Skinnier Cheesecake
Taste-wise, you’ll never guess our skinnier cheesecake recipe is lower in fat. With ingredients like low-fat cream cheese, artificial sweetener, non-fat plain yogurt and non-fat sour cream, we were able to keep the rich texture of New York cheesecake while cutting a few corners.
Sometimes cheesecake recipes request using a water bath during the cooking process to prevent cracks—way too messy for us! Instead, we opted for a safer, faster method…just baking it on the rack!
We do recommend placing the spring-form pan on a baking sheet. This is not only to catch any leaks, but also to provide a little insulation to the bottom of the cake. After the cheesecake has baked and cooled, top it with fresh fruit and a sprinkling of sugar.
skinnier cheesecake recipe
Ingredients
crust
- 1 1/2 cups low-fat cinnamon graham cracker crumbs, about 13 crackers
- 3 Tbsp plain non-fat yogurt
cheesecake
- 4 8 oz packages low-fat cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups Splenda
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 zest of lemon
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract, or vanilla bean paste
- 2 egg whites
- 2 whole eggs
- 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
Instructions
- Place rack in the center of the oven then preheat to 325 degrees. In a small bowl, mix cracker crumbs with non-fat yogurt. Use a spoon to mix until well combined, and then use your fingers to evenly distribute the yogurt through the crumbs—the mixture should feel like damp sand and hold together when compacted.
- Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9" spring-form pan, allowing some of the crust to come up the sides of the pan. Bake 5–6 minutes then remove from oven to cool.
- In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add Splenda to the mixture then beat until combined. Add flour, lemon zest, vanilla, egg whites, whole eggs and sour cream then beat again until perfectly smooth, scraping the sides as necessary to ensure everything is incorporated.
- Pour batter into the cooled crust, place the spring-form pan on a baking sheet, and then return to oven. Bake 25–30 minutes or until the edges are set and the center is still slightly wobbly.
- Remove from oven then let cool completely before removing from pan. Cover and chill for 2 hours, slice and serve.