Berry Cheesecake Bars
Recipe Review by Stephanie Yu
Cheesecake has always been related to being fatty and a “diet-no-no”. This recipe could be a healthier alternative for cheesecake lovers that are watching their diet. The berries can be any berries you like, such as raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries. For both crumbs and filling, I cut down some of the sugar for my personal taste preference. I used about ¾ cup of sugar for crumbs and ½ cup of sugar for filling and it gives me the perfect level of sweetness! You can adjust the sugar amount slightly to fit your own taste. Moreover, if you don’t have a baking pan, you can also use small muffin pans and do the same thing. Keep in mind though the baking time would be less— about 25-30 minutes. This cake can also be refrigerated and the cheese flavour will be even richer!
This cake is the perfect dessert and afternoon tea snack. There is about 6.5g of fat/bar, which is around 10% of your daily fat value. The fat is greatly reduced compared to ordinary cheesecakes by substituting cream and cream cheese with low-fat yogurt and light cream cheese. Grounded almonds are used instead of a biscuits/cookies base, which increases the nutritional value. Since almonds contain mostly unsaturated fats, they are known to reduce your “bad” cholesterol and increase your “good” cholesterol, which in turn reducing your risks of developing cardiovascular disease. In addition, almonds also contain fibres, which help maintain your bowel health and delay your hunger. The berries used in the cake are a major source of vitamin C. It not only boosts your immune system, but also act as an antioxidant and prevents oxidative and inflammatory damages in your heart and blood vessels. Despite all the nutritional benefits, the texture of the cake is really fluffy and is rich in flavour. Therefore, this is a delicious, heart-healthy approved cheesecake! Hope you enjoy!
Recipe from cookspiration.
Ingredients
Crumb Mixture:
- All-purpose flour 1 cup (250 mL)
- Packed brown sugar 1 cup (250 mL)
- Ground almonds ½ cup (125 mL)
- Melted butter ¼ cup (50 mL)
- Cold water 2 tbsp (25 mL)
Filling:
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Egg white
- 250g Light cream cheese, softened
- ¾ cup (175 mL) Granulated sugar
- ½ cup (125 mL) Low-fat plain yogurt
- 1 ½ tsp (7 mL) Almond/vanilla extract
- 1 tsp (5 mL) Grated orange/lemon zest
- 1 ½ cup (375 mL) Fresh or frozen berries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) Prepare the filling: In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat eggs, egg white, cream cheese, sugar, yogurt, almond extract and orange zest until fluffy.
- Press half of the crumb mixture into prepared pan. Pour in filling and spread evenly. Sprinkle with berries. Drop remaining crumb mixture by tablespoonfuls (15 mL) over berries. Using a knife, swirl filling, berries and crumb mixture.
- Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan by lifting foil and transfer to a cutting board. Remove foil and cut into bars.
