Description
These Vegan Raspberry Matcha Bars are incredibly creamy and flavorful! The earthy green tea matcha pairs wonderfully with the tart raspberry flavor, and they certainly taste as good as they look. You’re going to adore these gluten-free, paleo, and vegan raspberry matcha bars.
Ingredients
Scale
For the crust
- ½ cup (57g) raw walnuts, or nut of choice
- 1 cup (96g) almond flour
- 3 pitted dates
- 3 tablespoons (37g) coconut oil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For the creamy filling
- 2 cups (300g) raw cashews, soaked in cold for at least six hours or preferably overnight (see Notes)
- ½ cup (125g) canned coconut milk, shaked
- ¼ cup (50g) coconut oil, melted and cooled, use refined coconut oil if you want no coconut flavor
- ⅓ cup (111g) pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons (28g) fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (13g) vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon (6g) matcha powder
- ¼ cup (5g) freeze dried raspberries
For the toppings
- 1 cup (123g) raspberries, fresh or frozen
- ½ cup (10g) freeze dried raspberries, lightly crushed
Instructions
- Grease an 8-inch square pan with coconut oil and grease well with coconut oil. Set aside.
- Add the walnuts, almond flour, pitted dates, coconut oil and salt to a food processor or high-powered blender and pulverize until it comes together into a sort of sticky dough, with small walnut bits remaining. Don’t over process, or it’ll turn into nut butter! Press the date dough evenly along the bottom of the prepared pan.
- In the same food processor or high-powered blender (no need to wash between – I used my Vitamix, but most powerful blenders should do the job), combine all of the filling ingredients except for the matcha powder and freeze dried raspberries and blend for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture is silky smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides as necessary. You may need to add a bit more coconut milk or lemon juice to get it to blend smoothly if your blender isn’t super high-powered. Once it’s smooth, taste the mixture and adjust the sweetness/tartness levels, if desired.
- Remove 1 cup of the filling from the blender, and add the matcha powder to the remaining filling in the blender. Blend to combine, until smooth.
- Pour the matcha filling into the prepared pan over the crust. Smooth out the top and tap the pan hard against the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. Place in the freezer.
- Place the remaining cup of filling back to the now empty blender. Add the freeze-dried raspberries, and blend until they’re broken up and incorporated completely. Smooth the raspberry filling on top of the matcha layer and garnish with fresh and freeze-dried raspberries.
- Let set in the freezer for at least 3 hours or until completely firm. You can also store it in the refrigerator, but it will take longer to initially freeze.
- If storing in the freezer, let it thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving or let thaw at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving. I recommend running your knife under hot water to warm it up before cutting the cheesecake with the still-hot (dried) knife.
- Store leftovers tightly wrapped in the freezer (3 months) or refrigerator (5 days).
Notes
You can also cover the cashews in very hot/boiling water and let them sit for about an hour if you want to speed up the process – it won’t be quite as creamy, but it will do the trick!