Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bites, Vegan + Gluten-Free
It’s officially February which means….(drum roll please)…Valentine’s Day sweets galore!
I’m excited to get this season of treats kicked off with today’s Vegan, Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bites.
The inspiration for this recipe came when I was casually browsing Pinterest and I came across a bunch of different recipes for something called a “chocolate cheese ball”. You know I’m all about creative food combinations and this recipe idea kinda blew my mind. I set out to veganize this silly sounding dish and along the way it morphed into the bite-size dessert that I’m sharing today.
You can definitely make one large “cheese ball” instead of individual bites (if you do I would LOVE to see a photo!). I decided to go with the minis because they felt like the perfect Valentine’s Day party treat. Did I mention that they are seriously yummy too?
- 1 8oz container vegan cream cheese (I used Daiya)
- ½ cup smooth peanut butter
- ½ cup agave
- ¼ cup coconut butter, softened
- 1 tbs vanilla extract
- 1-2 cup vegan chocolate chips
- Combine cream cheese, peanut butter, agave, coconut butter and vanilla extract in blender until completely smooth. Transfer batter to bowl and place in refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Remove batter from refrigerator. Spread out a generous amount of chocolate chips on a plate.
- Use your hands to roll batter into 1-2" thick balls. Roll each ball over chocolate chips and use your hands to smooth everything out.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.
These look so delicious and I think I will be making them real soon! Our daughter really likes peanut butter so I know she will love these!
🙂
Hi Ilene, I completed your 21 day challenge and LOVED it; feel so much better and the recipes were delicious!! One question on your use of agave. All the studies I’ve read highly recommend against use of this product as it is no better than high fructose corn syrup. Just wondering how you square this with your healthy lifestyle. Thanks!
Hi Patty,
So happy to hear you enjoyed the program!!
Agave and other sweeteners are a slightly tricky subject. Even though the glucose level is high, I find that I don’t experience the same sugar rush/sugar coma when I eat things with agave (like I do with regular sugar).
That said, I definitely use it in moderation. I’ve actually been working on moving away from baking with agave and using maple syrup, brown rice syrup and fruit to sweeten things. Stay tuned for more of that on the blog! 🙂