You can have your (cheese)cake and eat it too. Even sans the actual cheese. Impossible? Not in my world! These paleo blackberry cheesecake cookies are just the ticket for a sweet treat without the dairy.
When I was in first grade my mom made mini cheesecakes for me to bring on my birthday. They were beautiful. But I couldn’t remember what they were called as I walked through the aisles of desks when I offered them to my little friends.
“What are those?” someone asked (probably a bully, I’m sure it was a bully).
“Ummmm….well….I think my mom said something like cheese? Like cheese treats I think?”
No one took my birthday treats. Everyone expected cupcakes or cookies, not cheese things. Especially not cheese things with a cherry on top. Years later I still remember that embarrassing moment. My sweet, full-time working mom, making cheesecake for first graders late into the night only for her daughter to face rejection the next day. I mean, it didn’t help that I had a bowl haircut and a lisp. But still….
Now I’m sure all my classmates wish they’d accepted my cheese treats. Kids grow up to be adults and BOOM, everyone dreams of the day The Cheesecake Factory delivers to your doorstep.
But I’ve got an even better alternative, that you can EASILY make at home, that’s gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar free, and so incredibly soft, you won’t want to share ’em with you friends (or first grade classmates).
Mmmmk cheesecake without cheese? You think I’ve lost it, don’t you? Well let me tell you, it’s soooo easy to replicate the creamy, tangy taste of traditional cream cheese with almond cheese. And it is much easier to make than it sounds!
To start, pour 3 cups of water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Add in 1/2 cup raw almonds and let boil for roughly 10 minutes – to soften the almonds. You could also soak the almonds in water overnight and skip this step.
Drain the almonds and place them into a small food processor. Add 1/2 cup of water, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt – puree until creamy.
Next, combine the coconut flour, almond flour, and baking soda into a large bowl. Add the almond puree (‘cheese’), coconut oil, raw honey, almond milk, and egg to the bowl. Mix well until a wet dough forms.
Meanwhile, add 2 tablespoons water to a pot and 1 cup blackberries. Heat the water on medium/high and let the blackberries soften until they break down, squishing them with the back or a fork or spoon. Turn off the heat once the blackberries have morphed into a runny jam, then whisk in the arrowroot powder to thicken the mixture.
Let the mixture cool slightly, then take large spoonfuls of the blackberry jam and add to the dough, carefully swirling it in but not mixing in well.
Using your hands, take a small scoop of the dough and gently form into a ball shape. The dough will be fairly wet. Place the ball on a parchment-lined baking sheet and gently flatten slightly.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool and dive face first into super soft, paleo cookie heaven!!
Paleo Blackberry Cheesecake Cookies
- Yield: 12 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw almonds + 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons raw honey
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup blackberries
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3/4 teaspoon arrowroot powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- boil 3 cups water in a small pot and add in 1/2 cup raw almonds. Let boil for roughly 10 minutes. This ensures the almonds will soften before pureeing. You can always soak the almonds in water overnight to skip this step
- Drain the almonds and place them into a small food processor. Add 1/2 cup of water, lemon juice, and salt. Puree until creamy
- Combine the coconut flour, almond flour, and baking soda into a large bowl. Add the almond puree (‘cheese’), coconut oil, raw honey, almond milk, and egg to the bowl. Mix well until a wet dough forms
- Meanwhile, add 2 tablespoons water to a pot and 1 cup blackberries. Heat the water on medium/high and let the blackberries soften until they break down, squishing them with the back or a fork or spoon. Turn off the heat once the blackberries have morphed into a runny jam, then whisk in the arrowroot powder to thicken the mixture
- Let the mixture cool slightly, then take large spoonfuls of the blackberry jam and add it to the dough, carefully swirling it in but not mixing in well
- Using your hands, take a small scoop of the dough and gently form into a ball shape. The dough will be fairly wet. Place the ball on a parchment-lined baking sheet and gently flatten slightly
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and let cool before serving
Haha, I still turn my nose up to cheesecakes (vegan). They have never appealed to me at any point in my life, even now. Maybe a cashew cheesecake…some do look good, but idk…cheese and cake shouldn’t be in the same title 😛 Hahahaha!
GAH I WISH I could turn up my nose to cheesecake!! It would save me lots of calories 😉 Hehehe.
Oh yum these look delicious! Silly little bullies, I’d take em all! 🙂
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Glad you have my back Sarah!! LOL!
Yum! Really pretty! Pinned 🙂
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Thanks for the pin love Linda!
Looks delicious Chrissa! Pinned 🙂
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Thanks SO much Ros!
These look so good! As soon as I’m done with my whole 30 I’m making them!
Karin | truncationblog.com
Ooooh FANTASTIC idea Karin!! Keep rockin’ The Whole30 and enjoy these treats when you are done!
HAHAHAHAH Chrissa!!! “No one took my birthday treats”
I laughed out loud when i read that. So cute but so sad!! I’m dying haha.
I really want to try and make these this weekend. They look so good!
I know right?! I guess my sad little first grade story made me strong. TEAR! Thanks girlfriend!
