Raw Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars

I was over at my Dad’s house on Father’s Day and I picked  a whole bunch of rhubarb.  I almost left without it, but Eric reminded me it was there, and I was all like… “Are you wanting me to bake something with it, or is that a hint?” Of course it was, and he had a point. Rhubarb is delicious.  Especially when used in desserts, and paired with some sort of berries.  Which is what I decided to do this time.

The next day I thought about it long and hard and what sounded the absolute best to me were some strawberry rhubarb bars.  I had seen a baked version on Pinterest a while back and said to myself, “I need to rawify and veganize those!” That was a couple months ago though, so it was about time I did, and now I finally had more rhubarb to do so!

I wanted these to be intensely strawberry rhubarb. Sometimes when you make a cheesecake the filling takes away from the flavors of the fruit, but not mine.  I used strawberries and rhubarb both in the creamy filling and in a jammy swirl that marbled throughout the bars.  They were pure delicious goodness!  Tart and sweet just how strawberry rhubarb desserts should be not overly sweetened (I feel some people use too much sweetener with rhubarb and it is not tart enough anymore).  Perfectly balanced.  It is the height of strawberry rhubarb season, and if you love the combo like I do, you must try these.

Raw Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars 
Makes 12

Crust:

1 cups finely shredded dried coconut

1 cup sprouted buckwheat groats (or additional shredded coconut)

1/2 cup soft medjool dates, pitted

1/4 tsp himalayan salt

2 Tbsp ground flaxseed

Filling:

2 cups young coconut meat, packed

1/4 cup raw coconut nectar or maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch sea salt

1 cup organic strawberries

1 cup diced organic rhubarb

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp raw coconut butter or oil, warmed to liquid

Swirl:

1/2 cup organic strawberries

1/2 cup diced organic rhubarb

1 Tbsp raw coconut nectar or maple syrup

2 tsp raw coconut butter, warmed to liquid

For the crust, combine all ingredients in the food processor and process until small crumbs and starting to hold together.
Press into an 8×8 inch (or 9×9 inch if you want the bars thinner) pan lined with foil or parchment and oiled with coconut oil (for easy removal).  Set aside in the freezer.
For the filling, combine all ingredients but the coconut butter in a high speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add the coconut butter and blend until smooth.  Set aside in a bowl.

To make the swirl, blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Set aside.

To assemble the bars, drop some of the swirl by the tsp over the crust, then pour the filling over that.  Drop the rest of the swirl by the tsp over that, then swirl with a knife.
Place in the freezer to set, about 2 hours.  Cut into bars and serve!
Store any extra bars in the refrigerator.