[vsw id=”” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]Want to know what has me singing Hallelujah?  It is this recipe that is the healthiest, tastiest, easiest cheesecake EVER!  So get your merry on and leave the guilt behind because this is one dessert you can have seconds if there is any left!  Go ahead you can sing Hallelujah too!!

As we approach the New Year, many of us are looking to healthify our lives but often it is short lived.  A common belief I hear from our patients at the Natural Medicine Clinic, is they think to “eat healthy” it will not taste good.

I will pinky swear this is absolutely not true!!  I made this easy dairy, gluten free and raw desert for several parties and for the staff at the Clinic.  Everyone was singing Hallelujah and asking for seconds! I even caught one of the doctors scraping the pie dish….I won’t name any names.

The macadamia nut is mighty in nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants that are vital to our health.  This time of year we could use the important B-complex, A, and E vitamins this incredible nut has to offer because it serves to protect our bodies from free radical damage that can occur from things like environmental stress, alcohol, and refined sugars, etc.

I bet some of you are wondering, but isn’t this nut high in fat?  It is a good fat that our bodies need to thrive and besides, Tom and I go thru bags of them in a week and our bodies are lean and mean, well lean anyway!

Ingredients

Crust
1 cup pecans
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup dried apricots
1 tsp. hazelnut extract
1 tsp. coconut extract

Filling
2 1/2 cups soaked cashews or macadamia nuts
4 tbsp. coconut manna
3-4 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. coconut oil
1/2 lemon’s juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. hazelnut extract

Topping
1 cup fresh strawberries
2 tbsp. chia seeds
dash of stevia

Directions for Crust:
1.  Using a food processor or Vita Mix pulse raw pecans, shredded coconut, and apricots.
2.  Pulse ingredients till it is a fine flour or rough texture and add extracts. Careful not to cream it.
3.  Press the pecan mixture into a pie plate so that it reaches up the sides and put to the side.

Directions for Filling:
1.  In a food processor or Vita Mix puree cashews/macadamias with manna, honey, oil and lemon.
2.  After several minutes of pulsing and mixture is creamy add extracts.
3.  Pour filling into crust and prepare topping.

Directions for Topping:
1.  Puree strawberries and chia seeds in a food processor or a Vita Mix.
2.  Add a dash of stevia to taste.
3.  Spread topping over raw cheesecake.  Refrigerate for a few hours or put it in the freezer for an hour.

Tips
Macadamia nuts are a tad expensive so doing half cashews helps absorb that cost. The macadamia nuts really fool the palate to thinking it is a real cheesy cake.  Soaking the nuts are not necessary.  I just find it helps make the cake that much more creamy.  Check out my post on “soaking nuts” https://spoonfulofhealth.com/benefits-of-soaking-nuts/  *If you decide to use nuts that are not soaked for the filling you will need to add up to 1/4 cup water to help it blend smooth.

I love roasting the pecans for 20 minutes in the oven with a little coconut oil at 300 degrees for 20 minutes, to enhance the crust’s flavor.  Also, I have put this into a square dish and cut them smaller, since this is a rich tasting desert.  You can store in the freezer for up to a week and the refrigerator several days.

With A Spoonful of Health for a healthy New Year,

Dawn