YIELDS:
12 servings
PREP TIME:
0 hours 30 mins
COOK TIME:
0 hours 20 mins
TOTAL TIME:
3 hours 50 mins
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ingredients
CRUST
2 ¼ Cups of shelled pistachios
3 Tbsp. Lakanto monk fruit sugar substitute
¼ Tsp. Salt
5 Tbsp. Unsalted butter, melted
FILLING12 Oz. reduced-fat cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup of fat-free Greek Yogurt (I use FAGE)
¾ cup Lakanto monk fruit sugar substitute
1 Tbsp. Lemon juice (1/2 a large lemon)
1 ½ Tsp. Pure vanilla extract
TOPPING
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 F. 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, using a hand mixer, 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 cherries and cranberries, 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. Slice and serve. Now for the best part, eat and enjoy!
NOTES: I served this healthier cherry-cranberry cheesecake with pistachio crust 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 fat-free Greek yogurt really lightens this recipe up. Lakanto is a great sugar substitute made from Monk fruit. I love it use it in a lot of my baking. There is no aftertaste and no one knows the difference. 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!
A couple of notes on ingredients. You could easily use all cherries or all cranberries in the recipe. You could also substitute berries like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and/or blackberries. I loved the pistachio crust, but other nuts would also work. Walnuts are a perfect substitution. Yes, you can always use full fat cream cheese and Greek yogurt. One note about the combination I’ve used in this recipe, you do want the cake really cold when served. You don’t want to leave this cheesecake sitting out a long time. Because I used fat-free yogurt, it is looser and does give off whey which can make the cake soft. If you keep it cold and serve and it right away, it is perfect. I’ve also made this with 1% and 2% Greek yogurt and they all work.
While I’ve used a sugar substitute, feel free to use real sugar if that is your preference. Consider this the guideline recipe and then substitute the ingredients you like (one for one) and you’ll get great results every time.
To get started on this recipe, heat oven to 350 degrees F. 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.
Meanwhile, using a hand mixer, 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.
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.
If you like cheesecake, be sure to try my Mini Cheesecake Tarts.
For other lighter and healthier dessert recipes, try some of these:
Balsamic Pear and Macadamia Bites
Baked Pears with Cinnamon Maple Walnuts
Almond Milk Pistachio Ice Cream
Spelt and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies
