Baked Lemon & Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Who says vegan can’t have cheesecake?!

Today Vegan’s are rather lucky with the amount of alternatives on supermarket shelves and dairy free cream cheese is definitely not hard to find.

In saying that I find these alternatives highly processed and probably not much better for you than the original, hence why I have my own cheesecake recipe here. 

My Blueberry Cheesecake Bars are dairy free, gluten free and made using wholefood ingredients that are more likely to put a spring in your step rather than slow you down. 

With the protein rich nature of the oats, almond meal, cashews and tofu, you could even consider this as a breakfast option or pre/post work out snack. 

Enjoy! 

Love Alex, Ballerina Bites. Xx
PS: Be sure to tag me @ballerina_bites so I can see your wonderful recreations!

Ingredients
Blueberry Jam
150g blueberries, fresh or frozen

Base
¾ cup rolled oats
1 cup almond meal
¼ cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
¼ tsp fine table salt
¼ cup maple syrup

Filling
300g silken tofu
1 tbsp tapioca flour 
½ tsp nutritional yeast
Zest of 1 small lemon
Juice of 1 small lemon
⅓ cup maple syrup
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
½ tsp vanilla extract or ¼ tsp vanilla paste

Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan.
Line a 20cm square brownie tin with baking paper, leaving paper around the perimeter so the cheesecake can be easily removed once baked.

Add the blueberries to your food processor and blend until smooth. 
Pour the blueberry smoothie into a small saucepan and set heat to low. 
Allow to bubble away while you prepare the base & filling steps. 
Once your jam is nicely thickened, (it will thicken even more once cooled) take off the heat and set aside until needed. 

To a food processor (wiped out from the previous step) add the rolled oats and blend until a flour.
Add the remaining base ingredients and blend until a dough forms- you may need to scrape down the sides to ensure everything is nicely combined. 

Firmly press the dough into your lined brownie tin, using the back of a spoon - slightly wet the spoon to prevent sticking. 

Bake for 10- 15min, or until golden. 

Meanwhile, add all filling ingredients to your food processor (wiped out from the previous step) and blend until super smooth.

Pour the cheesecake filling over the base and top and dollop with the blueberry jam.

To make the swirl pattern, use a knife or preferably a chopstick, to lightly mix the jam and cheesecake filling together in spontaneous motions.

Bake the cheesecake for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges are golden and begin to pull off the sides of the brownie tin. 

Once baked, allow to cool in the tin for 15min, before allowing to cool completely on a wire rack. 
Transfer the cheesecake to the fridge and refrigerate for a minimum of 5 hours or overnight. 

Once set, slice & enjoy!

Yields 9 Bars