If you thought you had to give up cheesecake when you decided to lose weight or eat healthier, you were wrong. My healthy cheesecake for two uses non-fat dairy products, monk fruit, good-for-you pistachios and fresh berries to make one delicious, healthy and decadent dessert. I love using little heart-shaped cheesecake pans for special occasions like Valentine’s Day or for a romantic dinner for two. But, you can use mini round-shaped spring form pans too.
A couple of notes regarding the ingredients I’ve used in this recipe. Let’s start with the dairy and cheese. This is a fat-free cheesecake, so I’ve used fat-free Greek yogurt and cottage cheese. I like to eliminate as much saturated fat as possible and these two products do just that. If you THINK you don’t like cottage cheese, I’ve found it is usually because of the texture. In this recipe, it gets blended to a completely smooth consistency which is perfect for this cheesecake. If you are absolutely opposed to cottage cheese, low-fat Ricotta cheese would be a good substitution.
What is the difference between cottage cheese and ricotta cheese:
The difference between the too is that ricotta is a fresh cheese made from whey which is different from cottage cheese, which is made from curds.
They are very similar in taste and you have to have a pretty good palette to determine the difference. But, ricotta contains less salt than cottage cheese and it tends to be a little sweeter.
Yes. Typically, you’ll choose cottage cheese if you are looking for a lower calorie and lower fat option. And since I usually am, this is a great substitution. One note for those that use cottage cheese instead of ricotta cheese in recipes, drain it well to get rid of the excess liquid. That will get the consistency closer to ricotta. Since I was going for a healthy cheesecake, cottage cheese was a natural substitution for ricotta.
Use the same amounts of ricotta cheese as cottage cheese if substituting in this recipe. By eliminating all the traditional heavy cream cheese, you get a low calorie, healthy cheesecake recipe that you’ll be making over and over again.
I wanted to eliminate added sugar so I used Lakanto Monk fruit. I like the product because there is no after taste. Feel free to substitute your own favorite sugar substitute or use real sugar. These sugar free mini cheesecakes have no added sugar and taste just as good.
Another big change in this recipe is the crust. There is no graham cracker crust here. I didn’t want the cookie, flour, sugar that comes with those. Instead, I made a delicious pistachio crust. If you haven’t tried a nut crust before, you are in for a treat. You could easily substitute walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds or macadamia nuts for the pistachios. You’ll just want to grind them in a small food processor until they have the consistency of sand. Be sure you don’t over process or it will turn into a nut butter.
I use a light butter to mix with the nuts, but yes, you can use full fat butter. It is your choice. Once the nuts are moistened and baked, they make a delicious and much healthier crust.
I made my healthy cheesecake for two with raspberry sauce. I made the raspberry sauce using fresh berries however, you could use frozen berries too. You could also substitute other berries like blueberries, blackberries or strawberries. You can also do a mix. If you use frozen berries, be sure they are thawed and drained before heating on the stove. If you have fresh berries, go ahead and add some at the end. If not, add some of the whole, thawed berries. You could also make this with fresh or frozen bing cherries. So good!
For a little flare, add a fresh mint leaf and some powdered sugar to finish the dessert. I keep a small powdered sugar canister/shaker in with my spices so I can finish my desserts with a flurry of powdered sugar. It looks so great. Yes, I used a powdered sugar monk fruit substitute, but you can use the real deal. Remember, this is your dessert!
To get started on this recipe, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the spring form pan with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet.
Make your crust. Place the pistachios, tablespoon of monk fruit, and salt in a food processor and process until there are fine crumbs (like sand). Put into a bowl and add the melted butter. Mix. Divide evenly between the two prepared spring form pans. Bake for 10 minutes. Let the crusts cool completely.
In a food processor or blender, blend the cottage cheese and Greek yogurt until smooth and creamy. Make sure there are no lumps.
In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the egg, sugar, salt, maple and vanilla extracts and cheese mixture. Mix until fully incorporated and smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared and baked pistachio crusted pans. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until the cakes are cooked through and the middle is just slightly jiggly. These will firm up as they chill.
Place the cooled and covered cakes in the refrigerator and chill for at least four hours and up to overnight.
Make your berry topping. Add a half cup of berries, two tablespoons of water, lemon juice and Lakanto monk fruit to a small sauce pan. Heat over medium low heat until the berries have broken down and the mixture is hot and bubbling. About five minutes. Take off the heat and add the 1/4 cup of whole, fresh berries to the mix and let cool completely. This can be done the day before serving. Just keep in the fridge covered until ready to serve.
Unmold the cheesecakes from the spring form pans onto individual serving plates. Top with the chilled berry mixture, an optional mint leaf and some powdered sugar and enjoy.
If you like the idea of healthy cheesecake, I make a full-sized healthier cherry-cranberry cheesecake with pistachio crust when I’m entertaining larger groups around the holiday. Definitely a show-stopper!
Be sure to try my Mini Cheesecake Tarts with Fruit and Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Walnut Crust too. They are soooo good!
If you are looking for other healthy dessert ideas, try some of these:
Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Protein Bars
Balsamic Pear and Macadamia Bites
Healthy Cheesecake for Two
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup plus 3 Tbsp. Fat-free cottage cheese
- 1/2 Cup Plain Fat-free Greek yogurt
- 1 Large Egg
- 2 Tbsp. Lakanto Monk Fruit sugar
- 1 Tsp. Pure Vanilla extract
- 1 Pinch Kosher salt
CRUST
- 1/2 Cup Pistachios
- 2 Tbsp. Lakanto monk fruit sugar substitute
- Pinch Kosher Salt
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. Land O’Lakes Light butter, melted
- Cooking spray
TOPPING
- 1 Cup Fresh raspberries
- 1 Tsp. Fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tsp. Lakanto monk fruit
- 1 Tsp. Cornstarch
- Fresh mint leaves to garnish (optional)
- Powdered monk fruit sugar to finish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Take two heart shaped mini cheese cake pans or mini round cheese cake pans, and spray with cooking spray. Put on a baking sheet and put to the side.
- Make your crust. Place the pistachios, of monk fruit, and salt in a food processor and process until there are fine crumbs (like sand). Put into a bowl and add the melted butter. Mix. Divide evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
- In a food processor or blender, blend the cottage cheese and Greek yogurt until smooth and creamy. Make sure there are no lumps.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the egg, sugar, salt, and vanilla extracts and cheese mixture. Mix until fully incorporated and smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared and baked pistachio crusted pans. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until the cakes are cooked through and the middle is just slightly jiggly. These will firm up as they chill.
- Place the covered, baked cakes in the refrigerator and chill for at least four hours and up to overnight.
- Make your berry topping. Add a 3/4 cup of berries, two tablespoons of water, lemon juice and Lakanto monk fruit to a small sauce pan. Heat over medium low heat until the berries have broken down and the mixture is hot and bubbling. About five minutes. Add the cornstarch and stir until it is well incorporated. Take off the heat and add the 1/4 cup of whole, fresh berries to the mix and let cool completely. This can be done the day before serving. Just keep in the fridge covered until ready to serve.
- Unmold the cheesecakes from the spring form pans onto individual serving plates. Top with the chilled berry mixture, and a mint leaf (if using). Finish with a flurry of powdered sugar and enjoy.
