Chocolate Cheesecake Easter Eggs

That’s right! These little eggs are filled with a cheesecake filling and the “yolk” is a passion fruit & clementine mixture to add that perfect bit of tang! They remind me of Cadbury Cream Eggs, but to be honest I’m not really a fan. So with easter around the corner, I was super excited to make these. I mean after all, who doesn’t like cheesecake?! These treats were a huge hit for one of my close friend’s birthday celebration instead of a traditional cake, and everyone was able to have one of their own to enjoy.

A few useful tips:

• Buy a few extra eggs, a few of mine over hatched (pun intended!)
• Don’t over whisk the whipping cream, it will turn hard and won’t be easy to fold into the mixture
• Instead of using piping bags, I use a ziplock bag to put the cheesecake mixture in instead of using a spoon to fill the eggs. It makes it SO much easier to fill, and it ends up being a lot less cleaning too; win-win!

Ingredients

Yolk

• 1 fresh passion fruit
• 2 clementines
• 1 tbsp butter

Cheesecake eggs 

• 16 – 20 hollow chocolate eggs
• 1 pkg (8 oz) room temperature cream cheese
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions

Yolk 

1. In a small saucepan, melt butter
2. Remove skin from the clementines and add in pulp to the saucepan
3. Add in passion fruit to the mixture and continue to stir until simmering
4. Mash the pulp and remove from heat
5. Using a sieve, drain the liquid from the mixture and keep aside
6. Place in liquid in the fridge for at least an hour to thicken

Cheesecake eggs 

1. With a sharp knife, make a whole in each of the eggs and peel off tops of the egg
2. Pour whipping cream into mixing bowl and use whist attachment, turn on medium speed and allow to whip into medium peaks (approx 3-5 minutes)
3. Set whipping cream mixture aside
4. In a mixing bowl add cream cheese, vanilla, lemon juice, icing sugar and whisk on medium speed until smooth (approx 1 minute)
5. Fold in whipping cream mixture into the cream cheese mixture in three sections until just combined
6. Transfer mixture into a piping bag or a ziplock (refer to useful tips) and fill chocolate eggs with cheesecake filling
7. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to cool and set
8. Remove from the fridge and make dent in the cheesecake with a small spoon or your finger
9. Add the “yolk” mixture to the dent and place in fridge for half an hour to set
10. Remove from fridge & enjoy your chocolate cheesecake eggs!

No Bake Oat Bars

This weekend I took a trip to my local health food store to stock up on some healthy ingredients for these beauties! As I was looking through the aisles, I noticed myself picking up all sorts of bars to try out for my afternoon snack. These usually give me inspiration for my own little treats, and this week I was looking for something that was sweet, healthy, and all natural after my cousin gave me a little challenge. She’s been on a healthy regime, so this recipe inspiration was for her. I did cheat a little though, using chocolate (it was dark..so it doesn’t count as cheating right?! ) but I can’t help it, I personally love that little bit of sweetness in my snacks! The results turned out delicious, and I had to make a second batch to give to her since the first was gone so fast! But i’m not complaining, this recipe is super quick to make and requires no baking whatsoever, so it didn’t take me long at all. So, lets begin!

A few useful tips:

• If you’re using whole oats, I threw mine in my Vitamix for a few seconds to make it more of a powdery consistency, it was easier to work with
• Make the almond butter fresh instead of store bought (need a recipe, look at my previous post on Homemade Almond Butter)
• Use your hands and get a little messy, its not only fun and kind of therapeutic hehe, but the heat from your body melts the coconut oil in the mixture and helps everything to blend together nicely

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 2/3 cup almond butter
• 2 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tbsp sunflower seeds
• 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp cocao nibs
• 3 pieces of 65% dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Directions

1. If you’re using whole oats, use a Vitamix or food processor and make into powdery consistency
2. Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix until combined
3. Use your hands to kneed the mixture to make sure everything has been incorporated evenly
4. In a container (I used a 4 x 6 glass container) use a spoon or your hands to evenly spread out the mixture
5. Place in the fridge to “set” for 10 – 30 minutes
6. Remove from fridge, cut into little rectangles & enjoy!  
7. Yield: 12          156 calories/serving