Looking for a gooey and indulgent dessert? These no-bake, raw vegan Cheesecake Maca Bars are sure to hit the spot!
What is Maca?
Maca Powder comes from a herbaceous plant cultivated in the high Andean mountains of Peru. Its known as a superfood for all of it’s amazing benefits:
- boosts energy
- reduces stress and fatigue
- improves and balances your mood
- may alleviate menopause symptoms
- and more!
Maca Powder is also great to disguise in baked goods because it doesn’t have a strong flavour.
I easily masked the maca powder into the top chocolate layer of these cheesecake maca bars. No one would guess these maca bars hide a nutritious superfood secret!
Ingredients You’ll Need
This base layer of this recipe calls for your “nut of choice” and I would highly recommend walnuts, cashews, or almonds but any would do (even a combination would be great!).
The cheesecake layer calls for cashews and this nut shouldn’t be interchanged with another though. The cashew perfectly blends to create a smooth texture and white colour similar to cheesecake.
This recipe clearly would be incomplete without Maca and I recommend Raw Nutritional‘s powder. They’re my go to for superfood and protein powders. I even have a code with them, “christa” for 20% off.
If you try this Cheesecake Maca Bars recipe or any other recipe on the blog please let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below!
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Raw Vegan Maca Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Base Layer
- 15 dates
- 2 cups nut of choice I used whole walnuts
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
Cheesecake Layer
- 2 cups cashews
- ¾ cup coconut cream
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Maca Layer
- 2 cups vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 4 tbsp Raw Nutritional Maca Powder
- 2 tsp crisco
Instructions
Prep
- De-pit the dates and soak them in boiling water for about 10 mins. At this point you also want to boil the cashews for about 20-30 minutes.
Base Layer
- Put your nuts in a food processor and blend until crumbled. Next process the dates.
- In an 8×12 inch pan combine the processed dates, processed nuts, cinnamon, and salt. Pat down to create the first layer of the bars.
Cheesecake Layer
- Drain your cashews. Then in a blender, add the cashews, coconut cream, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Blend until smooth.
- Spread the cheesecake layer on top of the base layer. Place in the freezer to allow the cheesecake layer to slightly harden.
Maca Layer
- Melt the chocolate and crisco. Stir in the maca powder.
- Then spread the maca layer over the cheesecake layer (optional, garnish your bars with salt). Place back in the freezer.
- When the maca layer begins to harden cut into squares. Then put it back in the freezer until the maca layer has fully hardened (cutting it otherwise will be a challenge).
- Enjoy these bars throughout the week. Must keep them refrigerated!!
If you tried this recipe make sure to leave a comment/rating below! I would love to hear your thoughts!
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