WHAT! These look amazing!!! I am drooling over here. I’m pinning these for later (aka I’m making them as soon as I get off work!) Thanks for sharing! xx
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CHEESECAKE in cookie form? YUMMY! 🙂 I’m thankful that God has so graciously worked on me to change my tastebuds to appreciate cheesecake now. Blackberries are so good, but in Colorado they’re a bit expensive. 🙁
Hahahaha oh I am SO glad too. How can you not LOVE cheesecake?! Actually, life might be easier if I didn’t, but I don’t care! Blackberries are slowly coming back in season so hopefully they’ll be cheaper for you soon Emily!
My day just got 1000x better just by looking at these beauties <3
Whoo hoo!!! Nothing like a little cookie photography to brighten your day!! xoxo
These look so good! My sister used to make cheesecake all the time when I was young. I love have a paleo recipe that will bring me back to that! Can’t wait to try it!
Cheesecake is soooooo good. I could eat it every day – no lie. I hope you love these ‘alternative’ cookies Heather!
These look so good! I’m always willing to try anything with Blackberry in it!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
Blackberries are the bomb! Thanks Kari!
These look too good to be true! I can’t wait to try them out!!
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I hope you love them Jessica!
These look amazing and I love the fact that they’re paleo! Thanks for sharing 🙂
My pleasure Gretchen! Enjoy 🙂
YUM these look so good!! Could make a batch and stash them in the freezer 🙂
xo Annie
http://thelovelygirl.co
Great idea Annie! They should freeze well too! Thanks for stopping by.
I love the color in these cookies! It’s also a great way to sneak something healthy into my kiddos favorite food!
Just make sure you sneak a few for yourself Chris! 😉
Oh, these sound wonderful! I l will have to add to my list! Yum!
I hope you do Leah! Enjoy.
Oh I just want to go back in time and give your first grade self a hug. What a memory to have! These look fantastic. I’ve been trying to figure out how to do cheesecake without the cheese ever since going dairy-free, and I’ll have to give this a try!
Oh Marlynn – bless you! Your last dairy-free recipe is AMAZING! You are totally killing it!
Such a fun recipe! I’m all for small cheesecake cookies you can take on the go.
Grab and go cheesecake cookies. Hmmmm sounds like a potential business idea 😉 Thanks Matt!
OMG that is the cutest story ever, hahaha. Cheese treats!!
Blackberries (or any berries) and cheesecake go so well together. Love that you created a paleo option!
I love when all these yummy berries start coming back in season. I’m all, “whoo whoo I don’t need to spend my 401k on groceries!!!” 😉 Thanks Jess.
Aw, don’t worry — I had a bowl cut when I was that age, too! 🙂 And I can only imagine how confused the kids were by your “cheese things.” Hah!
These cookies look delicious. I love the burst of color and flavor from the berries. So pretty!
Ha! My mom insists it was “cute” but it was soooo not cute. But I guess it just makes us stronger, right?! Thanks Blair!
Blackberries and cheesecake! I HAVE to make these! They look so good! and healthier!
YESSSS! Much healthier for sure! Cheesecake is certainly a guilty pleasure of mine. Thanks Melanie!
i love that is healthier cheesecake version. Of course paleo friendly is KEY! haha. So making! great combo friend.
p.s I was so confused as a child about cheesecakes. haha
It’s not an easy concept to master. Like cheese, as a dessert? It’s weird. But oh so good! Thanks Lindsay!
Literally dying. These look AMAZING and it seems SO easy to make!! My boyfriend and I have been looking for healthyish cookies/treats to make and this seems to make the cut!! I can’t wait to try these! Thanks so much for sharing!
xo, Nickie
http://www.nickieanddime.com
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Oh my gosh don’t die!!! But I totally know what you mean 😉 I hope you love these Nickie! Healthyish cookies are the best cookies 😉
These look delicious and I love that they are paleo! Thanks for linking up at Welcome Home Wednesdays!
Thanks Crystal! Paleo cookies have totally taken off and that makes my belly very happy!
This recipe was my first ever attempt at gluten free, dairy free, or paleo baking and I have to say I was expecting more of a traditional cookie texture. The cookies weren’t as sweet as I expected and the texture was very grainy (which may be my fault, since I used a blender instead of a food processor for the almonds). However, the cookies looked beautiful, just like the pictures! I ended up dusting them with some powdered sugar for some added sweetness since that was all I had on hand, but I might try this again with a white chocolate drizzle over the top.
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Hi Sammy – Thanks for your feedback! You are correct, these are different than a ‘traditional’ cookie texture (mainly because of the coconut flour used and the moist almond ‘cheese’). Do make sure the almonds are pulsed until smooth and feel free to add more honey to sweeten up the cookie if desired. Good idea with the white chocolate drizzle. That sounds amazing!
I must’ve done something terribly wrong in making this recipe. The dough wasn’t wet at all; it was moist but crumbly. The cookies came out dry, crumbly, and tasteless.
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Hi there – that is SUCH a bummer! Sorry to hear. I typically don’t make overly sweet treats so maybe adding more honey would give them the flavor you were hoping for (also, blackberries aren’t very sweet either, so you could definitely sub with blueberries or even strawberries). As for why the cookies came out dry, I’m stumped?? My batter was definitely more wet than dry and crumbly, maybe you could try with less coconut flour if you give these another whirl.