Pumpkin Cheezecake Bars | Vegan, Probiotic, Gluten Free, Date Sweetened, Oil Free, AMAZING

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

with ~4 billion probiotics per bar!!

To everyone out there who once said, “I LOVE CHEESECAKE” Look no further. Seriously.

These babes are so delish, and are actually full of ingredients for sustained calm energy, mood, and even improve digestion and immunity! How!? Well, using healthy foods like dates, pecans, and cashews of course. But also! I am a huge fan of the Lavva Yogurt company.

Their yogurt is pili nut based with 0 (zero!) added refined sugars, and 50 billion! Yes 50 billion probiotics.  Probiotics are amazing for of course digestion and beautiful perfect snake poops, (yay!), but did you know that most of our serotonin (the feel good neurotransmitter) is produced in the gut? Plus, our GI is an open vessel to the outside world, and is lined with inflammatory and immune cells ready to fire to protect us from invaders.  It makes sense if the biota is thrown off, our immunity and inflammation would be all over the place.

I love how this yogurt tastes and makes me feel so much that I got it for a yogurt parfait bar at one of The Shift retreats that I chef at.  The ladies 1. loved it and 2. Were floored with how amazing their digestion was after just one weekend!  Granted, my whole foods plant based cuisine helps peoples digestion, but honestly often people will complain of discomfort and gas due to so much fiber they are eating all of a sudden.  With the addition of this effective delish yogurt, it really helped!

 

Makes 20 Bars. adapted from the incredible Feasting On Fruit ❤

Crust:

• 20 medjool dates, pitted
• 6 oz raw pecans
• 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice (to taste)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

1. Line a 9×6 baking dish with parchment paper (feel free to try round spring cake pan, pie plate, or square pan!)
2. Using food processor S blade, blend the crust ingredients until well combined and pressable texture for crust, nice and chunky, not paste or butter
3. Press crust evenly into parchment lined dish

Cheesecake:

• 2 cups raw cashews, soaked in the fridge overnight and drained
• 7 medjool dates, pitted
• 1 container Lavva Vanilla Yogurt
• 1/2 container Lavva Original Yogurt (save the other half to top your oatmeal or smoothie bowl!)
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

1. Soak cashews overnight, drain and rinse.
2. Blend cheesecake in a high-speed blender like a Vitamix or use your food processor S blade again.
3. Blend until super creamy and smooth
4. Pour on top of crust
5. Freeze overnight
6. Let thaw for 10-20 minutes, slice into 20 bars and keep in the fridge for ~5 days or freezer for up to 2 weeks. DEVOUR IN ECSTASY

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Chai Chickpea Superfood Cookie Dough Balls | Vegan, Gluten Free, Oil Free, Date Sweetened

Fall is! Well, here in Venice, CA it actually still feels like Summer… BUT the PSL (pumpkin spice latte) is back at Starbucks sooo therefore it’s time to throw pumpkin spice, pecans, and chai gingery goodness in absolutely everything.

I am a huge fan of drink mud.  The founders are basically neighbors of mine, local here in Venice. They have a great mission to help get people feeling energized and thriving without overstimulating the adrenals from coffee.  Their product drink mud has medicinal mushrooms, cacao, turmeric,  and Indian Chai spicee. It does have a tad of caffeine, making these superfood balls the best pick me up that ever happened!

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 8-10 medjool dates, pitted
• 1-2 Tbsp Drink Mud Powder: https://www.mudwtr.com/ . (option to use your favorite mix of spices and superfoods like pumpkin pie spice, spirulina, maca, hemp, cinnamon, cacao, etc.)
• 1-2 thumbs fresh ginger, grated (optional)
• 2-3 tsp vanilla extract
• sprinkle of pink salt
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin spice powder
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup cacao nibs
• 1 cup unsweetened dried coconut

Steps:

1. Food processor S blade: blend chickpeas, dates, tahini, nut butter, vanilla, mud powder, ginger, and salt until smooth
2. In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin spice powder, cinnamon, coconut, and pecans
3. Using a tablespoon, create balls of dough and roll them into the separate bowl to coat with pecans, coconut, and more spice
4. Keep in the fridge for about a week or freeze for about a month
5. Warning: you will feel like LIFE IS AMAZING after eating these and you may want to run 15 miles or something. Do your best not to eat them before bed 🙂