Coconut Mousse Cheesecake Bars

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I never told anyone this, but last week I bought a coconut from the grocery store.  Well, I told people that part, but what I didn't tell them was that I struggled with it for a good two hours...  Embarrassing, I know.

Looking back on it, draining and opening the coconut was the easy part, requiring two knives and a hammer, and taking up only thirty minutes of my life and flushing it down the drain.  The hard part was scraping out the insides of the coconut.  Maybe I should have done a better job at googling how to do it properly, even though every website made it sound so easy.  Or maybe the coconut wasn't ripe yet (do coconuts even ripen??  This shows you how much I know about real coconuts...)

Anyways, a long time went by scraping that darned coconut.  My arm was killing from the constant scraping (with spoons and knives!), the edge of the coconut cut my finger, and the coconut "fur" was "shedding" all over my floor.  How can such a tiny thing cause so much ruckus?  I finally gave up on the frustrating, annoying, mean coconut and made these cheesecake bars with the very easy, readily available (and non-finger-cutting) coconut extract.  These tasted so good, I forgot about my bleeding finger and the fact that I had to vacuum the floor.

Coconut Mousse Cheesecake Bars:  [sugar free, high protein, GF]

(makes 9 bars)

   Crust:

       32g (1 scoop) Chocolate Protein Powder

       30g (6 tbs) Regular Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)

       160g (2/3 cup) Coconut Butter*

       1/2 tsp Coconut Extract

       1/2 tsp Stevia Extract

       1/2 tsp Butter Extract

       1/4 tsp Salt

       96g Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (GF if you like)

   Filling:

       16oz Fat Free Cream Cheese

       300g (1+1/3 cup) Plain, Nonfat Greek Yogurt

       96g (1/2 cup) Powdered Erythritol

       1/2 tsp Coconut Extract

       1/2 tsp Stevia Extract

       1/2 cup Light Coconut Milk, canned

       2 packages Knox Unflavored Gelatin

   Chocolate Drizzle:

       1oz Sugar-Free Dark Chocolate (or chocolate of choice)

       1 tbs Light Coconut Milk, canned

*I didn't melt the coconut butter, which is why I had a harder time making a crust "dough," but if you melt it the crust should be a little easier to spread in the pan.  Just in case it looks dry like mine (pictured below), keep two extra tablespoons of coconut butter on the side (I would've added more but ran out at exactly 160g)

Directions (for the crust):

1.  Line a brownie pan with parchment paper both ways.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together the protein powder and cocoa powder.

3.  Melt the coconut butter and stir in the extracts and salt.  Pour over the dry ingredients and stir.  Add the extra 2 tbs of coconut butter if needed.  Fold in the oats.

4.  Scoop into the brownie pan and flatten.  Refrigerate while you make the filling.

Directions (for the filling):

1.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and yogurt (I used a hand mixer).  Add in the erythritol and extracts and whisk again.

2.  In a small pot, add the coconut milk and sprinkle with the gelatin.  Put over medium-low heat and whisk constantly until the gelatin has dissolved.

3.  Slowly pour in the heated mixture while whisking the cream cheese mixture.  Whisk until mixture is even, then pour over the refrigerated crust.  Refrigerate until firm (~4 hours or overnight)

Directions (for the drizzle):

1.  In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the chocolate at 30-second intervals, stirring between each one, until melted.

2.  Stir in the coconut milk.  Pour into a piping bag (I used a ziploc and snipped a tiny corner) and pipe a design over the cheesecake (maybe write a few words if you like).  Quickly top with raspberries and a tiny mint leaf (and tell people that you got it from a very special restaurant!  They will believe you).  Serve the same day.

Despite the crumbly crust, everyone who tried it still loved it.  It was slightly crunchy and had the perfect balance of salty and sweet.  I ate the leftover crumbs, as it tasted like the best granola I've ever eaten.  I am a lover of all things coconut, so I found the coconut flavor to be perfect in these.  My friend, on the other hand, only likes a slight amount of coconut, so she recommends using a little less extract.  So if you adore coconut like I do, keep the measurements where they are.  If you like a hint of coconut, remove the coconut extract from the crust.

As for the chocolate drizzle, I wasn't a fan of how the pieces broke when slicing, but it added so much elegance to the dish that I would definitely keep it in!  Plus, it helps the raspberries stay in place.  Maybe you can try slicing the bars first and then adding the chocolate?

I clearly dug into this one  :)

I was pleasantly surprised--so soft, so fluffy, so coconutty.  Make these soon!