Say hello to the ultimate smooth and luxuriously creamy healthy cheesecake recipe.
This. is. what. dreams. are. made. of.
Lighter and creamier than Cheesecake Factory – with a third of the calories and sugar!
I figured today—my birthday—is the perfect time to share one of my own personal favorite recipes. When I say this healthy cheesecake is good, you know it has to be really good… because I do not take my cheesecake lightly.
I’m exceedingly selective when it comes to good cheesecake.
So many cheesecake recipes out there are not only way too sweet (seriously, a cup and a half of sugar in a cheesecake is too much!) but also too firm. The perfect cheesecake should never be overpowered by sugar, and every creamy bite should absolutely MELT in your mouth.
2018 Edit – There’s now a Brownie Cheesecake Recipe too, because of course there had to be a chocolate version!
I ate my birthday cheesecake in my pajamas.
For breakfast.
Happy birthday, indeed!
Can we talk about the sugar for a minute?
It’s called cheese cake for a reason. Many cheesecake recipes call for such a large quantity of sugar that the bold and savory cheese flavor is lost and sugar ends up being the only thing you taste. If I wanted to eat something that tasted like sugar, I would skip the cheesecake and eat a bowl of frosting. (Not that eating a bowl of frosting isn’t also delicious in its own right…)
Sugar was the first thing I knew I could slash when it came to creating a healthier cheesecake recipe. I started by researching traditional cheesecake recipes to get a feel for how much sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, and other basic ingredients usually go into cheesecake. And then I played around quite a bit. A lot goes into my recipe creations!
With this particular cheesecake recipe, I also knew I wanted to omit all the heavy cream called for in traditional cheesecake recipes and replace it with something much healthier. Since cheesecake should have a subtle tang to begin with, I came up with the idea to use yogurt, and it worked perfectly! Also left out were the eggs normally found in cheesecake recipes, which took a bit of trial to find the perfect replacement since eggs add moisture and bind recipes together.
Since there’s nothing more frustrating than having to visit multiple health food stores to locate all the ingredients in a recipe, I knew I wanted this healthy cheesecake to call only for ingredients you can find at a regular grocery store.
Healthy Cheesecake Recipe Of Dreams
*Crust is the recipe from this post: Vegan Cheesecake Recipe
Healthy Cheesecake Of Your Dreams
Ingredients
- 24 oz cream cheese, such as tj vegan
- 2 cups plain yogurt, such as coconutmilk yogurt
- 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sugar or maple syrup, honey, or xylitol for sugar-free
- pinch uncut stevia OR 2 additional tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch - such as Rapunzel non-GMO
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Fill a 9×13 pan about halfway with water and place it on your oven’s lower rack. Bring cream cheese to room temperature. Using a blender or hand blender, beat all cheesecake ingredients just until smooth. (Do not overbeat, as this would introduce air bubbles that would burst in the oven and thus cause cracking.) Smooth into a 9-inch springform pan, either lined with a crust or without. Place on the middle rack above the other pan. Bake 30 minutes, and do not open the oven during this time. When the time is up, leave the oven door closed and turn off the heat. Leave in the closed oven for an additional 5 minutes. Then remove—it will still look underdone—and let cool 20 minutes before placing the still-underdone cheesecake in the refrigerator. It’s important not to put the cheesecake right from the oven to the fridge, because you want it to cool gradually so it doesn’t crack. Chill at least 6 hours, during which time it will firm up to the proper texture. Leftovers covered in the fridge will last around 3-4 days. That is… if you don’t eat it all first!
Links Of The Day:
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal
Happy Birthday, Sweet Katie! Looks like a perfect way to start the day! ???
Happy Birthday!
I greatly appreciate your take on the sugar in this recipe 🙂
Fabulous recipe! Wishing you a VERY happy birthday, Katie!
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! That is a very cool photo of you! I assume that’s your place? I love your decor. Very light and airy and pretty. Hope you have a wonderful birthday and don’t do anything like work, just have fun!!!
