pumped up protein cheesecake.

i have been talking about these little protein cheesecakes for awhile now. on twitter. on instagram. on facebook. and now, at long last, here’s the recipe. sorry it took awhile to get to you guys, you know how i am a professional procrastinator!

one thing that is a non-negotiable for me is graham cracker crust. i played around with using a fiber cereal in lieu of the graham cracker.. but at the end of the day, i decided that the graham cracker HAD to be in the recipe. there was just no substitution. i did amp up the nutrition profile of the crust just a bit with the addition of almond meal.. but don’t worry, the graham crackery crust is still in full effect.

the cake part of these cheesecakes actually took quite a few tries before getting right. cheesecake is a tricky thing. you have to make sure to have just the right amounts of everything to get that, well, cheesecake-y consistency. and, not to brag, but i think i finally nailed it.

perfectly cheesy.. perfectly cakey.. and perfectly healthy. yes, really!

recipe makes ten cheesecakes
prep time: 15 minutes
total cook time: 40 minutes
cooling time: at least 2 hours

ingredients

for the crust:

• 1 1/2 oz (42 grams) graham crackers
• 1/4c + 2 TB (45 grams) almond meal
• 1-2 TB unsweetened almond milk

for the cheesecake:

• 4 oz fat free cream cheese, softened
• 3 oz low fat cottage cheese, blended
• 3 oz nonfat plain chobani greek yogurt
• 1 T unsweetened applesauce
• 1 T xylitol (or equivalent sweetener of choice)
• 1 T corn starch
• 1/2 T vanilla bean paste (or extract)
• 1 egg at room temperature
• 2 egg whites OR 6 T liquid egg whites at room temperature
• 1 serving vanilla whey protein powder (yield ~20g protein)

optional toppings:

• whipped cream
• fresh or canned fruit

directions

1. line a muffin tin with 10 liners and preheat oven to 325° F.

2. in a food processor, blender, chopper, or with your fist, combine graham crackers and almond meal.

3. place mixture into small bowl and add almond milk, a bit at a time, until it is slightly crumbly but not too wet.

4. evenly distribute the mixture into the 10 muffin cups and press down with a small jar or your thumb.

5. bake for 10 minutes.

6. meanwhile, combine cream cheese, cottage cheese, and greek yogurt in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. mix for at least one minute, until combined. i blend my cottage cheese in a magic bullet.

7. while mixing on low speed, add each ingredient one at a time, allowing each ingredient to mix in before adding the next.

8. reduce oven heat to 300° F and distribute cheesecake mixture evenly among the ten baked crusts.

9. bake for 30 minutes.

10. remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes.

11. transfer cheesecakes to refrigerator. refrigerate for at least two hours.

12. serve with toppings of choice.

i love this whipped cream from whole foods. it is fat free, there is no sugar added, and there are no crazy ingredients. most importantly, it tastes fantastic!

nutrition info per cheesecake (prior to toppings) calculated on thedailyplate.com:

100 calories and 8 grams of protein per cheesecake. yep. that makes it totally acceptable to eat two. maybe even three. it’s health food!

enjoy!

xo. janetha g.

Tagged as: healthy dessert, protein cheesecake