Cherry Cheesecake Made Over

Name: Cherry Cheesecake Made Over
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 350 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 2 HONEY MAID Cinnamon Grahams, finely crushed (about 1/3 cup); 2 cups low-fat cottage cheese; 1 pkg. Neufchatel cheese, softened; ½ cup plain nonfat yogurt; 2 Tbsp. flour; 1 tsp. vanilla; 3 Tbsp. sugar, divided; 1 whole egg; 2 egg whites; 2 tsp. instant tapioca; 1 cup pitted tart cherries in water, drained with liquid reserved

This delicious cheesecake dessert recipe can fit into a smart eating plan. A cinnamon graham crust is topped with creamy cheesecake and a tart cherry topping.

Well-being Choice

Nutrition Bonus

This classic dessert is made with better-for-you products so it can fit into a healthful eating plan.

Prep time:

0 min

Total time:

0 h 0 min

Servings:

Makes 12 servings.

Ingredient list

2 HONEY MAID Cinnamon Grahams, finely crushed (about 1/3 cup)
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Neufchatel cheese, softened
½ cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1 whole egg
2 egg whites
2 tsp. instant tapioca
1 cup canned pitted tart cherries in water, drained with liquid reserved

Directions

Heat oven to 325ºF.

Sprinkle graham crumbs onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

Process cottage cheese in food processor until smooth. Add Neufchatel, yogurt, flour, vanilla and 2 Tbsp. of the sugar; process until well blended. Add whole egg, and egg whites 1 at a time, pulsing after each addition just until blended. Pour over crumbs.

Bake 40 to 45 min. or until center of cheesecake is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool 1 hour before removing rim.

Refrigerate cheesecake 4 hours. Meanwhile, bring 1/3 cup reserved cherry liquid, tapioca and remaining sugar to boil in large saucepan on medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Simmer on medium-low heat 2 min. or until thickened, stirring constantly. Gently stir in cherries. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Spoon cherry sauce over cheesecake just before serving.

Recipe Tips

Makeover - How We Did It
We've taken a classic cherry cheesecake and made it over by reducing the sugar, and replacing some of the cream cheese with both reduced-fat cottage cheese and yogurt, substituting Neufchatel cheese for the regular cream cheese, and substituting egg whites for the whole eggs. We also made a cherry topping with canned tart cherries instead of using cherry pie filling. These changes will save 240 calories and 17 grams of total fat, including 11 grams of saturated fat, per serving.
Substitute
Can't find canned tart cherries? You can instead prepare this recipe using 1 cup thawed frozen sweet cherries. Just cook them with 1/4 cup water and the tapioca as directed, omitting the 1 Tbsp. sugar.
Special Extra
Stir 1 Tbsp. Kirsch (cherry brandy) into the cherry sauce before refrigerating.