YIELDS:
PREP TIME:
COOK TIME:
TOTAL TIME:
ingredients
2 ¼ cups of shelled pistachios
3 Tbsp. sugar
¼ Tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
12 Oz. reduced-fat cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup of fat-free Greek Yogurt (I use FAGE)
¾ cup Lakanto sugar
1 Tbsp. Lemon juice (1/2 a large lemon)
1 ½ Tsp. vanilla Extract
1 10 oz. bag of frozen cherries
½ cup of fresh or frozen cranberries
¼ cup of honey
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Using cooking spray, coat a 9-inch spring form pan. In a food processor, pulse the pistachios, sugar and salt until crumbs form. Transfer to a bowl and stir in melted butter until it looks like wet sand. Press this mixture into the prepared spring form pan and press onto the bottom and up the sides. Bake until golden. 12 – 15 minutes. Let it cool completely.
NOTES: I served this for the first time on Christmas 2020 and it was a really big hit with my family. It is creamier than traditional New York Cheesecake and the nut crust was a winner. I may never go back to graham cracker crusts again. (Don’t quote me….lol.) I loved this. Removing a lot of the sugar and replacing full fat cream cheese with low fat and using some Greek yogurt really lightens this recipe up. Lakanto is a great sugar substitute made from Monk fruit. If you don’t see it at your local grocery store, you can supstitute Splenda. The nuts and fresh fruit are all “good for you” foods. Definitely try this one. It is a showstopper that tastes as good as it looks!
If you like this dessert, be sure to check out my healthier dessert choices. The Mini Cheesecake Tarts and Nutty Chocolate Banana Bites are particularly good. I have a selection of desserts that will hit all your sweet cravings. Be sure to sign up for my newsletters and get recipes sent right to your mailbox.
