When we were in high school The Cheesecake Factory was all the rage. In fact, if a guy from our high school wanted to impress a girl, he could score mega points by taking her to The Cheesecake Factory. As we were graduating high school and heading to college, one of our girlfriends reported back to us after a first date at The Cheesecake Factory: the date was great, but she was never going back to The Cheesecake Factory—apparently she found out that one slice of her fave cheesecake contained more calories than she should get in the entire day– eeks!

So now that we live in New York City and our clients are requesting lower calorie versions of their favorite dessert (cheesecake), we figured we better get on the case! Here’s our lightened up creation!
(Psst… we’re always creating lightened up dishes, so if you would like to try more, please feel free to search this site! And here are a few to try… our  Chicken Wafflewich, our our Maryland inspired Crab Cakes, our Southern- inspired Not-So-Fried Chicken and our apple inspirations like our no sugar- added Apple Pie.
And now we made this light version of a New York cheesecake!   Enjoy this, and try to take your time and savor it, it’s so delish!

 

So when Eggland’s Best, who we just happen to be the spokespeople for because we love that they use a proprietary hen feed so that their eggs have more nutrients (like 4 times the vitamin D and twice the omegas of other eggs and 25% less saturated fat!), announced they were having a contest inspired by your state, we couldn’t have been more excited! We started thinking New York…Cheesecake, apples, bagels, the list goes on and on! We started with this cheesecake for fun, but stay tuned for the New York-inspired dish we share with EB!

Enjoy this, and try to take your time and savor it, it’s so delish, it’s hard to resist eating it any slower than in a New York Minute!

Skinny Cheesecake
Makes 16 servings

Ingredients
Oil in a spray container
9 whole graham crackers, broken in half
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1 8-ounce packages low-fat Neufchatel cream cheese, softened (or low-fat cream cheese)
3 8-ounce package fat free cream cheese, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
2 large eggs plus 3 egg whites (we use Eggland’s Best because they have 25% less saturated fat than other eggs)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
Pureed strawberries, optional
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spritz a 9-inch spring-form pan with oil until lightly coated.
2. Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor until crumbled. Add the butter and water and pulse until moistened. Firmly press the crumbs onto the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes; allow to cool while you prepare the filling.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat both cream cheeses and the sugar on medium-high speed for 5 minutes or until smooth. Add the yogurt and beat on low.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the 2 eggs and 3 egg whites and add to the cheese mixture. Next add the flour, vanilla and lemon zest. Beat for 3 minutes on medium-high until creamy and fluffy. Pour over the crust.
5. Place cheesecake in the oven. On the rack below the cheesecake, place a shallow dish or pan filled halfway with warm water. Bake until the cake is set but the center still jiggles, about 1 hour. Turn off the oven. Keep the door closed and let the cheesecake sit inside for 20 minutes.
6. Remove the cake and transfer to a cooling rack. Run a knife around the edge, and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate overnight or about 8 hours. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts Per Serving (without topping): 188 Calories, 5 g Fat, 3 g Saturated Fat, 69 mg Cholesterol, 297 mg Sodium, 26 g Carbohydrate, 0 g Fiber, 23 g Sugar, 9 g Protein

 

The Nutrition Twins work with Eggland’s Best to help people get more nutrients from their food.