A gluten-free and Paleo alternative to the graham cracker crust – great for cheesecakes and pies alike.
This isn’t exactly the same as a graham cracker crust, but it works well enough for a lot of those cookie crusts for cheesecakes, etc. Seems too simple to be true, but the raisins help to bind it all together, the coconut give it some sweetness and the almonds give it just a hint of a nutty flavor. I have used different dried fruits in this with big success – so try out raisins (as in the original recipe), dates, figs, cranberries. And nuts can be anything from almonds to pecans to walnuts to cashews … But you will need the coconut – don’t skimp on that!
My daughter, Abby, turns up her nose at anything with raisins or sultanas in it, but she eats this with no real complaints! Maybe, it’s just the other flavors that hide the raisin flavor – who knows!!
If you’re wondering where to use this crust, might I suggest as the base of this white chocolate berry cheesecake? Or make them into bars, similar to my raw energy bar? Or just eat it straight out of the food processor!
Graham cracker crust
(Paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, no added sugar)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup almonds 70g
- 1/3 cup shredded coconut 32g
- 1/2 cup raisins 80g
Instructions
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Mix all ingredients in a food processor and blend until very fine. Add water if required to enable the ingredients to bind together.
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Push into prepared pie tin and chill.
Recipe Notes
Can substitute any nuts and dried fruit as needed.
Definately going to try this. I’ve used dates and figs before when I ate a raw food diet. I like them with this type of crust. We used to blend bananna, kiwi, strawberries and peaches to make a frozen pie dessert. I made it for Greg once for his birthday. It’s delicious!
The crust is actually really nice and fruity. Abby, who normally doesn’t like this sort of food, actually prefers this crust with the white chocolate baked raspberry cheesecake … and I’ve used it without her knowledge in a lot of other recipes as well (please don’t tell her!)