Delicious Cheesecake. Oh and its Low Fat!

Way back in the day I found this recipe, it actually came from Stoneyfield farms, but over the years I've made slight changes that really make this cheesecake smooth, rich, creamy and LOW FAT! How you ask?

Read on...

The secret ingredient is yogurt, and now that Greek yogurt is so popular I use this instead of regular plain yogurt, it definitely speeds up the draining process. Actually, it doesn't even have to be plain, you can use flavors to flavor your cheesecake if you wish, just keep in mind that you will need less sugar than the recipe calls for.

This also is a Diet Free Life friendly recipe, so DFL friends if you find yourself really wanting a rich and creamy dessert that is friendly and under your snack calorie allotment, then try this!

Lastly, you will love hearing people say "Oh I couldn't possibly eat that, its so high fat" and then telling them that they couldn't be more wrong, they still don't believe it! So here is the recipe, you can make it with or without the crust.

Crust
1.5 sleeves graham crackers broken into pieces
1 tbsp organic sugar (use white if its all you have)
3-4 tbsp smart balance light butter (or regular butter if you must)

Blend the graham crackers in a food processor until there are no more large pieces. Melt the butter and add to the cracker meal with the sugar. The cracker should form a crumbly moist but not wet ball. Put this in a lightly sprayed spring form pan and press along the sides. I think I used a 9 or 10 inch pan, not sure but will double check later.
Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes.

Cheesecake Filling
1 Large container of fat free Greek Yogurt
3 8oz packages of light cream cheese (neufchatel) or you can even use some fat free too
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp all purpose flour
4 egg whites or 1 cup egg substitute
2 tsp Vanilla (or you can use lemon juice and a little finely chopped rind YUM)

This part is a little tricky, you need cheese cloth which you can find at the grocery store. If not using greek yogurt you HAVE to do this or the results will be too watery. Layer a few pieces of cloth and plop the yogurt in the middle, pull up the sides of the cloth and lightly twist, you will see the whey drain out. Let it drain for a few hours and your result is yogurt cheese. I did this for 30 mins with Greek yogurt and not much whey came out, so yay.

Preheat over to 300F and bring some water to a boil. Once your water is boiled add about an inch to an oven proof dish and place in the oven. The cheesecake needs the moisture in the oven so it doesn't crack (it may still crack).

In a mixing bowl add cream cheese and sugar, cream together. Lightly fold in yogurt, flour, vanilla and egg whites.

Pour filling onto the crust, bake for an hour at 300F. After an hour, shut the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool with the door ajar. Chill for a couple hours before serving, I usually make this the night before and it comes out amaaaaazing!

I wish I had a better photo to show you how awesome this low fat cheesecake really is, but this one will do!