Name: Healthier Cherry-Cranberry Cheesecake with Pistachio Crust
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Yield: 12 servings
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

YIELDS:

12 servings

PREP TIME:

0 hours 30 mins

COOK TIME:

0 hours 20 mins

TOTAL TIME:

3 hours 50 mins

ingredients

CRUST

2 ¼ cups of shelled pistachios

3 Tbsp. sugar

¼ Tsp. salt

5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

FILLING

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

TOPPING

1 10 oz. bag of frozen cherries

½ cup of fresh or frozen cranberries

¼ cup of honey

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat over to 350%. 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.

2. Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, yogurt, sugar, juice and vanilla until it is well-incorporated and stiff peaks form. Pour into the crust and smooth the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 3 hours to overnight to set.

3. To make the sauce, add the fruit, honey and a couple of tablespoons of water to a pot on medium high heat. Bring this to a simmer and cook until cranberries burst and sauce thickens (6-8 minutes). Cool completely. (This can be stored in the refrigerator with the cheesecake until you are ready to serve.

4. Top the cake with the fruit mixture leaving a white border around the edges (it just looks pretty!). Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the pistachio crust from the pan.

5. Open the pan and plate cake.

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 dish up. Lakanto is a great sugar substitute made from Monk fruit. If you don’t see it at your local grocery store, you can find it at Amazon. 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!

Healthier Cherry-Cranberry Cheesecake with Pistachio Crust

ingredients

DIRECTIONS

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