This dairy-free Raw Vegan Chocolate Marbled Cheesecake has a healthy twist to it that may come as a surprise.
It’s a good surprise, but one you wouldn’t expect in a cheesecake recipe….zucchini!
If you’d tried any of my other recipes, there are several that have zucchini in them, but you’d never know.
One is the Vegan Flourless Zucchini Brownies and another is Raw Zucchini Hummus.
This healthy cheesecake version is raw, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, paleo-friendly, no-bake and has no refined sugar and is extra special because it has a chocolate crust.
It’s the kind of dessert you can feel good about eating, unlike a traditional dairy-filled cheesecake.
Let’s look at some typical ingredients in a traditional marbled cheesecake:
Traditional Marbled Cheesecake
Ingredients: chocolate cookie crumbs, butter, 2 1/2 pounds of cream cheese, 1 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons white flour, 2 egg yolks, 5 eggs, 1 cup sour cream and 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate.
That’s a whole lot of dairy!
5 Fast Facts About Cashews:
- packed with dietary fiber
- rich in “heart friendly” mono-saturated fatty acids
- rich source of minerals
- high in magnesium and copper
- excellent source of antioxidants
5 Fast Facts About Zucchini:
- low calorie food – 94% water
- high in manganese
- helps lower blood pressure
- anti-inflammatory
- helps lower cholesterol
5 Fast Facts About Maple Syrup:
- contains manganese and zinc
- super high in anti-oxidants
- helps with inflammation
- 1/4 cups contains more calcium than the same amount of milk
- 1/4 cup contains more potassium than a banana
5 Fast Facts About Lemons:
- extremely alkaline
- blood purifier
- excellent for detoxification
- balances blood sugar levels
- contains powerful anti-bacterial propeties
5 Fast Facts About Coconut Oil:
- super high in lauric acid
- rich in antioxidants
- contains natural microbial and anti-bacterial agents
- helps to improve metabolism
- improves cholesterol levels
5 Fast Facts About Pecans:
- contains naturally occurring anti-oxidants
- helps to lower cholesterol
- high quality source of protein
- contains more 19 vitamins and minerals
- excellent source of vitamin E
5 Fast Facts About Pink Himalayan Salt:
- contains 84 minerals
- unrefined, unprocessed, raw
- promotes stable pH balance in cells
- controls water levels in the body
- aids digestion and facilitates better nutrient absorption
5 Fast Facts About Cacao:
- contains over 300 compounds including protein, calcium, copper, zinc and iron
- super high in anti-oxidants
- promotes cardiovascular health
- contains essential fats
- can help to decrease blood pressure
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Tip #1: This recipe is enough to make 4 large-sized individual cheesecakes in this Norpro Small Cheesecake pan or 12 small-sized individual cheesecakes in this Norpo Mini Cheesecake pan.
Tip #2: You can use the sweetener of your choice in the crust, filling or the chocolate swirl. I’ve used medjool dates (2 large dates), raw honey, maple syrup or for a lower glycemic sweetener you could use raw coconut crystals or coconut nectar and all of these options have worked fine.
Tip #3: You can use either organic vanilla bean powder (best choice! since it’s a raw dessert) or regular vanilla extract but if you use the vanilla bean powder, it may have a slightly darker color and/or vanilla bean powder flecks in it (kind of like in vanilla bean ice cream). And don’t forget, you only have to use 1/2 as much of the vanilla bean powder as you do vanilla extract.
Chocolate Marbled Cheesecakes (Raw, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Dairy-Free, Paleo-Friendly, No-Bake, No Refined Sugar)
Print recipe| www.thehealthyfamilyandhome.com | The Healthy Family and Home |
Ingredients
For the base
- 2 cups organic pecans
- 4 tablespoons organic raw cacao powder
- 4 tablespoons organic maple syrup (or sweetener of your choice)
- 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla bean powder (or 1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract)
For the filling
- 2 cups raw organic cashews
- 1 cup organic zucchini (peeled and cubed)
- 5 tablespoons organic lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
- 4 tablespoons organic coconut oil
- 1/2 cup organic maple syrup (or sweetener of your choice)
- 1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla bean powder (or 1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract)
- 1/4 teaspoon pink himalayan salt
For the swirl topping
- 4 tablespoons organic raw cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons organic maple syrup (or sweetener of your choice)
- 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil (melted/liquid)
Directions
| Prepare the crust | |
| Step 1 | Put all the ingredients for the crust in a food processor and process until a wet and crumbly texture. Divide evenly into a 12-cavity mini cheesecake pan and press down firmly. Put the cheesecake pan in the freezer to harden the crust while you prepare the cheesecake filling. |
| Prepare the filling | |
| Step 2 | Peel and dice the zucchini. Put all the ingredients for the cheesecake filling into a Vitamix and blend until a smooth and creamy. Remove the cheesecake pan from the freezer and evenly distribute the filling on top of each crust. |
| Prepare the topping | |
| Step 3 | Put all the ingredients for the topping in a small bowl and stir until creamy and well combined. |
| Assembly | |
| Step 4 | Put small dollops of the topping on each cheesecake and swirl it in a circular shape using the tip of a knife. Put the cheesecake pan back in the freezer for approximately 2 - 4 hours, or until the cheesecake hardens. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Do not leave out a room temperature because they will become soft and lose their shape. Enjoy! |
Note
Recipe slightly adapted from: https://detoxinista.com/2011/02/raw-chocolate-swirl-cheesecake-bars/
Just put the mini cheesecakes in the freezer and cannot wait to try them (we tried the batter and it was amazing!I wouldn’t have guessed there was zucchini in it!)
