Clean Lemon Poppy Seed Tarts (vegan, cashew cream, sugar free)

For some time now I have been curious about trying cashew cream. Cashew cream is essentially the vegan alternative to cream cheese, made with cashews that have been soaked overnight in water and flavored either sweet or savory. And with a recent purchase of organic lemons and raw cashew I decided now was the time to try to recreate one of my favorite desserts, a tart. I was very happy with the results. While the cream doesn't have the exact sourness that cream cheese does, it does take on the sweet lemonyness extremely well, quite satisfying. The shortbread style crust is also nice, slightly sweet and buttery. They can be eaten on their own or pair marvelously together. And if you have extra cream like I did you can eat it on apples, bananas, crackers, whatever you mind comes up with. Below is the recipe, I hope you find it as tasty as I did:)

Cashew Cream:

• 1/2 cup whole, raw cashews (cover with filtered water and let sit overnight or at least 2 hours)
• 1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest and juice from one lemon
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• 1 dash of salt
• 3 tbsps date syrup(or maple syrup/honey)

Lemon Shortbread Cookie Crust:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 3 tbsps grass-fed butter (or cold coconut oil)
• 2 tbps date syrup
• zest of one lemon
• 1 dash salt
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds

Directions:

1. Combine all the crust ingredients together in a bowl.
2.  Mix together by pinching the dough with your fingertips, or with a pastry blender.
3.  Once the dough is combined, place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
4.  Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350F. 
5.  Also, prepare Cashew Cream, combine all cream ingredients together in a blender and puree until it reaches your desired consistency.
6.  Remove dough from the fridge and roll out to 1/8th inch thickness
7. Cut dough into circles and pinch into 4 corners so it resemble the picture(or you could leave them flat and spread cream on top like icing) 
8. Place the cookies onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 10-13 mins
9. Let cool and top each cookie with 1-2 tbsps of cashew cream, feel free to add berries as well
10. Eat and Enjoy !