EIGHT MINUTE INDIVIDUAL CHEESECAKES

 We finally hit the road for a road trip/sightseeing trip. It seems like it has been forever. Forever might be a little strong, but it has been almost three years. 

We got home Monday night around 6 after having a fabulous time in CO visiting with our older son Jeffrey and his family. It had been a long nine months since Christmas but we crowded a whole lot of togetherness in the weekend. We drove up to Denver to Lakewood's Apple Cider Festival on Saturday and then to Mueller State Park on Sunday for their yearly hike to see the aspens. We have been fortunate enough to share that experience with them several times and always love it. This year the hike was short because it was raining lightly when we got there, but it was beautiful anyway. 

Home again and getting to watch the Chiefs defeat Tampa Bay  (I had recorded the game and stayed away from social media so I wouldn't know the outcome.) felt so good. And since we are home but just as busy as ever, I had to search for something to make Tuesday morning to share with the canasta friends Tuesday afternoon. It took a while checking out several cookbooks, but once I saw the title "Eight Minute Cheesecake", my search was over. Quick and Easy. That was definitely what I wanted. The bed never felt better after getting home and knowing we were probably home until Christmas when we will go back to CO again.

Not always but I often look for recipes that I can easily make my changes to reduce calories but hopefully not reduce taste. This recipe allowed me to do that, too. I wanted to avoid the graham cracker crust since I'm trying to do whole wheat/grains and wasn't able to do that most of the time over the weekend with eating fast foods so I let my mind ago outside the box. It wasn't too hard to picture making crustless individual cheesecakes served in goblets since there are six of us playing cards and I even had enough leftover to make one to save for Wayne. 

But I didn't stop there. The recipe called for cream cheese and I usually substitute 1/3 Less Fat Neufchatel for that. The 1/3 cup of sugar I substituted 1/3 cup stevia. I substituted a cup of non-fat plain Greek yogurt for the cup of sour cream. I always try to buy sugar-free whipped stopping and last but not least, I used a zero sugar cherry pie filling but added three packets of truvia to sweeten it but not with the calories of sugar. So with all of those changes, I shared the best tasting zero sugar, low fat cheesecake that all of the girls loved. And it only took 8 minutes. Well, I didn't actually measure the time, but I don't think that's a stretch.

PRINT recipe.

EIGHT MINUTE INDIVIDUAL CHEESECAKES

1     package (8 ounces) 1/3 less fat Neufchatel cheese (or regular cream cheese), room temperature

1/3     cup stevia (or sugar)

1        cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)

1        container (8 ounces) Zero Sugar whipped topping (or regular), thawed

2         teaspoons clear vanilla (or regular)

1         can no sugar added cherry pie filling + 3 packets truvia (or regular cherry pie filling)

(optional 1 graham cracker crust) 

Beat cheese until smooth, no lumps.

Gradually beat in stevia/sugar.

Blend in yogurt/sour cream and vanilla. I used the clear so the mixture would stay white.

Fold in the whipped topping, blending well.

To make individual cheesecakes, choose custard cup size dishes or goblets. Spoon mixture into dishes.

(I used a large scoop that worked perfectly. It holds 1/2 cup.) Place in the refrigerate to chill and allow the mixture to set. (Of course if you are making a whole pie, spoon mixture evenly into a pie crust.) 

Add the stevia to the canned pie filling and store covered container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

When ready to serve, remove dishes from the refrigerator and cover with a large spoonful of pie filling and you can enjoy cheesecake without feeling any guilt!