You would think that eating as clean as I try to, I wouldn’t even THINK about anything most people would consider “dessert”… much less a CHEESECAKE. However… my wife found an awesome recipe for ultra-low fat, pretty low calorie pumpkin cheesecake.
I always talk about how important nutrition is…well, it’s time to start sharing some of the recipes that have helped me stick with it and get my nutrition in line. STARTING WITH DESSERT!
Recipe:
Tools:
-Oven (obviously?)
-light cotton towel (I’ll explain later)
-wax paper
-Spring-form pan
-Measuring cups/spoons/etc, spoons, spatulas, etc. Y’know…cooking things that are probably in your kitchen if you’re the type that’s considering cooking something.
-Fridge (you have one, right?)
-Fork (to eat it with. you’re not a caveman.)
Ingredients – Crust:
8 graham cracker squares
2 Tbsp Sugar (can substitute 2 Tbsp Sugar in the Raw Organic White)
Ingredients – Filling:
1 16 oz. can of pumpkin
16 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1 cup fat free sour cream
4 egg whites
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 300 deg. Come back to that later…
2. In a food processor, grind graham crackers & add 2 tbsp sugar – process lightly. (This will be your crust…so process until it’s…you know…crust consistency. That makes sense, right?)
3. Spray a spring-form pan with non-stick cooking spray.
4. Sprinkle the graham cracker mixture evenly over the bottom of your sprayed pan. Set this aside.
5. In food processor combine filling ingredients and process until well-blended.
6. VERY CAREFULLY pour over crust, trying not to disturb crumbs. (It should settle nicely and smooth out to provide the appearance you’d expect from a cheesecake.)
7. Bake at 300 degrees for 55 – 60 minutes.
8. IMPORTANT: Let it cool to room temperature with a light cotton towel over it (not touching the cake). If you don’t let it cool before the next step you will be very sad. (The towel bit is a tip from a 60’s cookbook. It allows the cheesecake to breathe and it wicks away excess moisture. Trust me, just do it.)
9. Ditch the towel and LIGHTLY cover the cheesecake with wax paper. Let it chill in the fridge like this for at least a few hours (so it can set). Ideally, let it set overnight (this is a good recipe to make afternoon or night).
10. Remove the sides from the spring-form pan. ENJOY!
This recipe is meant to yield 8 servings/slices.
One serving = ~209 calories and less than 1 gram of fat.
Disclaimer: The picture up top is NOT an actual picture of what my wife made…but it IS a pumpkin cheesecake. Yours will look similar.
Tell me again why dessert is impossible 🙂
