Turtle Cheesecake

I'm pretty sure everyone I know is a huge fan of cheesecake (including me). This is a lower fat version and it doesn't hurt it's made in a 6" springform pan. You could of course double it and bake it in a 9" for 40-45 minutes and it would be fine, there would just be more of it. As I've said before, I love desserts but not having entire cheesecakes lying around! I would happily eat all of it. 

Usually I'm telling you other ways you can change the recipe to meet your tastes or expand the options of the recipe but this recipe is pretty great just like it is. I would say if you could probably stop at the chocolate chips if you wanted to and leave off the caramel, pecans, and chocolate grahams (but why would you want to) :). You could also just use the cheesecake recipe with a different topping like strawberries or bananas cooked in brown sugar. 

Happy Baking!

Turtle Cheesecake
Makes 1 6” cheesecake

Ingredients:
Cheesecake
- 8 oz. low-fat cream cheese, room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 oz. (about ¼ cup + 2 T.) fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt (like the kind by Chobani), room temperature
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice, room temperature
- 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Topping
½ sheet (2 crackers) chocolate graham crackers, crushed (or about 4 chocolate animal crackers)
2 tablespoons fat-free or light caramel dip (like the kinds by Marzetti)
2 tablespoons chopped pecans

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 6" springform cake pan with nonstick spray.
2. Set out all cheesecake ingredients. Combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. With an electric mixer set to medium speed, beat until smooth, 1 - 2 minutes. Continuing to beat the mixture, gradually add yogurt, egg whites, lemon juice, and flour. Beat until thoroughly mixed, about 2 minutes.
3. Evenly pour mixture into the cake pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake until firm, 25-30 minutes.

 
4. Once cheesecake has completely cooled, evenly top with crushed graham crackers. Drizzle with caramel dip and sprinkle with pecans.
5. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour. Release springform and serve.

Printable recipe


Adapted from Hungry Girl