't want to burn the chocolate. It should melt down to a nice chocolate sauce.
8. Drizzle the chocolate sauce anyway you want over the top of the cheesecake. Have fun and get creative with your designs. I also drizzled more plain peanut butter on top too.
9. Set in your freezer for 2 hours.
10. Store in the freezer in an air tight container for up to 5 days. Take out about 15-20 minutes before enjoying, so that it's nice & thawed out.

ENJOY!

if you make it please #THEDAILYKALE or @TheDailyKale on instagram so I can see your recreations!
Or tag/follow me on Facebook.
​