These paleo desserts will help satisfy your cravings for sweets without causing you to load up on artificial sugar. Who knew healthy could taste so good?

Strawberry Cheese Cake

Your family and friends won’t believe you when you tell them that this lightly sweet, refreshing strawberry cheesecake is made with cashews.

Ingredients:

Filling:

• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 Tbsp coconut milk, room temperature
• 1 ½ cup raw cashews
• ½ cup full fat coconut milk cream, room temperature
• ½ maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp sea salt

Crust:

• ½ cup Medjool dates
• 1 cup raw pecans

Topping:

• ¼ cup strawberry preserves with no added ingredients

Instructions:

1. Soak cashews in boiling water for 1 hour to soften. Drain water and set aside once soft.
2. Combine crust ingredients in a food processor until it forms a dough-like substance. You still want it to be a little coarse and crumbly, so be sure not to over blend it.
3. Line an 8’ by 8’ baking dish with parchment paper and press crust evenly into the bottom. Set aside.
4. For the filling, blend soaked cashews in a food processor until they are pulpy.
5. Warm coconut oil and maple syrup on the stove and slowly pour into blender or food processor while blending.
6. Puree until smooth and mixed well, then add coconut cream, coconut milk, vanilla, and salt.
7. Blend until totally smooth and pour filling over crust.
8. Puree strawberry preserves until they are liquid and pour over the filling. You can use a toothpick to make a design or simply spread the topping evenly over the cheesecake.
9. Freeze for at least 3-5 hours before serving.
10. Enjoy!

Watermelon Ice Cream

There is no other fruit that captures the taste of summer as much as watermelon. This ice cream, made from real fruit will cool you down on those baking summer days and satisfy your sweet tooth. Keep in mind, you will need an ice cream maker to achieve the perfect consistency.

Ingredients:

• Enough watermelon to make ½ cup juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup full-fat coconut milk
• 1 cup cream
• ¼ cup light-colored raw honey

Instructions:

1. Juice chunks of watermelon in a juicer until you have ½ cup juice.
2. Add watermelon juice and remaining ingredients to a blender.
3. Blend on low just enough to combine ingredients or about 5 seconds. Remove any foam that develops with a spoon before proceeding.
4. Add mixture to ice cream maker and follow machine instructions.
5. When done, ice cream will have a wonderful soft-serve texture. Place it in the freezer if you desire firmer ice cream.

Peanut butter cups

Ingredients:

Chocolate:

• 1 ½  cups coconut oil
• ½ cup organic peanut butter
• 1 ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¾ cup almond flour
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 5 Tsp powder stevia

Filling:

• 1 cup organic peanut butter
• 1 tsp powdered stevia

Ingredients:

1. Melt coconut oil over medium heat in a small saucepan.
2. Add to a bowl and stir in peanut butter until smooth.
3. Combine stevia and vanilla in a small dish until stevia has disollved.
4. Stir in cocoa powder to coconut oil mixture ¼ cup at a time. Then add almond meal and vanilla and stevia mixture.
5. In a separate bowl stir filling ingredients together until well combined.
6. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a measuring cup and pour into unlined mini muffing tin until about ½ filled.
7. Place 1 tsp peanut butter into the middle of each cup.
8. Pour more chocolate over until cup is almost full.
9. Carefully place tray in freezer until hard and use a butter knife to easily pop out cups.
10. Store in sealed container in freezer for up to 1 week.

Lemon blueberry tart

This easy tart will fool everyone into thinking you are a master baker. Use freshly picked blueberries for an even more delicious creation.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 2 Tbsp raw honey
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ cups almond flour
• ½ plus 2 Tbsp arrowroot powder
• 1 Tbsp coconut flour
• ⅓ tsp sea salt

Filling:

• 1 lemon, zested
• 4 eggs
• ¾ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ½ cup honey
• ⅓ cup coconut cream from chilled, full-fat coconut milk
• 1 pint blueberries

Crust instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Whisk together wet ingredients and stir in flours and sea salt. You may have to mix with your hands to ensure it is totally combined.
3. Press dough into a 9’ tart pan and cover sides of crust with thin strips of aluminum foil.
4. Poke holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork to prevent rising and bake for 12 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and set aside.

Filling instructions:

1. Whisk together all filling ingredients except blueberries. Pour filling the mixture into tart pan over baked crust.  
2. Simply drop in blueberries throughout the tart.
3. Bake for 25-30 minutes. The filling should be mostly set. It will still be a little jiggly but will harden as it cools.
4. Allow to cool for one hour on the counter before serving.

-Susan Patterson