Who says delicious cheesecake has to take up half your daily calorie allowance? Real cheesecake is perfect for a celebration, but what happens when you’re just celebrating getting the car washed or (finally!) organizing the basement? Or just the fact that it’s a Wednesday night? For the smaller-scale celebrations, I give you my raw cheesecake.
When I say “raw” here, I’m referring to the fact that this is a no-bake treat. I’m not familiar enough with the process of cheese making to know whether or not commercially available Neufchatel or cream cheese can be considered raw for those who follow a “raw” food lifestyle (for raw food guidelines, see here). If you follow a raw food diet you can make your own cream cheese to be on the safe side. (Googling “raw cream cheese” yields a ton of recipe results…here are a couple I found: Healthy Traditions and The Elliott Homestead. I haven’t tried making my own cream cheese but if you decide to make it, let me know how it turns out!)
Raw Cheesecake
Serves 2
1/4 cup rolled oats
4 oz Neufchatel cheese or cream cheese (see note above regarding the “raw” factor)
4 tablespoons milk (any kind you like, such as cow’s milk, rice milk, soy milk, coconut milk, etc.)
1 tablespoon honey (or other sweetener of your choice; more or less to taste)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or pure almond extract)
Pinch salt
Topping of your choice, such as jam, fresh berries, chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, etc.
In a food processor, process the oats until they have the consistency of a fine powder. Add all remaining ingredients (except topping) and process until smooth. Transfer to individual serving bowls and refrigerate about 2 hours before serving (cheesecake with thicken upon chilling). Before serving, add topping of your choice.
Although I am longing for fall’s arrival (it’s my favorite season, and not just because my birthday is in the fall – I think I got over that after I turned 21!), I will be sad when fresh cherries are no longer available. I am definitely enjoying them while they last!
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That looks great! I have a raw vegan and GF cheezecake recipe. I love making raw vegan desserts and nobake desserts like these…so easy and yours looks delish!!!
Sounds delicious, Faith, and it looks so pretty.
I’m so curious about this! I like the raw oats!
Faith, your no-bake cheesecakes look awesome. Love the dollop of jam with a smudge of chocolate to make them a little extra special!
This looks amazing, and I am a huge fan of cheesecake—I like the simplicity of this! I’m definitely going to make it very soon. Mmmmm :)
I love cheesecake, and this looks great! The idea of putting oats in there is genius!
Im so not ready for the end of summer fruit! What a beautiful dish- makes me want to celebrate the fact that its friday
One of my favorite light desserts is a tablespoon of vegan cream cheese mixed with a tablespoon of whatever jelly I have in my fridge – last night I used blackberry, and I kept thinking that it was as good as a cheesecake, but without the heaviness and huge portions! Your oat idea would make it extra-similar!
This looks amazing! I love your raw dessert treats :)
Those look so good and so easy to make too! I’ll have to try them for sure!
Light and cool a perfect dessert for the end of summer.
Mimi
A GENIUS recipe Faith ~ looks so decadent, thanks for sharing!
USMasala
Mmm…a lovely, healthy dessert. Great for the warm weather.
BEAUTIFUL!! I can just imagine the lovely consistency as the oat powder soaks up the creamy goodness… *dreamy sigh* :-)
Wonderful! I love the addition of oat powder.
Cheers,
Rosa
Beautiful!!! Refreshing and light… Perfect for hot summer days.
These are delectable Faith! I like how you used the oats – they have great flavor for desserts. And your glasses are super cute!
this is absolutely genius faith! have a great weekend!
This would be fantastic for breakfast too.
Raw or not this is just scrumptious! I also love fall and it’s my favorite season, but all the summer fresh goodies are hard to let go of…we have a bit longer though :)
Have a great weekend…
Love those cheesecake in a glass. Very pretty and tasty!
I love your raw dessert creations! This one is great, because I forbid myself to make a whole cheesecake b/c I’ll eat it all, but this is nice b/c it’s a smaller amount and wouldn’t do as much damage if I ate it all. Girl, I ditto your cherries and fall sentiments. Cherries are my second favorite fruit and I’ve been splurging on them lately. I love the big firm and sweet ones, just like those in your photo! My birthday is in the fall too. What day is yours?
Veronica, Sept. 30! What about you?
I do a similar recipe using Fromage Blanc, but I do use brown sugar!! It is so yummy. Diane
oh my …. yummy!
looks amazing – as usual Faith :)
I think i will make some version of this
thanks
Betty Bake
oh this is so creative! what a fun dessert!
I seem to want dessert all the time and infact am fixing some low cal creme brulee at the moment :-)
This seems to be a perfect option to when those cravings strike :-)
Oh i totally love my birthday and every body else’s birthday too :-))))
Oh cherries , the season around here is done with a long way back and miss them soo muc!
What a unique recipe – I’ve never heard of raw cheesecake before! I really want to taste Neufchathel cheese now.
You know I love this series and so happy you posted a new one. I adore this one and I am adding cream cheese to the shopping list. I am trying to watch what I am eating now (no bad diet word, changing habits) and I am always seeking great little sweet treats to satisfy my sweet tooth without too much guilt. This one is perfect! Got to read more into raw food stuff.
Now this is a delicious way to add more oats to my diet! I am already thinking of the delicious toppings that would taste wonderful on this.
A cheesecake recipe that won’t make me feel like I’m going into cardiac arrest after eating it! Sign me up!
This is a wonderful recipe,Faith!!!Simple and delicious!
Such a nice and light alternative to baked cheesecake! And it’s very elegant with the cherries and chocolate bits. Lovely recipe, Faith! I am dreading the end of summer…
Amazing! So elegantly and fashionately prepared.
I LOVE raw cheesecakes! They always seem a bit lighter (and healthier although that may be wishful thinking ;) )
Now this sounds more appealing to me than a “real” cheesecake! We all know the filling is best anyways, right?? :)
Faith
I think that organizing the basement really does deserve the regular, takes-all-day-to-make cheesecake. That is quite an accomplishment!
That said, this raw cheesecake sounds really tasty and fun. It seems almost too easy to make. I’d go hog-wild and try it almost every day even for the most minor accomplishment(eg paying the electricity bill, successfully using the remote control to adjust the TV channel, turning out the lights in empty rooms… the list goes on and on.)
Stevie, You read my mind — being able to try it almost every day is exactly the point of my raw desserts! (Some days you just need a little something sweet without breaking the calorie bank.) ;)
yikes! a reminder: my hopeless basement definitely needs organizing. I would treat myself to your raw-sweet indulgence, when I conquer that fearsome task!
for the rolled oats, can you substitute them with steel cut oats?
Mari, I haven’t tried it with steel cut oats so I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think it wouldn’t work quite as well as rolled oats. In my experience, it’s hard to get steel cut oats processed into a fine powder. Oat bran may work though!
This would be a perfect dessert to make on a day like today…well over 100 degrees for 60 days and counting! I love the thought of adding fresh fruit on top too. Perfect!
WOE, woe to the day when cherries are no longer in season.
lovely variation of cheesecake, faith–it’s lovely and luscious, as it should be. :)
I always love your raw food posts. This looks like a great away of enjoying cheesecake more simply – and it looks delicious!
Any dessert that doesn’t require an oven is highly appealing to me right about now! Looks delicious, plus cool and refreshing, too.