Creamylicious Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cupcakes

Makes 14 cupcakes

Preparation time: 20 minutes + 6 hours in fridge to chill

 Imagine swirls of cheesecake creaminess dotted with crunchy chocolate chips, layered sky high on a chewy and slightly crunchy pecan and date crust. Is your mouth watering yet? 

This recipe is utterly delicious and contains only healthy natural ingredients so you can gobble them up guilt free, forget about saving some for later ;)

Ingredients

For the Crust

1/2 cup pecan nuts

1/3 cup cashew nuts

8 pitted dates

1/3 cup cacao nibs (optional)

60 grams melted cacao butter (or 1/4 cup coconut oil or vegan margarine)

2 1/2 T of Linwood's milled flaxseed & cacao powder mix (optional, instead use cacao powder)

1/3 cup liquid sweetener (i used agave syrup)

For the Cookie Dough Cream Cheese Filling

2 cups silken tofu

1/4 cup cashew nuts

1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 cup cacao nibs (optional, just use extra chocolate chips if you omit these)

3 T gluten free flour (spelt or rice flour work well)

150 grams dark chocolate, roughly chopped

40 grams melted cacao butter (or you can use coconut oil or vegan margarine instead)

1/3 cup liquid sweetener (i used agave syrup)

1/4 tsp salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180C / 360F. 

In a food processor, process the crust ingredients until they form a thick paste. Scoop out into the cupcake cases, about 1 tablespoon and a half into each. Press down lightly with a spoon to fill out the bottom of each case. Place in the oven and cook for 10 minutes, until very lightly golden on top. Remove and place on rack to cool. 

Process all the filling ingredients together in a food processor until smooth. Once the crusts are cool, scoop large dollops of the filling into the cupcake cases, smooth over and decorate with cacao nibs, chocolate gratings or a decoration of your choice and place in the fridge to chill for several hours before serving.