It is! Basically, I found these really cool red barstools from overstock and designed the entire apartment to match the chairs 🙂
This sounds so yummy!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Happy Birthday!!
Happy birthday, Katie!
Do I see a crust in these photos? You don’t indicate anywhere what you used as a crust?? It looks very nice and healthy – thanks
It’s the raw chocolate cookie crust recipe from the Chocolate-Covered Katie Cookbook, just without the cacao. I didn’t mention it in the post because I am so afraid people will get sick of me mentioning the book all the time. 😕
Hi Katie, I have the book with the crust recipe. I notice that it is a raw crust. Still, you baked the cheesecake including the raw crust? Thanks for the answer!
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I did! 🙂
Happy birthday Katie! And congratulations on your new blog design! What crust did you use in your photos?
It’s the raw chocolate cookie crust recipe from the Chocolate-Covered Katie Cookbook, just without the cacao. If you don’t have the book, you can use your favorite crust of choice.
That looks heavenly!
– Alex
Happy Birthday Katie! It looks positively delicious! I can’t wait to try this out sometime!
Happy Birthday, Katie! Love your cookbook and can’t wait to make this!
I must be missing something…. what is the crust part? I don’t see a recipe for this?
The raw chocolate cookie crust recipe from the Chocolate-Covered Katie Cookbook, just without the cacao. If you don’t have the book, you can use your favorite crust of choice.
She used the Raw chocolate cookie crust recipe from the Chocolate Covered Katie cookbook, but left out the cacao. If you don’t have the cookbook, go ahead and use any crust you like 🙂
I found this out by looking at other comments.
Happy Birthday!! I’m guessing that picture is you in your apartment? It looks like such a nice place! And you look way cute! I hope you have a wonderful birthday, enjoying this cheesecake to the max. It sounds delicious.
By the way, I love the new blog design! The mobile friendly version is awesome
Thank you!! And yes, it’s my apartment 🙂
Happy birthday Katie!!! <3 Enjoy your day, and I cannot wait to make this cheesecake 🙂
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Happy birthday! I always have cheesecake on my birthday!
Happy birthday lovely lady <3
Happy Birthday Katie! And thank you for the lovely present. How did you know that cheesecake has been on my mind lately? I do have one point to make: I guess it all depends on your frame of reference, but non-dairy cream cheese is definitely NOT something found in regular grocery stores where I live. Nevertheless, I will be visiting my Mom in the US later this month, and a Whole Foods is set to open in her town just days before I arrive, so this sounds like the perfect thing to add to my shopping list when I’m there.
I’ve actually always been able to find it at local grocery stores both here and in Texas, so maybe you could ask a store manager to start carrying it? You never know! They might just start! Also, if you have a Trader Joes nearby, they also carry a non-dairy cream cheese.
YUM! Katie you are such a recipe genius:)
Ummm I NEED to try this! I have a serious obsession with cheesecake, so if I can make this at home and cut some calories, I’m sold! Will definitely be trying this some time soon — might need to run to the store today to pick up some ingredients. Thanks for the recipe, Katie!
Happy Birthday!
Seems like a wonderful way to celebrate, that Cheese cake sounds Delicious, I am gonna make it this weekend (time factor). I am amazed at how much work you put into healthy desserts, so the rest of us can enjoy the fruits of your labor, Thank You!
If i may, forgive me, but suggest something? (its also healthy). When I make my normal, not so healthy cheesecakes, i found a way to make add fruit to the cheesecakes without the sugar normally included in the topping. I am sure it would work with this also.
I freeze my fruit (works best with blueberries), and keeping them frozen solid, I fold them into the batter immediately before I smooth it into the pan. That way, when you are delighting in the smoothness of the cheesecake, you also get a sudden burst of blueberries for an added treat, but without any added sugar.
Just an idea to try for a variation on it 🙂
Thank you again so much for a healthier version of Cheesecake! I can’t wait until Saturday. dave.
Happy Birthday!!! I love cheesecake! Thanks for this wonderful cheesecake recipe. Will be trying this soon. Have a great birthday and thanks again for the wonderful post.