Vegan No-Bake Key Lime Cheesecake Bars with Date & Walnut Crust

Naturally-sweetened cheesecake bars with a tangy key lime filling and a rich walnut, date, and coconut crust. The perfect no-bake raw treat for a hot day, made with simple wholesome ingredients! Refined sugar-free, gluten-free, & vegan. 

I love any and all types of citrus - lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruits, etc. So when I stumbled across  some key limes at my food co-op, I couldn’t resist buying a bag! Key limes are tart and slightly bitter, which makes them the perfect contrast in an otherwise sweet dessert. With NYC’s recent heat wave, I wanted to use them in something that didn’t require turning on the oven and would taste refreshing, and these no-bake key lime and coconut cheesecake bars are the result! 

These bars are the real deal. They have a cashew, coconut milk, and coconut oil-based creamy and tangy key lime filling that pairs perfectly with the walnuts, dates, and coconut in the crust. And, of course, they’re vegan! They’re the perfect rich and indulgent treat, guaranteed to please even your non-vegan friends/roommates/partner/family members/person in your life who still thinks “vegan food is weird” but doesn’t realize that fries are vegan. 😉

Why You’ll Love these No-Bake Key Lime Cheesecake Bars

They’re raw, making them the perfect no-bake treat for hot summer days (because who in the world wants to turn on their oven to bake something when it’s 90 degrees out?!). 

They’re incredibly easy to make. Use a food processor to chop up the crust ingredients and form a sticky dough, blend the filling ingredients, assemble the two components, and freeze to set. That’s it - no technique required! (Unless having the patience to wait for them to set counts as technique? 🤔 It might.)

They’re made with simple and minimally processed ingredients - Medjool dates, walnuts, cashews, key limes, maple syrup, plus coconut shreds, milk, and oil. 

And most importantly, they’re delicious and decadent . They’re super creamy and have the perfect balance of tanginess and sweetness!

The crust is made with just four pantry ingredients - walnuts, Medjool dates, shredded coconut, and a bit of sea salt to fully bring out the flavors. I incorporated coconut because key limes and coconut are a tropical match made in heaven. Together with rich walnuts and soft, caramel-y dates, the dough forms a sweet nutty crust that pairs delightfully (and perhaps unexpectedly!) with the key lime filling. 

The creamy and tangy filling is made of cashews, coconut milk, coconut oil, key limes, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. To fully incorporate that tangy key lime flavor, it uses both the zest and juice from the limes. The full-fat coconut milk, coconut oil, and cashews combine to give the filling its creamy texture, and a bit of maple syrup helps sweeten the bars and balance out the tanginess of the lime. And as always, a hint of vanilla adds warmth and depth.

Serving Notes

You can serve these bars two ways - either thawed at room temp for 30-45 minutes once removed from the freezer, or thawed in the fridge for 2-3 hours. I find that the bars achieve the ideal creamy, although not overly thawed, texture that resembles cheesecake once they’ve sat at room temp for 30-45 minutes, but that’s just my personal preference - thaw them for more or less time depending on your preferred texture! If you’ve thawed the bars slightly too much for your taste, just place them back in the freezer briefly to solidify again. 

Vegan No-Bake Key Lime Cheesecake Bars with Date & Walnut Crust 

Vegan, refined sugar-free, gluten-free
Makes 16 bars

Ingredients

Crust: 

• 1 ½ cups raw walnuts

• 1 cup soft Medjool dates (about 11-13, depending on size), pitted and packed*

• ½ cup shredded coconut

• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

Filling: 

• 2 cups cashews, soaked in cold water for 8 hours (or quick-soaked in boiling water for 1 hour) and drained

• ½ cup full-fat coconut milk

• ½ cup key lime juice

• ¼ cup maple syrup

• 2 tablespoons key lime zest

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ¼ cup unrefined coconut oil, melted

Directions

1. Line a 8x8 inch baking dish with parchment paper, letting the excess overhang. 

2. Make the crust: In a high-powered food processor, combine all the crust ingredients and process until the walnuts have been chopped into very small pieces and a sticky dough forms (about 35-45 seconds), being careful not to overprocess. Transfer the crust dough to the prepared baking dish. Using your fingers, press the dough firmly into the bottom of the dish to form an even layer. 

3. Make the filling: In a high-powered blender, combine the cashews, full-fat coconut milk, key lime zest, key lime juice, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and blend on high until smooth, using a tamper to help the blender . Add in the melted coconut oil and blend again until combined. 

4. Transfer the filling onto the prepared crust and use a spatula to smooth the top. 

5. Place the cheesecake in the freezer for 4 hours (or longer, such as overnight) to set. 

6. To serve, remove the cheesecake from the freezer and let thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes before cutting into bars. Serve immediately, or let thaw for a few more minutes until the bars achieve your preferred softness/consistency. 

   • For reference, I like the texture of the bars once they’ve thawed for about 45 minutes since that’s the point at which they’re super creamy but still cold!

7. Store any leftovers in the freezer. 

Notes:
*If your dates are dry, soak them in hot water for 5 minutes to soften. Drain and squeeze out any excess water before using. 
**Recipe originally published 7/25/2020; last updated 5/13/2021.  

I hope these bars satisfy your sweet treat cravings! I’d love to hear how you liked them - drop a comment below or tag me on Instagram (@teostinykitchen) if you snap a photo!