Recipe: No-Bake Matcha Honey Cheesecake

Cheesecake is a dessert darling, but it’s also packed with sugar, fat and calories, so Chef Shahir tackled this in a dish do-over by cutting back on some of the offending ingredients. He swapped out a buttery graham cracker crust for oats, almonds and dates and introduced some tofu and Greek yogurt to cut back on the cream cheese in the filling. Lime, matcha and honey pack plenty of flavour, so although it’s healthier than the traditional treat, you’ll never know the difference. It’s also a great no-bake make-ahead option, so it’s basically the perfect cheesecake.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup quick oats
• ¾ cup Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
• ½ cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt, divided
• 1 block soft silken tofu (300g)
• 3 blocks cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup 0% Greek yogurt
• ½ cup honey
• 2 ½ tsp matcha powder
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 lime
• Gooseberries, to garnish

To cook:

• Cooking spray
• 9" springform pan

Preparation

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add quick oats. Stir and toast for 2-4 minutes until golden brown. Add to a food processor along with dates, almonds, ½ tsp salt and pulse until pureed with small chunks remaining, you want some texture. Grease a 9 inch springform pan lightly with cooking spray and press crust into bottom. Chill in the fridge while you make the cheese mixture.

Break up tofu and add to a large bowl along with room temperature cream cheese, Greek yogurt, honey, matcha powder, vanilla, lime zest and remaining ½ tsp salt. Use a hand mixer to beat until smooth, this will take 3-5 minutes. Mixture should be smooth with no lumps. 

Pour mixture on top of your chilled crust, smooth out evenly and chill for 1 ½ hours in the fridge. Transfer to freezer and freeze for an additional 30 minutes until solid. Garnish with gooseberries and enjoy!