It's hard to believe that this dessert is made with all healthy ingredients but it really is. It's refined-sugar free, dairy-free and gluten free....oh ya.

There a bunch of easy healthy switches in this recipe

• Instead of using butter and flour for the crust --> its nuts and medjool dates
• Instead of using cream cheese in the filling --> its raw cashews
• Instead of using sugar --> its maple syrup and dates
• Instead of cocoa powder --> its raw cacao powder

I developed this recipe for a going away party for some good friends of ours.  They have tried most of my go to desserts already so I wanted to make something new.  The party was so fun, we have met so many new friends since rocking our downtown condo lifestyle #gratitude.  

Now let's do this.  

First the crust...

Roast the hazelnuts to bring out the flavour.

Put all of the hazelnut crust ingredients into the blender (or food processor). 

Unsweetened shredded coconut, medjool dates, Himalayan salt and the hazelnuts.

If you don't keep these ingredients on hand....well your missing out cause you can make so many delicious healthy desserts with them.  I buy most of my ingredients online at Amazon but you can also find them at your local health food store as well as in the natural foods row at the grocery store.

Blend until the mixture looks crumbly.  To test that the crust is ready squeeze some together, if it sticks together easily you are good to go.

Fill muffin liners with about a tablespoon of crust and press down.  Put them into the freezer for a couple of hours before filling.

And now the filling.

Blend all of the filling ingredients together until, smooth. Make sure you use good quality raw cacao powder (and not cocoa powder) , that way you will get that beautiful chocolate flavour going on and all of the health benefits that comes along with it.

Whats the difference is between Cacao powder and Cocoa powder?

• Cacao is a pure form of chocolate, its raw and much less processed than cocoa powder or chocolate bars.
• My favourite health benefits of cacao powder...are it's a high source of antioxidants and rich in minerals like magnesium, iron and potassium 

Get the crust out of the freezer and scoop some filling into each one.  Put back in the freezer to set up.  

And ahh... make sure you lick that spoon when you are done.  This is a guilt free dessert so go for it, maybe even scoop a little extra on that spoon before you lick it. lol

Mini Chocolate Cheesecake Tarts with Hazelnut Crust (dairy-free) Recipe

By: saltsole.com

Makes: 18 mini tarts

What You Need

For the Crust:

• 1 cup raw hazelnuts
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 5 - 6 medjool dates 
• 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan salt (or sea salt)

For the Filling:

• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon raw honey
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon vanilla  
• 1/2 cup coconut water 
• 1/4 cup coconut butter (the brand I use calls it coconut manna)
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 4 medjool dates
• 1 1/2 cup raw cashews
• a pinch of Himalayan salt (or sea salt)

What To Do 

For the Crust:   

(1) Roast the hazelnuts in a 300 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes and let cool.

(2) Put all of the crust ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until the mixture looks crumbly.  

(3) Scoop out about a tablespoon into each muffin cup and press down.  I like to use silicone muffin cups, parchment muffin cups will work also.

(4) Put in the freezer for a couple of hours before filling.

For the Filling:  

(1) Soak the cashews in water for a couple of hours. If you don't have time to soak and you have a have a high speed blender (like a Vitamix) you can skip this soaking step.

(2) Remove the pits from the dates.

(3) Put all of the filling ingredients in the blender in the order listed above and blend until creamy smooth.

(4) Pour into the crust and put it into the freezer to set up.   You can store them in the freezer and just pop one out when you need that chocolate fix.

Let's Get Healthy Together

Get in the kitchen and give this recipe a try.

Enjoy

Let us know how it turns out for you.  Write us a comment or post a picture on instagram and tag us @saltsole, we wanna see it.  

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