Yeah! I am so excited to share my first recipe with you today! My hubby just celebrated a birthday and I wanted to make him something beautiful and elegant, that also was not a complete sugar blow out! He LOVES cheesecake, which can be laborious to make the REAL way, not to mention extremely unhealthy, so I came up with this version.
I used coconut oil in the crust for a healthier fat, used minimal less-processed sugars like coconut sugar, honey, and maple syrup, and I blended the cream cheese with greek yogurt to add the tang but keep the fat content from reaching sky high proportions.
Finally, I topped it with sliced strawberries, kiwi, raspberries and blackberries, complete with a strawberry heart in the middle. It looked beautiful!
He said “this is the best cheesecake ever” and pretty much ate the entire thing over the next few days. He didn’t notice one bit that it wasn’t a “real” cheesecake, but in fact a cleaned up version!
{Healthy~Easy~No Bake} Cheesecake Fruit Tart with Graham Crust
A healthier version of the classic fruit tart, made even more delicious with cheesecake filling and graham crust!
- 1 3/4 cups crushed gluten-free graham crackers or almond meal
- 2 1/2 tablespoons of coconut sugar
- 5 tablespoons of coconut oil melted (or butter)
- dash cinnamon
- 2 8 oz . cream cheese room temp. (or make your own dairy-free: http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/2013/05/5-minute-coconut-cream-cheese-paleo-dairy-free/)
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt or coconut yogurt (I used Face brand, strain if watery, strained)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- Assorted berries and fruit of choice sliced thin for garnish
- To make the graham crust combine the crushed graham crackers, melted coconut oil (or butter), along with the dash of cinnamon and coconut or brown sugar in a bowl and mix throughly, coating all the crumbs.
- Press the mixture firmly into a pie plate using your fingers or an end of a glass to compact it.
- You can either bake the crust at 350 degrees for 5-7 min, or simply just chill in the refrigerator for 1/2 hr.
- Place your room temperature cream cheese into your stand mixer. (you can use hand mixer, just make sure all ingredients are smooth and well blended)
- Beat the cream cheese on medium speed then add in the yogurt, vanilla, honey and maple syrup.
- Once the mixture is smooth and creamy you can remove it from the mixture and pour onto the graham crust.
- Chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
- Slice your selected berries and fruit and arrange on top of the cheesecake before serving.
