I have a seriously hard time believing that a dessert without any sugar, butter, flour, eggs or cream can be worth the effort to even bother to take a bite.  And the side note to any recipe--especially desserts--that says "Vegan" most certainly guarantees my cold shoulder.

Then, the other day, at my first "cookbook club" meeting, my friend Heather presented this strawberry coconut dessert to us and said there was nary granule of sugar... and it was "healthy".

A healthy dessert?  Blah.  Why even bother?

I had some serious druthers about it as I sat and looked on while the others dove in....then I finally gave in and tried it.  Holy crapshoot--it was freakin' awesome!  I couldn't stop eating it, nor could the other club members.  We immediately requested the recipe and my other friend made it for me {and I'm sure herself} two days later.  It was so coconutty and refreshing and light and simply fabulous!   I've spent more time daydreaming about that dessert in the last two weeks than I have about getting into my old size 27 jeans over the last six months!  It was truly divine.

So when I saw this beautiful photo on Pinterest of a raspberry cheesecake made with cashews, lemon juice and vanilla, I figured what the heck--why not give it a try?  If nothing else, it would at least be a pretty picture and was kinda-sorta similar to Heather's dessert.  I did not for one second believe, however, that it was going to taste like cheesecake.  No sugar, no cream cheese, no sour cream, no eggs....there was no way,  but I proceeded.....skeptically.

Ok, I was soooo wrong.  There, I said it.  I was WRONG.

It was magical tasting!  When I first dipped my finger into the "batter" I could NOT believe that it wasn't cheesecake!!!!  I had to try it {over and over} again to be sure my tastebuds were working properly.  Ahhhh!  It was sooo creamy, lemony, vanilla-y.  Just simply wonderful--and the crust was fabulous as well....simply a mixture of toasted pecans, dates, a little salt, and a dollop of coconut oil.  Yum!

I ended up switching out the raspberries in favor of strawberries [just in time for National Strawberry Day] and adding in the little extra coconut oil to the crust since I really can't get enough when it comes to coconut and that's what Heather used in her crust.

The best part of this dessert is that I was able to eat as much as I wanted to with very little guilt.  As I continue on my quest to drop 10 lbs {and get back into my 27s} before April 1, I will most definitely be making this again and you totally should too!