This Lemon Cheesecake is creamy, tangy and has the right amount of sweetness to it. Deliciously good and perfectly portioned making this dessert doable when counting calories or following WW. Top it off with fresh berries, lemon curd, lite cool whip, whipped cream or have it plain.
Before you make this cheesecake, make sure the cheese, yogurt and eggs are room temperture to ensure a smoothe cake. I used Neufchatel cheese which has a 1/3 less fat than regular cream cheese but if you can find low fat cream cheese that can be used too (I cant find them anywhere since quarantined). Using a water bath helps with cracking, so dont skip this step if you dont want any cracks! Also, letting the cake sit in the oven for a bit longer once done and oven is turned off helps with cracking since the cake cools down at a slower rate. If you dont care about cracking and just wanna get to the good stuff, allow cake to cool completely out of the oven and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Enjoy!
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Ingredients
- 16 low fat cinnamon graham crackers
- 1 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 8oz packages Neufchatel cheese or low fat cream cheese (the blocks), room temperture
- 1 5.3 oz non fat plain Greek yogurt, room temperture (I used Chobani)
- 3 large eggs, room temperture
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 tbsp corn starch, sifted
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced ( about 2 tbsp juice)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cup hot water
- Pam spray
- Bonne Maman Lemon Curd (optional)
- Cool Whip Lite Topping (optional
- Fresh berries (optional)
- Aerosol Whipped cream (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven on 325 degrees
- Prepare 9 inch spring form pan by lining the inside bottom of the pan, then line the entire bottom of the outside spring form pan with foil coming up the sides to allow for a water bath. Spray pan with pam spray, sides and bottom.
3. Place spring form pam in a cookie sheet or a bigger baking dish and set aside.
4. In a food processor add graham crackers and pulse till finely crushed, add melted butter and zest of half lemon and pulse a few more times. This can also be done in a ziplock bag and pound to crush with a rolling pin.
5. Place crumbs evenly in spring form baking pan and press down with the bottom of a glass. Bake (without cookie sheet) for 6 minutes.
6. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, add cheese and yogurt and mix until combined. Add sugar and sifted corn starch and mix well but do not over mix.
7. Add one egg at a time mixing just until incorporated stopping to scrape sides, do not over mix. When adding the last egg, add extract, lemon zest of the remaining half of lemon and lemon juice. Mix well.
8. Pour into spring form pan and spread evenly, knocking pan once or twice on the counter to get rid of air bubbles.
9. Place pan onto baking sheet and place in the oven 3/4 way, while 3/4 way into the oven, add hot water to baking sheet. Close oven and bake for 50-55 minutes.
10. Once done, turn of oven and let the cake sit for about 10 minutes. I like to crack the oven and let it sit about 15 minutes longer. Remove from oven and cool completely. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight before serving. Cut into 12 even slices for serving.
Yield: 12 plain slices (1 plain slice per serving)
Nutrition Info per serving (using myfitness pal recipe builder)
Calories: 268, total fat: 19 g, total carbs: 19 g, protein: 12 g
myWW smartpoints per serving (using WW recipe builder)
Green:7 smartpoints, blue: 6 smartpoints, purple: 6 smartpoints
Optional Toppings
- Bonne Maman Lemon Curd: 1 tsp- 1 smartpoint/23 calories
- Cool Whip Lite Topping: 2 tbsp- 1 smartpoint/ 20 calories
- Aerosol Whipped Cream: 2 tbsp-1 smartpoint/ 16 calories
- Blueberries: 1 tbsp- 0 smartpoints/ 5 calories
