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Strawberry and rhubarb cheesecake crumble bars

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These vegan strawberry rhubarb cheesecake crumble bars are great to celebrate the beginning of summer. Step aside, spring, here comes summer with all its delicious treats! But first we need to use up the last stems of rhubarb 🙂

vegan strawberry and rhubarb cheesecake crumble bars layered out on parchment paper. There are also flowers and a tea dish in the background

I once mentioned in this recipe I posted in istagram that crumbles have a special place in my heart. An apple crumble was the first dessert I made completely on my own (I was around 8) and it made me so proud…until I tasted it and realized that I had added too much lemon juice. Luckily, it was still enjoyable and after all it is a dessert we are talking about. So it was gone quickly despite its very tangy falvor.

BUT as good as crisps and crumbles are, so do I have a faible for cheesecakes. Every year, when we celebrate my smaller cousins and my birthday, my mum would make an old recipe from my grandmother (wich I sadly never got to know, bit she must have bneen an amazing cook!) for a no bake cheesecake (only the bisquite base is baked) with fresh berries on top. Or she would make this baked cheesecake that does not has a base. These crumble bars are inspired by the latter. And I have to say I was quite impressed by how close they got in taste and texture!

vegan strawberry and rhubarb cheesecake crumble bars stack. There are also flowers and a tea dish in the background

About these vegan strawberry rhubarb and cheesecake crumble bars

I have to admit, these baked goodies will occupy a bit more time. But I promise, it is worth the effort. You have to bake 3 layers once by once, but they are all in the same baking tin. And did I mention that this recipe can be made gluten free too? Just use some glutenfree oats and you are good to go!

Lets start with the base: it is made from oat flour (just oast blended into a fine flour), ground almonds apple sauce and a bit of maple syrup.

vegan strawberry and rhubarb cheesecake crumble bars from the front. There are also flowers and a tea dish in the background

Then we have the cheesecake layer consisting of silken tofu that we blend with vanilla extract, cashew butter, vanilla custard powder (or cornstarch with extra vanilla extract) and maple syrup that you could substitute wich soaked dates in case thats more your thing. And not to forget: lemon juice as well as lemon zest! In my opinion these are one of those crucial ingredients that make a cheesecake taste like a cheesecake!

The final layer is just straberries simmered together with rhubarb and a Teaspoon of chia seeds to make a runny jam and a crumble made from oatflour, (cashew) butter and sugar.

So lets get ready for baking, shall we?

ALL THE BEST

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Strawberry and rhubarb cheesecake crumble bars

These vegan strawberry rhubarb crumble bars are great to celebrate the beginning of summer and to use up those last rhubarb stems. Plus they can be made gluten free if using gluten free oats. Step aside spring, here comes summer with all its delicious treats!
Course Dessert, Snack, sweets
Keyword dessert, gluten free, oil free, snack, tofu, vegan

Ingredients

base

  • 150 g oat flour
  • 100 g ground almonds
  • 120 g apple sauce
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup

cheesecake filling

  • 300 g silken tofu
  • 80 g maple syrup *
  • 60 g cahew butter
  • 1 Tsp vanilla extract
  • 40 g vanilla custard powder **
  • 1/2 Tsp baking powder
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 Tsp lemon juice

strawberry and rhubarb layer

  • 200 g strawberries
  • 100 g rhubarb
  • 1 lemon juice
  • 1 Tsp chia seeds

crumble topping

  • 50 g oat flour
  • 30 g coconut sugar
  • 1 heaped Tbsp (25g) cashew butter (you can use -vegan- butter instead)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 200C and line small brownie tin with parchment paper.
  • Bring rhubarb and strawberries to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until everything is soft and mashable. Mix in the lemon juice and chia seeds and set aside.
  • Make the base by mixing together the ingredients to form a slightly sticky dough. Press into the tin, then bake for around 20 minutes until lightly golden.
  • Meanwhile prepare the filling by blending the silken Tofu, maple syrup (or dates) vanilla extract, cashew butter, custard powder and lemon juice and zest together in a blender until completely smooth.
  • Once the base is ready, remove it from the oven and spread the cheesecake filling evenly on top. Bake again for 20 minutes.
  • In a small bowl mix together all the ingredients for the crumble topping. Should it be very dry, add some plant milk, but be careful and make sure it does not become too moist.
  • Evenly distribute the strawberry and rhubarb „jam“ onto the cheesecake filling, then sprinkle the crumble on top and bake for another 15 minutes until the surface is golden.
  • Remove from the oven, let cool COMPLETELY before slicing up and Enjoy!

Notes

*the cheesecake filling can also be sweetened with dates instead of maple syrup. Therefore you need to soak 100g (already pitted) dates in warm water, drain and use as the syrup. You might need to blend the mixture longer then to get a completely smooth concistency with  no remaining chunks!
**vanilla custard powder can be substituted with the same amount of cornstarch plus 1 additional Tsp vanilla extract.

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