Health

Healthy Recipe: One of a Kind Cheesecake

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By Rachel Firmin
    The other day, my friend and I were sitting on campus talking and somehow the converstaion turned to food (shocking, I know!) We got on the subject of our favorite “fancy” dessert. I said that I really loved cheesecake. She laughed and asked me when the last time I had cheesecake. As I started thinking about it, I realized that I hadn’t had a bite of Cheesecake since  Joe & I’s engagement party last October! So I knew what my next recipe venture would have to be – cheesecake! But, I didn’t want it to be a 450kcal slice of cheesecake, so I played with a few recipes and came up with this delicious dessert. 
Makes 16 Servings
Crust
8 Graham Cracker Sheets (32 
individual crackers)
2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, melted
1 Tbsp. Water
Filling
8 oz. Reduced Fat Cream Cheese, 
room temp.
8 oz. Fat Free Cream Cheese, room 
temp.
1 cup Nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 tsp. Lemon Juice
2 Large Eggs
Preheat oven to 375o. In a food processor or blender, pulse all graham crackers until crumbs are formed. Place in a small bowl and mix with butter and water, until evenly combined. Press onto the bottom of a 10 inch spring form pan and bake 8-10 minutes. 
While the crust is baking, cream together the cream cheese, yogurt and sugar. (I used my Great Grandmother’s Stand Mixer—talk about a cool antique!) Add in the vanilla & lemon juice, then add the eggs one at a time, until mixture is smooth and creamy.
Remove the crust from the oven and reduce the heat of the oven to 325o. Pour the filling into the crust and smooth out the top. 
Bake 30-35 minutes, or until center is set. Then, turn off the oven, open the door and allow cheesecake to sit for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, run a knife around the sides of the pan to prevent sticking & place in the refrigerator until time to serve. You could eat immediately, but it is much easier to cut after it has been chilled! 
Nutritional information for 1/16 recipe: 132 kcal, 6 g fat (3 g), 43 mg cholesterol, 213 mg sodium, 34 mg potassium, 14 g carbs (9 g sugar) and 6 g protein! 
Those stats are better than some health bars on the market today! So feel free to “indulge” in this great dessert—I hope that you enjoy it as much as my family and I did!