Hi there Matea! I know…I love how you can add that extra nutrition in without it affecting the flavor at all!
Thanks so much for trying out the recipe and I hope they turned out good for you 😉
Just made these this past weekend. Delicious! I doubled the recipe and put it in medium-sized muffin tins which gave me 24 mini cheesecakes. So far, I’ve given them out to 10 “taste-testers” who absolutely loved them. I’m curious about the zucchini. Is it integral to the success of the recipe, or is it added just as a healthy ingredient? Thanks so much for sharing this, Karielyn.
Hi there Ann! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe and using the smaller sized cups was a great idea too!
I think the zucchini might be in there for extra creaminess and nutrition because some of the other raw/vegan cheesecakes I’ve made use only cashews (no zucchini) so because of that I know it isn’t an essential ingredient in a raw/vegan cheesecake recipe.
Thanks for trying out the recipe and for taking the time to let me know you liked it 🙂
I see in your picture for the crust that it looks like you have a couple dates in the food processor, I was just wondering if you added those in or if that’s what you used as your sweetener. If you did use them as your sweetener, how many did you use and do you recommend this over maple syrup or honey?
Thanks! This recipe looks great! Def going to try it out!
Hi there KC! I usually alternate between my sweeteners sometimes, especially when the recipe is flexible like this one. I have used both dates and maple syrup as the sweetener for the crust and in this recipe, I used (2) large pitted medjool dates.
I prefer the dates (when I have a choice) since they are a little lower in sugar content and since there is additional sweetener in the filling and chocolate topping. And, because I don’t like my desserts too sweet.
But feel free to use whichever you have on hand or prefer, both will work.
Thanks for the question and I hope you enjoy it 😉
These just look so yummy! I love that they’re already individual sizes.
Thanks for the added information with the 5 facts about the ingredients. 🙂
Hi Keri! Thanks so much for the kind comments!
I, too, like the mini cheesecakes because they are also great for portion control!
These are made in the larger 6-tray pan, but I also recently got a 12-tray pan and they are even smaller and cuter.
I hope you enjoy the recipe if you decide to try it out 😉
I’m usually leery about raw desserts and have only made a few myself, but this looks really awesome! I love the five facts that you included about all the ingredients. I’m by no means vegan for my health but it’s good to know that even the little stuff has health benefits.
Hi there! Thanks so much for the feedback about the ingredient/nutrition facts!
I particularly like to know what’s in the foods I’m eating or more importantly, what’s not in my food (ex. unhealthy ingredients, preservatives, chemicals, etc).
I find that by knowing the benefits of a particular ingredient, I am more likely to add it into a recipe where I wouldn’t have otherwise.
I’m so glad to know that you enjoy having that information too 😉
these look so simple and yummy. The perfect serving size. I also love that zucchini is in there 🙂
Hi Marquis! Thanks so much! These are definitely really easy to make and I also like them with the zucchini too because it’s a nice change of pace from the typical cashew only cheesecake filling…extra nutrition! 😉
Could you use almonds in place of cashews?
Hi Sienna! I’ve never used almonds to make a raw/vegan cheesecake, so I’m not sure it that would work or not.
I have used macadamia nuts and they work really well, but you really need to like the taste of macadamia nuts because the taste as strong whereas with the cashews, it’s a more neutral flavor.
If you needed it nut-free, you could also try to find a tofu recipe to replace the nuts.
I hope you find something that will work out, it’s really good 😉
How many cupcake spaces does this recipe fill?
Hi! I used 4 of the 6 cupcake spaces with this recipe. The mini-cheesecake pan I used seemed to be a little bigger than a regular cupcake pan. The cupcake spaces were fairly deep though, approximately 5 inches deep and 3 inches wide and I’d say the cheesecake filled them up to about 4 – 4 1/2 inches. Hope that helped…thanks! Karielyn