No Bake Paleo Cheesecake Bars Recipe- Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Grain Free

For as much as I have a million recipes on my site, sometimes I really am not inspired in the kitchen, but when people post links to yummy things on Facebook, then I get my creative juices flowing, adapting those recipes to suit my needs.
Someone recently posted this recipe on Facebook and oh boy did I start salivating from the picture alone. Then I saw that it had ghee in it, something that, unfortunately, I am not able to handle, despite the fact that officially it should be tolerated even by people like myself who are sensitive to dairy. And I know from experience that caramel sauces cannot simply be made subbing coconut oil for the ghee or butter, since they have different melting points.
So that wasn't happening.
And the crust was made with coconut, which I can't really handle either (coconut oil and milk I'm fine with, just not actual coconut)...
So I wanted to make it, but the recipe as it was written simply wouldn't work for me.
But I played around with it, and came up with this terrific alternative, one that I could eat without it causing me any stomach trouble.
And it came out amazing!
I hope you like it just as much as my family did!

And if you want to use a different type of crust, or a different recipe for caramel sauce, feel free to do that, but I've linked to the recipes I recommend using.

No Bake Paleo Cheesecake Bars Recipe- Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Grain Free

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cashews
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey (if you want to make it vegan, you can try it with a different liquid sweetener, but I haven't tried it)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (or a drop more, to taste)
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons water
1 pie crust recipe- see recipe (or use whatever other recipe you like)
Caramel sauce- see recipe (or use whatever other recipe you like)

Instructions:
1. Soak your cashews overnight in water, or at the very least, for 3-4 hours. You want them completely water-logged so they'll be as smooth as possible after blending.

2. Strain your cashews and then blend them in the food processor for a bit, scraping down the sides periodically, so it'll get as smooth as possible.

3. Add your coconut oil and honey and blend more, again scraping down the sides. You don't want it chunky- you want this as smooth and creamy.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients for the cheesecake (minus the crust and caramel sauce, of course), and mix well or blend again.

5. This cheesecake is enough to fill a 9x13 pan, so make sure you have enough crust for that. Put your crust in the pan, then fill it with the vegan "cheese" filling, smoothing it out so it is as even as possible.

6. Freeze for an hour or so, at least, until it solidifies.

7. Take your caramel topping and put it on the cheesecake. You decide if you want to just spoon on the caramel before serving, onto each piece, if you want to spread a thin layer all over the whole thing, or pipe it into little swirls as I did. Your call.

8. Return to the freezer until serving.

9. Take out from the freezer a few minutes before serving. You don't want it straight from the freezer- you want to give it a few minutes to thaw so it isn't rock hard, but you don't want to leave it out too long either, since it will get too soft.

10. Cut into squares and serve.

Enjoy!

If you're a fan of Paleo cheesecake, check out my recipe for strawberry/raspberry paleo cheesecake as well.

Are you a cheesecake fan? Do you make it with real cheese, or are you, like myself, sensitive to dairy and only able to handle mock cheesecakes made from dairy alternatives? If you can only eat mock dairy cheesecake, what is your favorite way to make it? Does this look like a recipe you'd try?