Classic Cheesecake with Less Guilt

I know what you’re thinking…”But, I thought you were lactose intolerant?” or maybe you weren’t thinking that. Well, I am, but my husband looooooooves classic cheesecake, but always feels guilty after eating a slice from a restaurant. This is why I came up with this recipe for a healthier cheesecake to keep the guilt level down. The key is finding substitutions for as many unhealthy ingredients as possible. For this recipe, I use Neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese because it has 1/3 less fat, but tastes the same. We all know I’m obsessed with Almond milk — It reduces the fat by 50% compared to whole milk. The other half is considered “good fat”. I use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream since it is fat free and contains probiotics. That’s it!  Now go make it and enjoy not one, but two slices! Oh yeah, and for my GF peeps, you can use GF cookies (Sun Flour Baking Company has the best options) for the crust. Now you have yourself a delicious Gluten Free Cheesecake.

{ Ingredients }

Crust
15 graham crackers or 2 cups of crushed Gluten-free shortbread or sugar cookies
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Cake
4 (8 ounce) packages of Neufchatel cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup almond milk (preferably homemade almond milk because it’s creamier)
4 eggs
1 cup non fat Greek yogurt (preferably FAGE)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Topping
2 cups sliced strawberries
2 tablespoons of agave nectar

{ Directions }

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch spring-form pan. Set aside.
2. I like my graham crackers thoroughly crushed, so I place them in my blender. You can also crush by hand if you need to relieve some stress. Pound them into the ground! (not literally)
3. In a medium bowl, mix your crackers and melted butter. Spread the crumbs evenly along the bottom of the pan and press down firmly.
4. In a large bowl, mix the cheese and sugar until smooth. It’s very important that you only mix by hand from this point on to avoid over mixing, which could result in a cracked cake. Mix in the almond milk, then the eggs one at a time, just enough to incorporate. Add the yogurt and vanilla until smooth. Pour filling into the prepared crust.
5. Place in oven for 1 hour. Check on the cake periodically towards the end of the hour to make sure it’s not browning too quickly. If it is, turn your oven down 10 degrees.
6. Once done, turn the oven off and let the cake cool in oven with the door closed for 1 1/2 – 2 hours. This prevents cracking.
7. Chill in refrigerator until served. Top with strawberries.