Friday, November 4, 2011

Cherry Cheesecake

Mark and I loved this Weight Watchers recipe for Cherry Cheesecake. I don't know how many calories it is, but it's only 3 Points on the WW system. The little 1/2-cup cups of ice cream are also 3 Points (or 100 calories), as a way to compare.

Servings:  12
Preparation Time:  20 min
Cooking Time:  15 min
Level of Difficulty:  Easy
A perfect combination: rich, creamy filling and a light, buttery crust. Try different flavors of pie filling and whole vanilla wafers for crust.*

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp light butter, melted
2/3 cup low fat cream cheese
6 Tbsp fat-free cream cheese
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup light fruit pie filling, cherry

INSTRUCTIONS
Place 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well.
Spoon 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture into bottom of each liner and press down gently; refrigerate until ready to use.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat both types of cream cheese until fluffy. Add lemon juice, egg whites, vanilla extract and sugar; beat until smooth.

Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly into muffin liners; bake until set, about 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Top each cheesecake with 1 tablespoon cherry pie filling.
Yields 1 cheesecake per serving.
My variations:

I used vanilla wafer crumbs instead of graham cracker crumbs. I also used reconstituted lemon juice instead of fresh. Both substitutions worked fine. I also baked them about 10 minutes longer than it says in the recipe--the cheesecakes were still a little mushy after only 15 minutes.

YUM YUM!! Mark asked me to make another batch this weekend!